Consumer complaint received 2019-01-10
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: TX
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem making or receiving payments

Complaint:
My husband and I have been loyal chase customers for over 5 years with no issues at all until starting in mid XXXX I noticed there were alot of unauthorized transactions on my husband and Is account all online purchases, as well as my other two checking accounts ( again all from online purchases ) so I called chase to report the charges and explained they would investigate file reports ( they had to file 3 reports one for each account because they said they couldnt just combine them into one report. ) They asked me if i had ever done business with any of the merchants before and I said no not online. They asked if i had given any one my card number and allowed them to use my card online again i said no. They said okay thank you and closed out these debit cards and would send me new one and i should see a temporary credit on my account for these transactions while they investigated I said great thank you so much. So I got online and printed off all the transactions for my accounts for the last three months and started going thru them and matching them with my receipts. I noticed I had missed some transactions ( seriously there were so many transactions ) and so I called chase bank and explained and asked if i could get these added to the reports they stated no they couldnt do that they had to open 3 more fraud reports. I said ok went thru everything again and again they said I would see credit in the next 12 hours. Ok awesome, So the new cards arrive I activate them and over the next 24/48 hours I use them sparingly just things like gas groceries etc. again nothing online or over {$100.00}. Well I log back on to check my accounts and notice all our accounts were drained or negative. So i start looking at the accounts thinking maybe the credits hadn't hit or they were still processing etc. Nope there was more fraud this time on all 3 of my brand new debit cards. I was shocked I called chase again and asked if this was normal what was going on etc etc. I was told its normal around this time of year with the holdidays etc. So I started new reports but this time was told I not only had to open seperate ones for each account but now also for each vendor. So i said ok and they said the same thing ok theyd investigate close out my cards/ send me new ones and issue credits. This time ( when I received my new cards about a week later ) and after I had called and activated them I only put one of them in my wallet the other two I put in our safe. I checked our accounts and saw the credits and went thru and compared the credits to the fraudulent charges I had reported I noticed that over 10 of the transactions I reported as fraudulent chase had accidentally missed. So again I called and let them know and again even tho i had already reported them they had to start new reports etc. okay again no big deal. I had this 2nd set of new debit cards in hand and activated less than 48 hours and I log on to see if they had reported the rest of the transactions and low and behold more fraud. Even on the cards that were completely untouched and in my safe!!! On the other one I had made a total of two purchases with one for {$6.00} at the pharmacy for my special needs daughter and the other one for {$25.00} on gas. I was completely dumbfounded. So I immediately called chase again this was XX/XX/XXXX at about XXXX XXXX and reported the charges and asked what I could do could I close the accounts and open new ones with new bank account numbers? I had already changed my password on my chase account. They said no they couldn't do that till all these reports had been investigated. I said okay and filed the new reports and just decided I wouldn't even activate them this time I would just go into chase and pull off cash and use that till all this gets worked out. They again said no problem they would then close the cards send new ones etc. I asked them what I could do and how this could be happening they just said they didn't know but fraud happens alot this time of year. I said okay thank you etc. At about XXXX that afternoon I went to log on to my chase account to check and make sure they got everything and it wouldnt let me log into my account it said to call chase for further info and help. So I call chase and they informed me that they had restricted and closing all my accounts due to a large number of fraud complaints. I told them that was them I only had 3 fraud reports they were the ones that turned each transaction into a seperate claim. I asked how I was going to get access to our money all of our money was in those accounts ( bills, my kids XXXX, everything I wan na say not even including the fraud there was at least {$2000.00} between the accounts plus my husbands paycheck was getting direct deposited friday and my daughters child support and social security XXXX. They said that I could go into a branch and pull off the funds but that the account was restricted and all deposits and transactions would be denied/ blocked and returned. They said the account would stay restricted for the next 10 business days while they finished investigating the claims and that when they were done they would close the accounts and the remaining balances would be sent to us by check 10 business days after that ( so probably by mid XXXX because of the holidays ) I said I would be going to the branch now and withdrawing the funds. I had to we needed that money we had rent due on the XXXX, electric, phones everything all due and I needed to get my kids stuff for XXXX still as we are a low income family my husband is a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, I am XXXX XXXX  and we have XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX children. So we have to really save and budget. We have almost no spare income but all our bills are always on time. So i go into the branch and with my XXXX kids to withdraw the funds like they told me to. I get to the teller and she looks everything up and writes down my account balances the main account without the fraud money or credits was {$420.00} the 2nd account was around {$1200.00} and the third was about {$790.00} so total was just above {$2400.00} and again that was not counting the credits for the fraud charges. So I told her i needed to withdraw that. She went and got a manager and the manager came out to tell me that they could only withdraw these amounts they could not withdraw the credits I had been issued etc I said thats fine i just need this I have bills and XXXX to pay for. She said okay I need 2 forms of ID and just give me one moment and went to the back and was there a while before returning to the window with two other individuals and stated that these were branch managers and that they were very sorry but they could not withdraw the funds from the accounts because the accounts were restricted and all deposits, withdrawals, wire transers, direct deposits, automatic bill pays everything blocked and restricted until they were done investigating the fraud and after that they had 10 business days to make a decision and close the account after that itll be 10 business days before they issue and mail me a check for the remaining balances. I said I understand that but I just spoke to you guys on the phone and was told I was not allowed access to any of the funds credited while you investigated but that the balance that wasnt included, our hard earned money that we saved for bills etc was. They said were sorry theres nothing we can do. I asked if i could just have one of the account balances the lowest one or even part of it. We had no access to any of our money at all and I just needed something to use to feed my family, cover gas, diapers, and just basic necessities to survive. They said were sorry no. So I went home and tried to figure out what to do. By the time I got home it was after XXXX and there was nothing else i could do as they were closed. So the next morning first thing I called chase again to explain i went to the office and they refused to let me withdraw the money. She said oh well yeah thats their disgression. I said what can i do??? I need access to some of our money, I have bills my kids need food. She said well you can try a different branch and see what they say. I asked about the direct deposits that were supposed to hit soon ( my husbands paycheck on friday, child support for my daughter on saturday and my childs ssi benefits on the XXXX ) she said they will all get denied and sent back to the sender as well as any other autodraft bill payments checks etc. I said this is unreal this is our money. So i called a different branch explained the situation to see if i went there if they would let me withdraw the available funds. She took my info and looked it up and said yes absolutely. She said let me just verify with my back office and call you back. About 30 min later she called me back and said that they would not be able to give me access to the funds either as corporate had restricted all withdrawals of funds too. So I asked her if there was anything I could do she said no I just had to wait for them to mail me the check. 
I called corporate back and told them what this branch said and she said then theres nothing we can do youre just going to have to wait for the check. I said no this is not okay or right, we have been good loyal customers for over 5 years, we did nothing wrong i reported legitimate fraud on our account and because of that you made the decision to restrict and close our account without warning or any notice at all and hold all our income and restrict any and all access to it and leaving us with absolutely no money. I said my husband is a XXXX  time war veteran for the XXXX XXXX, I am a XXXX XXXX stay at home mom and we have XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX children and youre doing this right before christmas leaving us with no way to feed ourselves or provide the bare minimus necessities, no way to do anything for our children for XXXX and holding all the money we had to pay our rent to keep a roof over our kids heads and utilites to keep our kids warm, car payment car insurance nothing and are telling me we wont have our money any of it till probably end of XXXX? She said sorry theres nothing we can do the account is restriced and closed and youll just have to wait for the check ... 

So I hung up and called my mom and told her what was going on and she said thats not possible so I called chase back and conferenced her in and she heard everything and when i asked there reason for this decision they said it was theyre perogative to end our banking relationship due to too many fraud reports I said I said but there werent too many there were 3 back to back. Your claims department is the one that kept turning them into multiple report. she said sorry nothing we can do. I asked if there was anyway i could get access to any of the available money that was not part of the claim and she said no, I said we have direct deposits hitting and its too late to change it. She said they will get denied and sent back to the sender. So youll have to call them after. I said what about our bills that were already scheduled to come out the day you t the account the auto pay for our car insurance, phone bill and car payment. She said those were already denied. 
So I hung up and called ssi and waited for 90+ minutes and explained the situations and requested to change the payment method. she said because of the holidays it was too late to fix the XX/XX/XXXX payment in time but she updated it for future payments. She said that chase would refuse the deposit and it would go back to them within 48 hours  and as soon as it did they would issue and mail me a check and the latest i would have that would be the XXXX. I broke down I explained everything and said i have no way to pay our rent or bills or XXXX for my kids nothing. She then asked me if the bank that was doing all this was chase bank. I said yes! she said they're horrible they do stuff like this to people all the time. she apologized profusely and I thanked her and hung up and called my husband to let him know. He said he changed his payment record but he doesnt know if its in time and if this paycheck would go on his new payroll card or chase but his employer issued him an emergency loan of {$100.00} to his card just so we could survive. I hung up and called child support and they said it would take 10 days to process so not in time to fix the payment scheduled for saturday but that they would also issue and mail a check when they got it back. 

So I went home and did the application to open a new checking with a new financial institution. I got to the verification and none of the identity verification questions were anything having to do with any of my information and they said they couldnt verify my identity so they were denying my account, so I went to log onto my social security account and all of my log in info was changed. So i checked XXXX XXXX and that was changed too so I started researching, and started realizing my identity might have been stolen so I started XXXX  what to do. ( I have never had anything like this happen we're low income and dont apply for credit or anything so I dont really monitor my credit report ) thats when they XXXX  breach info and website came up and i clicked the link and entered in my info to see if I was one of the people affected during this breach and it turns out my husband and I both were. so i started putting freezes on my credit and fraud alerts. Then I get a knock and received a certified letter from the IRS stating I was delinquent on my XXXX taxes and owe {$1500.00} immediately. I had never gotten my XXXX taxes it was being audited and they were still researching it. I tried to call irs but  the government is shut down so is the transcript website and identity theft reporting site. plus holidays so wasnt anything more i could do. XXXX came and went still no access to our money or anything so I was waiting for the ssi check in the mail. Well on  XXXX XXXX I got a check in the mail from chase for {$1300.00} that stated it was for the remaing balance of my account ( s ) it didnt list which accounts or statement nothing but it was enough to cover rent and keep our lights on. I called when I got home to see what account it was for what it included etc. 3 different department managers couldnt tell me. they said they see the check was issued and mailed but nothing and that I had to just wait till everything was finalized and closed and then call and see if theyll be issuing more checks etc. 

I got notices from the place i financed my car through, XXXX and our cellphone internet and cable company stating the autodraft was declined and we needed to make immediate payments to avoid termination. 

On XXXX second I received 11 claim update/ decision letters from chase stating that they had completed their investigations on those claims and determined they were charged and processed correctly so they were reversing the temporary credits to my account and would be removing the money on the XXXX. 

I also received an email from XXXX XXXX stating they could not file my taxes for this year as a return with mine, my husbands and childrens social security numbers and information had already been filed. I contacted XXXX XXXX and upon investigation all of our identities and everything from drivers liscences, social security numbers everything had been stolen so i researched and found out the tax fraud and false returns etc started back in XXXX and thats why IRS said i owed money. I pulled my credit reports and everything was changed and we had 72 inquiries and 15 fraudulent accounts opened on top of all of our personal info changed. I went to the police station and filed a report I explained everything and he said that this was why our bank account had all that fraud on it and how they got our debit card info and was able to charge everything when i hadnt even used the cards.. 

I got the police report number, an affidavit from the DMV plus whatever other documentation I could get right now including the fraud reports from the credit reporting agencies and called chase with the updates and requested to appeal their decisions based on the new information. It wasnt just fraud transactions my identity and all info had been stolen. 

She said " They didnt see any errors with the transaction or attempts to authorize a different amount so we We denied your claims because the transactions occurred within your geographical area, youve previously done business with the merchants, the card was in your possession and there were no bad PIN tries, and you monitored your account on chase.com during the time the fraudulent transactions were occurring, but didnt report them to us immediately. We mailed you a check for {$1300.00} Were sorry for any misunderstanding that may have occurred concerning how and when you would have access to the money in your account. We show this check paid on XX/XX/XXXX. The remaining money in your account ending in XXXX, which includes a direct deposit for {$770.00} that we received on XX/XX/XXXX will be held until your claims have been finalized. Your claim for the {$30.00} XXXX transaction is still being researched and has a final resolution date of XX/XX/XXXX. Well inform you of our claim decision in writing once it has been finalized. The remaining money in your account ending in XXXX, which includes a direct deposit for {$770.00}, will be held until your claims have been finalized. If any money is owed to you, well mail you a check. '' I said " You accepted the Direct deposit of my daughters federal social security XXXX payment of {$770.00} on XX/XX/XXXX even though you completely restricted our accounts on the XXXX and rejected all of our automatic bill payments and refused to let me withdraw any of the funds in our account???? Now youre telling me youre going to hold it along with the rest of our account balance till you finalize the dispute XXXX XXXX and will issue and send me a check for the remaining balance in 10 business days??? So you fraudulenty accepted and essentially stole my XXXX daughters monthly federal ssi payment for XXXX and are not going to release it or give us access to it till end of XXXX early XXXX? '' She said well I dont know anything about that or why is was accepted etc. 
I said I want that resolved now or I will be filing a charges. Also I want to dispute the decisions made on my fraud claims they were absolutely not authorized and fraudulent they were a result of identity theft. I have never done any business with those online merchants ever! I dont ever shop online nor do I or have I ever spent that much money in single purchases. I notified you immediately when I realized the fraud I was not monitoring my account either. Theyre online not in my area. I am submitting the police report and all the documentation of the fraud including my information that was compromised in the credit reporting agency fraud. Including access to all my financial and personal accounts. Also saw 6-8 fraudulent inquiries for credit requests to you guys on my credit report that i want to dispute as well and know why i wasnt notified when my info was accessed and it was requested. 

This was tuesday XX/XX/XXXX, I have not gotten any response to my appeal/ challenging of their decision nor have they released my daughters federal payment or even responded as to how and why they accepted the deposit 10 days after completely restricting my account refusing bills and holding my income.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation