Consumer complaint received 2015-12-09
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: IL
Product: Money transfers
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
It all started with buying a condo. It 's my first property purchase ever ; I knew I needed proper guidance and explanation, which I made clear to XXXX XXXX, my closing attorney, who was referred by my realtor. XXXX and I only had one phone conversation, the rest of the communication was done via email. I eventually received an email from him XXXX/XXXX/15 asking me when I will have my closing funds available for wiring. We replied back and forth via email and he eventually replied with a detailed email with attached wiring instructions and asked I get it done by Friday, XXXX/XXXX/15. He confirmed the wiring amount should be {$35000.00}. I did as he requested. Closing was scheduled for XXXX/XXXX/15. The realtor was the one who directed me to the closing immediately after our final walkthrough of the unit ; I had n't heard from XXXX. At the closing, XXXX explained the document figures then awaited the closing funds. Confused and astonished, I told him I followed his orders and had his email and wiring instructions handy to prove it to him. He read the documents and claimed he never sent such email. He eventually came to the conclusion his email had been hacked. Needless to say, I was shocked, frustrated and in disbelief, to say the least. I immediately ran to my bank to inquire and investigate but all my bank could tell me is the funds were no longer available and a wire reversal was therefore not possible. I asked XXXX whether his insurance would cover such a fraud, but he claimed they would n't since he did nothing wrong. All XXXX did is make clear his only interest was completing the closing procedure and did not show any concern for my tremendous loss ; he even had the indecency to call me while I was franticly at my bank, to ask whether I had other funds I could use to close. Closing never took place this day. XXXX eventually finally called me XXXX days later asking me how I plan to proceed. I made it clear to him I was very disappointed about the outcome and stressed this fraud issue is beyond my control. I insisted I trusted all communication coming from his email so therefore had no reason to be suspicious but he insisted he is not liable for anything. Once I mentioned I 'd then have to seek legal assistance in this matter, he stated I was creating an adversarial situation and then made it clear he and I can no longer communicate. XXXX or not XXXX is guilty of this fraud, it 's hard for me to believe he has no liability in this matter whatsoever. Not once did he have verbal communication with me to confirm complete, safe preparation for closing. 

Since he claimed he did not send this email, I inquired as to what he DID send, otherwise I would not have known how to be prepared for closing. He claimed he sent an email XXXX/XXXX/15 ( the day right before XXXX ; closing was the immediate Monday after ) that stated specifics on what to bring to closing ; I never received this email. Upon wanting to see proof of this email, he was only able to send a PDF copy of it, claiming he deletes proof of sent, but prints them instead. This alone makes no sense. To top it all off, my email address on this particular email was ALL OF A SUDDEN incorrect. So, even if he DID send it like he claims, I would n't have received it anyway, and even if WERE accurately sent, it would 've been too late. This is unacceptable. 

I 'm out {$35000.00} and am desperately trying to recover these hard-earned funds. I 've filed a police report and hired an attorney but honestly feel the CFPB should be involved in this as well. There should be a serious warning to all homebuyers to ensure this does not happen again. Upon searching online, I see this scam has been going on for years ; with that said, I would think banks, realtors and closing attorneys would be precautious. This could 've easily been prevented. Please help recover my hard-earned funds.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation