Consumer complaint received 2020-11-22
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: NY
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Summary : An email intrusion of a tour company named XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX with which I was doing business caused me to send a wire transfer in the amount of {$3800.00} from my Chase Bank account to a Chase Bank account belonging to someone named XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX, CA. After the wire transfer was sent, on XX/XX/2020, XXXX XXXX XXXX informed us immediately that their email had been hacked and that they did not send the request for funds to be transferred. The message we received was fraudulent and a scam. The company told us to cancel the transaction immediately. We learned from the company that the owner of the recipient account, XXXX XXXX, is not an authorized company representative and is not authorized to receive payments for the company 's services. 

The same day that the wire was sent, I submitted a wire recall request and reported the fraudulent circumstances to XXXX XXXX at a Chase Bank branch. He filed a fraud case with Chase and attempted to initiate a wire recall. 

On XX/XX/2020, I learned from XXXX that Chase had asked XXXX whether the transaction was legitimate. She said it was. In response I sent XXXX to send on to departments at Chase evidence of the fraudulent nature of the transaction. 

It took over six weeks and repeated communications by XXXX to Chases wire and claim departments before we could get a response. On XX/XX/2020, I learned from XXXX that the wire recall failed because the money had already been moved out of the recipient account. 

We would like to recover the wired amount because this transaction was made under false pretenses and fraudulent and illegitimate circumstances. 

Details and Timeline of the Case : XX/XX/2020 : After we wired a 25 % deposit on an upcoming trip to XXXX with four traveling companions on XX/XX/2020 to XXXX XXXX XXXX legitimate business bank account in XXXX, my traveling companions and I received a message from the same email address ( XXXX ) we had been using to correspond with the company. This message requested an additional deposit of 50 % or the total balance for the trip be sent to a U.S. account because of currency fluctuations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This contradicts our previous communications with the legitimate company, who requires payment of the balance on arrival in cash after receiving the 25 % deposit. After some correspondence back and forth, we agreed to send the wire transfer on the account that we assumed this was the same contact using the same email address with whom we had been in touch before. 

The impersonator on the email sent bank details for a Chase Bank account held by an individual with the name of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX, CA, claiming that she was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX representative in the United States. I asked for contact information for XXXX. The impersonator gave an email address, XXXX. I corresponded with this email address to confirm payment and bank details. The operator of that email address confirmed the details. Those bank details were : Account Holder : XXXX XXXX Account Number : XXXX Routing Number : XXXX Beneficiary Address : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX CA XXXX Bank Address : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX I initiated a wire transfer in the amount of {$3800.00} from my Chase Bank online account. The wire was scheduled to go out on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX because it was initiated after hours on this Friday. 

XX/XX/2020 : We receive a message from the same email address and person who was impersonating XXXX XXXX XXXX representative that the recipient bank details for the wire transfer have changed. According to the message we received, XXXX received a call from Chase Bank that the wire I sent will be returned back to me because XXXX had reached a monthly limit of accepting wire transfers. The email gave these details for another Chase Bank account : Account Holder : XXXX XXXX Beneficiary Address : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX CA XXXX Bank Address : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA Bank Name : Chase Bank Account Type : Checking Account number : XXXX Routing number : XXXX I canceled the existing scheduled wire transfer and scheduled a new one to be sent to the second bank account. Because this was on a Saturday, the wire would not be sent until Monday. 

XX/XX/2020 : Chase Bank sends the wire transfer in the morning to the offending account. I emailed both XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX to inform them that the wire was sent. Immediately after I sent the message, one of my traveling companions contacted me to say that I should cancel the wire transfer immediately on the advice of the tour company. The tour company informed us via XXXX that their email system had been hacked and that they did not tell us to wire the rest of our trip cost. I immediately requested a recall request with Chase Bank online. I also went to a Chase bank branch and spoke with XXXX XXXX, the branch manager, so that I could file a case with their fraud department and initiate a wire recall request. XXXX took these actions after speaking with the fraud and wire departments at XXXX. 

XX/XX/2020 : I file a complaint about the case with the FBIs XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX with details about the email hack and the fraudulent requests to wire money. 

XX/XX/2020 : XXXX informs me that Chase had asked XXXX about the legitimacy of the transaction. She says that it was legitimate, which is false. To further bolster our case, I send XXXX supporting documentation outlining how the fraud occurred, including : - A summary and timeline of what happened - A signed and stamped letter from XXXX XXXX XXXX testifying that the wire transfer was not requested by them and that their email had been hacked - Passport of the company 's founder, XXXX XXXX XXXX, to prove his identification - Emails with the hacked address along with an email address that claims to belong to XXXX XXXX - Screenshots of XXXX messages with a legitimate representative of the company, which is how we first found out that this was a case of fraud - Evidence from the company that someone had illegitimately set up an email forward from the company 's main email address to an unauthorized account to correspond with unsuspecting clients like us. 

XXXX sent these documents to the relevant departments within Chase Bank. 

XX/XX/2020 : After repeated calls to XXXX to get updates over the past weeks, and, in turn, repeated calls by XXXX to both the claims, wire, and fraud departments at XXXX, I learned from XXXX that the wire recall failed because the money had already been moved out of the recipient fraudsters account. He also told me that Chases fraud department did not consider the case fraud because I had authorized the transaction and my bank account had not been hacked. This is despite me giving supporting evidence about the fraudulent and false circumstances under which I initiated this wire transfer.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation