Consumer complaint received 2023-09-11
Company: HUNTINGTON NATIONAL BANK, THE
State: MN
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Money order, traveler's check or cashier's check
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
This is a formal dispute letter to the Fraud Department of Huntington Bank Dear Huntington Bank Fraud Department, My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX and I am a citizen of the United States of America. I am writing this letter to inform Huntington Banks Fraud Department that I have recently been a victim of fraud perpetrated by the fraudulent trading company called XXXX XXXX using a mobile application called XXXX. Since all the transactions that I am disputing in this letter were authorized by me which I was manipulated to believe to be for trading purposes, I believe that the fraud that I was a victim of is called Authorized Push-Payment Fraud. I have also strong reasons to believe that money laundering and potentially terrorism financing are involved in the said fraud. I kindly ask for Huntington Bank Fraud Department to look into this matter. 
In this letter, I will be providing a detailed account of how the fraud started, how I was tricked into investing a huge amount of money in the platform, and how I found out that I was being scammed. All of the pieces of evidence regarding this fraud case that I was able to gather are attached to this letter in the Appendices for your full disposal. If you need more information/documents from me, just let me know and I shall send them immediately as soon as I can. 
Why I am contacting Huntington Bank To summarize the flow of money, I deposited XXXX money to my XXXX wallet through wire transfers from my Huntington Bank account. From XXXX, I bought cryptocurrencies and transferred them to my XXXX wallet. From there, I sent my crypto to the wallet addresses that were provided to me by the scammers, thinking that the money I was sending was going to my XXXX trading account balance. Since the trading platform is fake and its involvement with the trading market is nonexistent, this implies that my money did not arrive at XXXX trading platform. This is essentially money laundering because the purpose and destination of the money I sent were kept hidden from me. As the sender, I realize that it is part of my responsibility to only send money to a trusted recipient in order to avoid money laundering. However, even more than mine, it is the responsibility and legal obligation of Huntington Bank to make sure that the transactions happening in its bank is free of money laundering and other financial crimes as part of its compliance with United States Bank Secrecy Act sometimes referred to as anti-money laundering act or AML act. Although Huntington Bank did ask me about the purpose of my transactions, which is trading, they did not continue to ask me about the name of the trading platform that I was dealing with. If they did, they would have known that I was dealing with XXXX XXXX and, using their extensive database and researching capabilities, they would have found out that this trading company is unlicensed to operate in the United States. Right then and there, Huntington Bank could have done something to stop my transfers. Due to this fact, I believe that Huntington Bank is partly liable for my financial loss because of its failure to protect my assets from being sent to fraudsters. Hence, I fully expect Huntington Banks cooperation and assistance regarding my concern. 
Scam Story and Description On the XXXX of XX/XX/2023, I was approached on XXXX by a person calling herself XXXX XXXX. We messaged a few times on the platform. Eventually, our conversation transpired to XXXX at her request. This went on for months. Ultimately, she told me that she was an Economics graduate from XXXX University in the XXXX and was very wealthy. Supposedly, she had a very connected uncle named XXXX XXXX who resides in California. She also told me that founded a company called XXXX and invested in property in XXXX and USA. She coached me all the way through this process and said she was also making millions of dollars on this trading forum which is XXXX XXXX. She asked me to download XXXX on my XXXX. I checked the reviews of the application and at the time I did not see anything bad. She then taught me in demo mode how to open a position for trading gold futures and then close at the right time. And this is how the series of deposits began. Eventually, the amount of money that I deposited to XXXX reached XXXX USD, while my trading account balance reached XXXX USD. When I requested a withdrawal, they did not allow me. They told me that I need to pay a tax payment of XXXX USD in order to withdraw all of my accounts balance on XXXX. At this point, I already suspected that they were scamming me. I did not provide them with the tax payment since I found out that only banking institutions are allowed to ask for tax payments. They eventually XXXX my account on the platform. The fact that they were able to XXXX the balance on my XXXX trading account cements the reality that the numbers on the trading platform are purely manipulated by them. 
I have attached all of the relevant documents in the Appendices. I kindly request the enforcement of the Fraud Department of Huntington Bank to look into this matter. 

List of Wire Transfers to XXXX Below is the list of my wire transfers from my Huntington account to the bank account to XXXX. Huntington Bank should be able to confirm that the recipient of these wire transfers is the beneficiary bank of XXXX. Proof of these wire transfers is attached in the Appendices. 
- Transaction 1 Amount : XXXX USD Date : XX/XX/2023 Description : OUTGOING FEDWIRE TRANSFER - MANUAL - Transaction 2 Amount : XXXX USD Date : XX/XX/2023 Description : XXXX ACH PAYMENT XXXX XXXX - Transaction 3 Amount : XXXX USD Date : XX/XX/2023 Description : OUTGOING FEDWIRE TRANSFER MANUAL - Transaction 4 Amount : XXXX USD Date : XX/XX/2023 Description : OUTGOING FEDWIRE TRANSFER MANUAL TOTAL : XXXX USD Huntington Banks Responsibility as My Trusted Bank and Expected Resolution Huntington Bank is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ( FDIC ). FDIC is the primary federal regulator of banks that are chartered by the states that do not join the Federal Reserve System. In addition, the FDIC is the backup supervisor for the remaining insured banks and savings associations. FDIC serves both as an insurance organization as well as a regulator of its member banks. The FDIC examines its member banks for compliance with consumer protection laws. As such, as an FDIC member, I would expect Huntington Bank to follow the regulations set forth by the FDIC such as BSA/AML compliance program.

Part 353 Suspicious Activity Reports of the Code of Federal Regulations, which can be accessed online here : XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX, states that an FDIC supervised institution must file a Suspicious Activity Report when it detects a known or suspected criminal violation of federal law or a suspicious transaction related to a money laundering activity or a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act. In Part 353.3 Reports and records, suspicious circumstances were listed : 1. Insider abuse involving any amount. 
2. Transactions aggregating XXXX USD or more where a suspect can be identified. 
3. Transactions aggregating XXXX USD or more regardless of potential suspects. 
4. Transactions aggregating XXXX USD or more that involved potential money laundering or violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. The following are suspicions for money laundering : a. The transaction involves funds derived from illegal activities or is intended or conducted in order to hide or disguise funds or assets derived from illegal activities ; b. The transaction is designed to evade any regulations promulgated under the Bank Secrecy Act ; or c. The transaction has no business or apparent lawful purpose or not the sort of transaction in which the particular customer would normally be expected to engage, and the FDIC-supervised institution knows of no reasonable explanation for the transaction after examining the available facts, including the background and possible purpose of the transaction. 
I would like to emphasize that my fraud-related transactions through Huntington Bank were exhibiting multiple money laundering indicators. Although Huntington Bank did ask me for the purpose of the wire transfers before allowing them to go through, they failed to ask me about the trading platform that I was dealing with. Hence, I hold Huntington Bank partly liable for my financial losses amounting to XXXX USD. As such, I fully expect Huntington Bank to assist me in recovering the money I lost by contacting the beneficiary bank of my wire transfers and to request for wire recalls. I believe that I have provided all the necessary documents that will support my story. 
I hope Huntington Bank stays true in its commitment in fighting against financial crimes such as money laundering, terrorism financing, and financial fraud. 
I hope to receive your response as soon as possible. 


XXXX XXXX from hunting responded on Dear XXXX XXXX, This letter is in response to your email received by our XXXX inbox on XX/XX/2023, regarding your checking account ending in XXXX held with The Huntington National Bank ( XXXX ). In addition, this is a follow up to our conversation on XX/XX/2023 ; it was a pleasure speaking with you. 

XXXX XXXX, I understand that this has been a very difficult time for you. I am deeply disappointed to hear of the circumstances you described. In your correspondence, you advised Huntington that you have been the unfortunate victim of a scam. On or about XX/XX/2023, you authorized multiple transactions in the total amount of {$160000.00} for the purpose of sending money to someone through outgoing wire transfers as well as XXXX ACH Payments. Once received in your XXXX  XXXX XXXX, you used those funds to purchase Crypto currency. Regretfully, after the funds were sent, you identified that the transaction was not legitimate. 

Please be aware that funds sent as an outgoing wire and ACH transactions are often available to the receiving account owner immediately. Huntington does not have recourse on these funds since the transaction was initiated by you and sent to the intended recipient using the information you provided. Please know that Huntington does not recommend using this service to pay for goods or services and does not have the ability to stop money from being sent once the transaction has been authorized. 

If you have not done so already, we recommend that you file a police report as well as an XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) complaint. Huntington will respond to any information requests from law enforcement authorities relative to this matter. 

XXXX XXXX, I want you to have the highest level of confidence and security by providing you with information on how to protect yourself against scams, for more information please visit : XXXX XXXX XXXX. In addition, information on ways to avoid fraud scams can be found by visiting XXXX, we have included some of the common tips below, for your review. 


Member FDIC. and Huntington are federally registered service marks of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated. 2023 Know who youre dealing with. In any transaction you conduct, make sure to check with your state or local consumer protection agency and the XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) to see if the seller, charity, company, or organization is credible. Be especially wary if the entity is unfamiliar to you. Always call the number found on a websites contact information to make sure the number legitimately belongs to the entity you are dealing with. 
Pay the safest way. Credit cards are the safest way to pay for online purchases because you can dispute the charges if you never get the goods or services or if the offer was misrepresented. Federal law limits your liability to {$50.00} if someone makes unauthorized charges to your account, and most credit card issuers will remove them completely if you report the problem promptly. 
Guard your personal information. Crooks pretending to be from companies you do business with may call or send an email, claiming they need to verify your personal information. Dont provide your credit card or bank account number unless you are paying for something and know who you are sending payment to. Your social security number should not be necessary unless you are applying for credit. Be especially suspicious if someone claiming to be from a company with whom you have an account asks for information that the business already has. 
Stay safe online. Dont send sensitive information such as credit card numbers by email because its not secure. Look for clues about security on Web sites. At the point where you are asked to provide your financial or other sensitive information, the letters at the beginning of the address bar at the top of the screen should change from http to https or shttp. Your browser may also show that the information is being encrypted, or scrambled, so no one who might intercept it can read it. But while your information may be safe in transmission, thats no guarantee that the company will store it securely. See what Web sites say about how your information is safeguarded in storage. 
Be cautious about unsolicited emails. They are often fraudulent. If you are familiar with the company or charity that sent you the email and you dont want to receive further messages, send a reply asking to be removed from the email list. However, responding to unknown senders may simply verify that yours is a working email address and result in even more unwanted messages from strangers. The best approach may simply be to delete the email. 
Resist pressure. Legitimate companies and charities will be happy to give you time to make a decision. Its probably a scam if they demand that you act immediately or wont take No for an answer. Some scammers may also demand you pay off a loan immediately or damaging consequences may occur, always take time to look into who is requesting the money before you pay up. 
Dont believe promises of easy money. If someone claims that you can earn money with little or no work, get a loan or credit card even if you have bad credit, or make money on an investment with little or no risk, its probably a scam. Oftentimes, offers that seem too good to be true, actually are too good to be true. 
Fully understand the offer. A legitimate seller will give you all the details about the products or services, the total price, the delivery time, the refund and cancellation policies, and the terms of any warranty. Contact the seller if any of these details are missing, if they are unable to provide the details, it may be a sign that its a scam. 

XXXX XXXX, I appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns. If you have any questions or additional concerns you would like to discuss, please contact me at ( XXXX ) XXXX, or toll free at ( XXXX ) XXXX, request that a Customer Solution Center professional transfer you directly to me and I will be happy to assist you.

I since have reached out for clarification with no response back in over 6o days now.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation