Consumer complaint received 2022-10-04
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: WI
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX, I was part of a XXXX XXXX through US Bank who refused to recognize it as a scam or refund my money. I have a police report, the scammers used fake US Bank phone numbers, and I did not know the person that the money was being transferred to. 

I was texted a message on XXXX XXXX from a US Bank phone number that asked if I authorized a transaction to XXXX, which I didn't. The text asked me to text yes or no. I texted no and I immediately got a phone call from a US Bank phone number. The scammer said his name and that he could see that someone had my account information and loaded it onto a XXXX XXXX  phone and was using it to make purchases. He knew my bank balance, my address, phone number, etc... He then listed a bunch of transactions and asked me if I authorized them. He said he would cancel those transactions and then he asked if I transferred money through XXXX to a person named XXXX. I again said no. He then said per company policy he needed to walk me through the process of transferring the money back from XXXX so it would go back into my account. 

He then had me log into my XXXX account, which I haven't used in over 5 years, to go about the process of transferring money supposedly from XXXX 's account back into mine. We did three separate transactions totaling {$3500.00}. He then said it would take 24-48 hours for my account to go back to normal. 

After 48 hours when my account was not back to normal, I called the US Bank Fraud department and they figured out that I had been scammed. They completely shut down all of my accounts because they didn't want to get hacked further. I had no online access to anything and had to open a new account to transfer any money in all of my bank accounts ( my business account included ) into it. I then had to wait two weeks for the fraud department to do an investigation. After two weeks I called the fraud department back and was told that my claims were denied. I was then told that I should get a police report from my local police department, which I did, and have my local branch submit a claim again. I did all of this. 

I was quickly sent a letter saying this was a duplicate claim and it was again denied. 

According to CFPB, banks are supposed to treat these XXXX scams as a lost or stolen card, which US Bank did not. They acknowledged that I was scammed and I followed all of their procedures, but have no recourse. According to recent Senate hearings with other bank CEOs, these banks knowingly use XXXX even though they are very susceptible for hacking, which my account obviously was. There are also law suits against other banks for not reimbursing their customers, and there should be one against US Bank as well. I was also not treated well throughout this entire process, more like I was the criminal. 

This was a very sophisticated scam and I would like my {$3500.00} returned to my account.

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