Consumer complaint received 2021-06-09
Company: BBVA FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Re : Fraudulent Wire Event on XX/XX/XXXX Around XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, I was sitting at my desk having just completed a WORD document on my laptop computer. I was startled by windows flashing on my computer screen and a recorded womans voice saying repeatedly that XXXX had detected a virus on my computer and that it was urgent that I call the number showing on the screen. The voice said that I should not turn the computer off. I tried to move the cursor and it would not move. It appeared that my computer had frozen. The voice said the virus was compromising my bank accounts and that the virus was allegedly affecting information stored on my computer. I was overcome with fear and it appeared legitimate, so I dialed the number. A man with an accent ( like someone born in XXXX XXXX answered the phone. He asked why I called and after I told him, he said that he could help me. He said his name was XXXX and that he worked for XXXX in XXXX XXXX. He said he would need remote access in order to help me. He told me to download XXXX and this gave him remote access. He moved here and there and showed my IP address ; he went into an area and showed me a corrupted file and said he would take care of it. I watched him open and close this and that. He said it appeared that someone or something was trying to change my password at my bank account. He asked if I had a bank account at BBVA and I replied, yes. He said I should notify my bank and that XXXX worked with the banks and he gave me a number to call BBVA. He put the phone number to BBVA on the screen and he also put his name XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, his badge number as well as the case number. I said XXXX XXXX was an American name, and he said that his employer gave him that name to use when he spoke to the public because his birth name was too long and difficult to pronounce. I called the number and a gentleman answered the phone. He appeared to be somewhat concerned that I was able to call him directly. He asked me how did I get his number and when I told him how I had gotten the number, he told me to give him the information given to me from XXXX. He said he needed to put me on hold so he could verify the information. I was on hold for about 2-3 minutes. He returned and said he confirmed the information and that he was glad I called. He said his name was XXXX XXXX. He said he worked in a special department at BBVA and that they had been alerted to watch our account because someone was attempting to withdraw XXXX XXXXXXXX to pay for some authorized XXXX. I denied that I nor my husband, XXXX, had authorized such a purchase and XXXX said they had records which showed the authorization. I continued to deny ever giving such authorization. He said BBVA was looking into this because it looked suspicious. He spoke in a very calm, reassuring voice and even seemed to demonstrate that he understood our f ear and concern. He assured me that didnt have anything to worry about, that he would help me. I felt somewhat relieved to hear him say that he would help me. He said BBVA had seen and dealt with this type of attempted fraud before. He gave me another phone # to call him XXXX. He said that he was sending the information to another department in BBVA and that he would be in communication with me after they told him what would need to be done to move forward. He told me he would call me back and we hung up. He said XXXX bless just before we hung up. After about an hour, he called me back and said that the other team members told him to tell me that it would be necessary for me and XXXX to open up another account to protect our monies. He further said that this other department felt that whomever was doing this to us likely worked at BBVA. He said it appeared to be an inside job and that we needed to get our money set in in another account as soon as possible. He requested that we send him a copy of our driver license and reluctantly we did. He said we shouldnt close the account because we wouldnt want to alert the crooks that we were on to them. XXXX said we should take out part of our money today and the other part tomorrow. While I was talking to XXXX, XXXX asked how do we know if this guy is really who he says he is?. When I asked XXXX to verify his identity, he said You called me and XXXX and I verified that the number I called matched the number on the back of my debit card. This further convinced us that XXXX was legitimate. XXXX then asked us if we had noticed anything different going on inside the bank, i.e. different people, activity, etc.. because he and the other people working in the special department at BBVA were surveiling people who worked at the bank and they were completing their investigation as to who might be responsible for trying to get monies from customers accounts. We said no, and XXXX then sent us the information via email that we were to give to the bank of where the money was to be sent. ( See attached ). I printed out a copy. XXXX said, since this incident was an inside job, to not let the bank know why we were making the withdrawal. He told us to tell the bank that the money was to be used to purchase property. He wanted us to call him when we arrived to the bank. We arrived to the bank after XXXX and was told by the teller that it was too late to send a transfer wire today ( the cut off time was about XXXX PST ) and directed us to talk to XXXX, Financial Consultant. After explaining and showing XXXX the information that XXXX had sent to us, he said he could do the paperwork and send the wire the following morning. XXXX told us it would be a XXXX} fee to do the transfer. The total amount was XXXX. ( See attached ). After we left the bank, we called XXXX, per his request, to report that the wire transfer paperwork had been completed, and he said he would call us the following morning. He said that the department had made progress in identifying the person ( s ) at the bank who were responsible for this matter. 

On Wed, XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX called around XXXX and said there had been 4 attempts made to access our account and that his team was making progress on identifying the person ( s ) at BBVA who was responsible for doing this. XXXX said he would send information for us to take to the bank to make another withdrawal and where to send the money via wire transfer. XXXX asked XXXX where was the other money and XXXX stated that it hadnt been received and that once all of the monies would be received, they would be combined and we could then set up a new account. 
After I got off the phone with XXXX, XXXX said he had a funny feeling about everything and didnt want to deplete our account. I called the attorney service ( I am a member ) and explained what had happened and was told that we had been scammed and that we needed to get to the bank right away and stop the wire transfer. XXXX called us when we were enroute to the bank but we did not answer the phone. We arrived to the bank between XXXX and XXXX. We told XXXX, the teller, that we had an urgent manner and needed to see the branch manager. After explaining our dilemma to the bank manager, XXXX, he directed us to sit with him at a desk and he said he would need to do a recall request to stop the wire transfer. XXXX said that he was sending the recall request to the wire investigation department which was necessary to stop the wire transfer. He said he didnt think our money had been picked up and that international wire transfers usually take 2+ days to complete ( without an investigation ). This gave us hope that at least we could get our money back since it had been less than 24 hours since we initiated the wire transfer and that an investigation was now going to occur. He gave us a copy of the receipt and he wrote the case reference number on the receipt. XXXX shared with us that when he saw us the day before at the bank, he had a suspicious feeling that something wasnt right, that he had overheard XXXX discussing the wire transfer with us, but he didnt say anything. He further said he continued to feel funny about what was going on when he saw me get up and walk outside the bank and talk on my phone, but that he was in his car at that moment, and again, decided to not say anything. XXXX suggested that we file a police report so while he was completing the recall request report, I stepped outside and called the police. I had to leave a message and my phone number for the police to call me back since this was a non-emergency call. XXXX continued to call my cell phone ( 7 times ) but I would not answer his call. Even after we returned home, he continued to call our house phone ( 4 times ) and we did not answer any of the calls. The police ( Sheriff XXXX XXXX called me around XXXX and took my report. She told me to send her any additional documents and she gave me a case report reference number and that I could pick up the report in 7 days. 

On XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, we went to the bank. XXXX did not come to work so XXXX, personal banker, helped us close our savings, checking and money market accounts and open new saving and checking accts. She also placed order for each of us to get new checks. She said she had not heard anything about the investigation taking place, and that she would call to see if she could find out anything and would let us know. 

On Fri, XX/XX/XXXX,. I was still bothered by the fact that the BBVA phone number that was given to me by the first scammer ( XXXX XXXX was the same as the customer service phone number on the back of our debit card, and was the number I called to speak to the second scammer, " XXXX '', so I called BBVA corporate office XXXX XXXX ) and spoke to gentleman named XXXX. I told him that I was bringing this to his attention because the scammer had told me that my matter was the result of an inside job, and in my opinion, BBVA could be compromised in some way. XXXX asked me if I had reported this to someone and I gave him the case # that XXXX had written on the receipt. XXXX searched his system and said he did not have that case #. He said that his office had not received a case report from the branch manager. I questioned him about BBVAs policy regarding the process to report critical incidents. He explained that when a case is opened up at the branch, that unless his office receives the case, then his office can not open a claim. He further said that each BBVA branch handled cases differently. He couldnt explain why he had not received the case from XXXX, and he didnt seem to think it mattered much. XXXX took information from me and opened a case and claim. With my permission, he put blocks ( freeze ) on our online banking profile and I couldnt use my debit card. I told XXXX that had I not called him to report the issue about the phone number used by the scammers, that he would not have known to open a claim. I thought that the delay to open a claim at the corporate level could impact the wire recall request, so I asked XXXX to call the bank branch and remind them to submit cases in a timely manner. 
XXXX and I went back to the bank. XXXX did not come to work that day either and XXXX complained to XXXX and XXXX about nobody knowing what and how our situation would move forward. They both showed empathy for us, but indicated they were not able to do anything more, that we would have to wait to hear from the investigation. XXXX XXXX XXXX mentioned about how it could take a while to hear from the investigation department and that wire transfers go to a intermediary bank before the money gets to its final destination. XXXX removed the freeze from our accounts. XXXX said the wire transfer money had not likely been picked up yet and the investigative process may take a long time before the money would be returned. Hearing this, we were at least somewhat relieved that the money was in a holding place and had not reached its destination. He also told XXXX that he could contact the District Manager to report the incident and he gave XXXX the phone number. We called and left a message for the XXXX XXXX, BBVA District Manager. 

On XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, we received a call from XXXX XXXX We wanted to know if she had any updated information about the status of the wire transfer. She explained that the money was no longer at BBVA and that it was in a special holding and that there was likely an investigation taking place and that she could not promise us anything about the outcome. We were able to give her additional information about the incident that she did not have or know about. XXXX asked, since the money was in a holding place, could the crooks still make a claim to it? She said, thats an interesting question, and that she didnt see how the crooks could claim something that didnt belong to them. Again, we felt that since the money was in a holding pattern and that the investigation was still going on, we had hope that the money would not reach its scammed destination. 

On Tues, XX/XX/XXXX, I called the FTC and filed a report. I filed a computer hack report with XXXX. I submitted a XXXX XXXX XXXX to the XXXX to open a fraud investigation. I also made an appointment for us to speak to someone at the XXXX because since the scammers had a copy of our drivers license, we were concerned about the possible misuse of our information. We picked up copy of police report from the Sheriff 's Department. I was told by the clerk that a copy would be forwarded to the DAs office. I called the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and spoke to XXXX. She verified that a copy of the police report was at this station and that she would forward it to a detective for review. 

On Wed, XX/XX/XXXX I went to the bank to verify if my SS check had been deposited and to create PIN for my new debit card. .My SS check had been deposited into my old checking acct. I was told to wait a couple of days and that it should be transferred on Fri into the new checking acct. XXXX reordered me new checks. XXXX said she had not heard anything regarding our incident. 

XX/XX/XXXX Fri. I called XXXX to have her check and see if my SS had been moved. It had not, so she called someone and my SS check was moved to my new checking account. XXXX asked XXXX if anyone had told him that our incident could take 90 days to be resolved. XXXX told her no, and that at least he now had some idea as to how long this could take. 

XX/XX/XXXX Tues We went to the DMV in XXXX. They told us that this office did not do investigations and that we would need to go to the XXXX XXXX office and that investigations were not done unless we had actual evidence that our license had been compromised, i.e. used in fraud/identity theft. 

XX/XX/XXXX Fri We still had not been contacted by anyone from BBVA, and the lack of any update was draining our patience, so we called XXXX XXXX, BBVA District Manager. I told her that we had not heard from anyone and that as being long-time loyal customers, we felt that BBVA was not advocating for us. She said she would notify the Operations Manager to give us a call. Later that day, someone by the name of XXXX XXXX called and left a message XX/XX/XXXX Sat XXXX retrieved XXXX voicemail message and he called her and had to leave a message. She returned his call later that day. She told him that our money was gone and that it went through XXXX XXXX. She did not give a specific date but said that the money had been picked up early on, which implied to us that BBVA had known for quite a while that our money was gone but had led us to believe an investigation was taking place. 

XX/XX/XXXX Wed : Filed complaint with the CFPB.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation