Consumer complaint received 2017-07-26
Company: SUNTRUST BANKS, INC.
State: VA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( E-Mail : XXXXXXXXXXXX ) is approached via e-mail by a XXXX XXXX XXXX ( E-Mail : XXXXXXXXXXXX ) expressing interest in artwork on the gallery website. She settles on the painting XXXX XXXX XXXX ( {$16000.00} ) and indicates she wants it for a home in XXXX, XXXX to which she will be moving soon. She asks if we can turn the painting over to a mover who will be collecting other items to furnish her home and whether she can provide extra funds to be passed to the mover to get this done, We are suspicious and assume this may go nowhere based on the approach. She volunteers to send a check for {$21000.00} to cover the purchase and the balance would be given to the mover to cover his expenses. Again, we agree thinking this is looking increasingly suspicious and will not go anywhere. XX/XX/XXXXWe receive a check for {$21000.00} via XXXX ( Tracking No. XXXX ) at the gallery. The check is drawn on the account of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX , MO XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX , XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX , MO XXXX. It is check XXXX. XXXX and the bank routing number/account are : XXXX XXXX. ( photo copy of check attached ) We deposit this to our SunTrust account and ask how long it would be before we could be assured that the check has cleared and is deposited to our account. The teller explains given the amount that this can take several days and suggests we check again with SunTrust the following morning. XXXX XXXX XXXX confirms via e-mail that this is her check and we explain it has been deposited and we will have to wait for it to clear and be credited to our account. XX/XX/XXXX We check with SunTrust in the morning and ( somewhat to our surprise ) are told by a bank officer who verifies online that the check has cleared and is now reflected in our available balance. Given the size of the transaction and our ongoing suspicions about the buyer, we ask the SunTrust banker if this means we can count on these funds now being available to us and that no one ( including Sun Trust bank ) can remove the funds from our account. This is confirmed and we are relieved that perhaps this was not fraud after all but simply an odd client and an unusual approach ( not entirely uncommon in the art sellers world ). We consult our online cash manager account that evening to verify again that the check has cleared and is part of our available balance. Our reasoning is that at this point, the transaction took place between XXXX American banks SunTrust in XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX and should easily be verifiable between the banks involved as legitimate or not. The XXXX XXXX XXXX would not have credited the funds to SunTrust if there were either insufficient funds in the account or if it was not authorized by the account holder known to them. SunTrust would not have assured us the funds were securely in our available balance. XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX is advised via e-mail that her check was credited to our bank and asked what she wants us to do with the balance due her ( {$4500.00} ). XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX XXXX XXXX provides the following name and account number for her mover : Account Name : XXXX XXXX Account Number : XXXX IBAN : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Swift Code : XXXX Bank Name : XXXX XXXX Bank Address : XXXX XXXX, XXXX We find it odd that the mover is based in XXXX but secure in the belief that she has paid for her artwork and the funds are now in our SunTrust bank account, we do not believe we can deny the request to reimburse her balance due. XX/XX/XXXX A SunTrust bank officer helps us with a wire transfer of {$4500.00} to the account of XXXX XXXX at XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX We see an E-Mail at XXXX from the same SunTrust bank officer who helped with the wire transfer that morning asking that we call her. We call right away and are told that the {$21000.00} check deposited on XX/XX/XXXX and credited to our available balance has been recalled. XX/XX/XXXX Subsequent calls with another more senior SunTrust bank officer make apparent that this was a case of fraud, that the funds have been withdrawn from our accounts available balance, and she helpfully suggests that they can help put a stop to the wire transfer made that morning. We are appalled that a fraudulent transfer of funds of this size ( over $ 10K ) between XXXX banks in the USA does not get any critical oversight by the banks involved, that the client is told by his bank that the money has been credited to his available balance so that he believes the funds are now securely in his account, and then five days later, that the original check is all of a sudden recalled ( almost immediately after the client makes a good faith wire transfer to one of the fraudsters. ) This begs the question of when can a deposit by check to ones account ever be considered definitive or real? A business has to be able to confidently turn over merchandise to a buyer upon being paid but apparently checks between XXXX banks are never certain and a bank takes few precautionary measures before and little real time responsibility after enabling a fraudulent transaction.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation