Consumer complaint received 2023-08-02
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:
Please see attached documents for a formatted version of this statement that is easier to read. 


Summary : Last XXXX, an unknown person fraudulently used my husbands drivers license to wire transfer money three times out of our joint personal account. This account is with Chase Bank. The transfers were not flagged and we were not notified of the transfers. Early this year, the person opened a fraudulent business account with Chase, and transferred money out of our legitimate business account. This was flagged as suspicious by the banker who manages our business account. As we were checking through all accounts to see any other instances of fraud, we saw the XX/XX/XXXX activity. We immediately filed a police report, and opened a claim with Chase regarding the wire transfers. The claim was rejected because it was submitted after Chases 30-day timeframe for reporting fraudulent activity. We explained that, due to the lack of communication, we had not even been aware of the fraudulent activity within this 30-day window, but Chase representatives claim that this is not their problem. We have followed up multiple times since then, as it does not seem reasonable that we should have to bear the loss due to Chases lack of communication with us. 

Key details and dates : XX/XX/XXXX Fraudulent wire transfer of {$50000.00} from our personal savings account with Chase Bank to a fraudulent bank account with XXXX Bank with my husbands name as the account holder. This is not our account and XXXX has already closed this account, but the money has not been recovered. 
Initiated by XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX XXXX Chase in Virginia Wire transfer was approved despite the license being from New York and no evidence that we had ever traveled to Virginia. The signature of the authorization does not match the signature on the license and looks like a random swirl ( See attached document titled Wire Transfer 1 ). This person also does not match the photo on the license, as the photo on the license is of my husband. 
Email address given for this wire transfer was our email address, but we did not receive an email confirmation of the transaction No notification was sent to my phone, even though I had set up alerts with Chase to receive an alert for any wire transfers over the amount of {$1.00}. Usually, I receive messages about every transaction I complete very promptly, but no message was sent in this case. I verified with a representative on the day we found the fraudulent activity ( XX/XX/XXXX ), and alerts were set up correctly and should have been sent to my cell phone. 

XX/XX/XXXX Two wire transfers of {$48000.00} and {$42000.00} were authorized to two different accounts at XXXX XXXX 
Again initiated by XXXX XXXX, the same person who initiated the wire transfer the previous day. The transfers were initiated XXXX minutes apart, but were approved by two separate people. Each of the three transactions had a different approver. 
Wire transfers were approved despite the signatures not matching the signature from the day before, nor the signature on the drivers license. The signature is just a printed first name and a stylized last name. ( See documents Wire Transfer 2 and Wire Transfer 3 ) Again, the email address given is our email address, but we did not receive any emails regarding the transaction. I also did not receive an alert on my phone for either of these transfers. 
The transfer for {$42000.00} was rejected by XXXX XXXX  due to suspicion of fraud, but the {$48000.00} wire transfer was completed. At that point, {$98000.00} had been stolen from our personal savings account. 

XX/XX/XXXX The perpetrator opens a business account named XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX with XXXX XXXX from a Chase branch, located at XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX, in XXXX, NY. 
They used the fraudulent drivers license and my husbands social security number. 
They then linked our preexisting, legitimate business account to this new fraudulent account and transferred {$40000.00} to the new account. 
They then withdrew {$20000.00} in cash from the fraudulent account. At this point, the Chase Fraud Department flagged this activity and attempted to verify this withdrawal by calling the number on file with our accounts. I answered, but because it was a query about my husbands account, the representative would not disclose any information about the issue. My husband was working ; therefore, he could speak on the phone at that moment. Despite the flag and no authorization from our end, the XXXX branch proceeded with the cash withdrawal anyway, and the person left with {$20000.00} in cash. 
Later that day, the banker who manages my business account noticed this suspicious activity and called me around XXXX to ask if these actions were legitimate. This was the first indication that our accounts and identity security had been compromised in any way. I confirmed over the phone that all of the actions had been fraudulent. 

XX/XX/XXXX We went to a branch of Chase in XXXX, NY, to review all of our accounts for other fraudulent activity. This is when we found out about the wire transfers from XX/XX/XXXX. 
Completed two Identity Theft Declarations with XXXX, one for the fraudulent business account and one for the fraudulent wire transfers. We were told that they would need an official police report to submit the claim ( see documents " Declaration 1 '' and " Declaration 2 '' ) XX/XX/XXXX Filed a police report on the stolen money and other fraudulent activities ( see document " Police Report '' ). We submitted this report to Chase the following day ( XX/XX/XXXX ). 

XX/XX/XXXX Received letter from Chase about the fraudulent account claim, stating that the account has been closed. No communications about fraudulent wire transfers claim. 

XX/XX/XXXX Called to inquire about the status of the wire transfer claim, as we had received no notifications or messages from Chase regarding this claim. The representative informed us that the claim had been rejected due to out of time frame issues. The rep told us that we needed to file an escalation form to reopen the claim. 

XX/XX/XXXX We went to the XXXX branch to file the escalation form. They informed us that the form was no longer used, and so there was no way to file it. Instead, we filed an executive complaint about the issue, and this would initiate reopening the claim. 

XX/XX/XXXX A representative called me to communicate about the executive complaint. I was not able to answer this call, but called back that day. They did not pick up, so I left a voice message explaining the situation. 

XX/XX/XXXX Chase sent me a letter stating that they will no longer contact me about the executive complaint, but I had not actually spoken to any representatives at that point. I called the number given on the letter, and after being moved multiple times to different departments, was told that the claim was still rejected, never reopened, and to file the aforementioned escalation form to reopen the case. I told the representative that the form does not exist, but she insisted it did and said that we must file that form in order to reopen the case. 

We revisited the XXXX branch, was notified that the form still does not exist, and so we filed a new case. We were told to follow up after about a week for results. 

XX/XX/XXXX Followed up regarding second case submission. The representative informed us that it had been rejected again due to time frame reasons. We were also told on the phone that they had contacted the Virginia branch that had authorized the three wire transfers, and that they claimed it was impossible that such fraud had happened. I asked if they were insinuating that we were lying about the situation, to which the representative said she would take a look and hung up the call. 

XX/XX/XXXX Called Chase to follow up on the previous call. Spent XXXX  hours and XXXX  minutes on the phone, but was not given a solid answer as to our next steps. 

XX/XX/XXXX Filed executive complaint about the rejected case. 

XX/XX/XXXX Was contacted by a representative regarding the executive complaint and was told that they were investigating my case. 

XX/XX/XXXX Was contacted by the representative about the case. We were told that we needed to file a third claim, with a full, detailed police report. This was already provided in the first claim. In addition, we needed to provide an FBI case submission confirmation. They also said that they would not be willing to communicate directly with me, but that all further communications would need to be through the person who had filed the claim the second time. This is the last communication we have had with Chase. 

Summary of Major Concerns : 1. Significant lack of communication a. Automatic wire transfer alert did not work, even though I opted-in b. Unusual activity was not flagged or reported to me c. No email confirmation for any wire transfer d. Did not wait for confirmation before issuing {$20000.00} cash e. No notification of claim rejection 2. Wire transfers should never have been authorized a. Three high dollar values in two days, coming out of a savings account b. Completely out of character I have never wired money out of my savings account c. Out of state ( Virginia ) Did not match drivers license d. Sent to three different accounts in three different states ( XXXX  D.C., NY, PA, respectively ) e. All initiated by the same person ; should have been noticed by this banker f. Signatures did not match from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX g. Major noticeable issues with fraudulent ID i. Photo ID picture did not match person applying for wire transfers ii. Signatures did not match that on ID iii. ID issued in NY, but branch was in VA

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation