Consumer complaint received 2017-03-08
Company: SANTANDER BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: PA
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Other bank product/service
Issue: Using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
I am a resident of XXXX and have been banking with Santander since XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX significant amounts of money were fraudulently withdrawn from my Santander checking and money market accounts. A substantial cash withdrawal from my money market account was made at a Santander branch at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX ; shortly thereafter another substantial cash withdrawal from my checking account was made at a Santander branch at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX. 
Four days later, when I was checking my balances online, I noticed the withdrawal activity and immediately notified Santander. I spoke to a representative ( XXXX ), who informed me to contact the Fraud Department. On XX/XX/XXXX I called the Santander Fraud Department, spoke to a XXXX XXXX, and filed a claim. XXXX XXXX informed me my accounts were initially 'flagged and frozen ', to sign an affidavit at a local branch, and file a police report with my Township Police Department -- all of which I completed that day. 
After filing my claim, the total amounts fraudulently withdrawn from my Santander accounts were returned and I received a 'Fraud Claim Receipt ' letter from Santander indicating that my case had been assigned to a case manager, XXXX XXXX XXXX and that I will 'be notified in writing of the results of [ the ] investigation of my claim '. This same letter specified that I was assigned a Fraud Investigator, XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX called and informed me that the perpetrator used only fake identification and a credit card to withdraw the funds from my account. He also said I was misinformed by XXXX XXXX and that indeed my accounts were never 'flagged and frozen ' and that this incident did not warrant those actions. XXXX XXXX further said that he will not 'notify me in writing of the results of [ the ] investigation of my claim ' as indicated in the letter I received from Santander . 
I was understandably vexed as to how and why this type of fraudulent activity could transpire, why my accounts were not immediately placed on hold, why I was not informed of these activities, why I would not receive the investigation document promised by Santander, and why I was grossly misinformed of important details by my case manager, XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX defended the policies of Santander by stating that it is a 'customer service business and anyone with identification ( driver 's license ) can get access to any account ' -- effectively, access to funds supersedes bank protection of funds. XXXX XXXX informed me that since I received my money back, my case is settled and I should have no other concerns. 
XXXX XXXX then posed the question : 'just because you decide to withdraw a lot of money -- does that make it wrong '? The answer to that is : exclusively, no. However, given the weight of evidence in relation to my regular banking practices ( since opening accounts ) there are some clear and obvious inconsistencies : 1 ) Out-of-state branch transactions ( XXXX in XXXX since opening accounts ), 2 ) High dollar amounts ( XXXX cash withdrawals over XXXX since opening accounts ), 3 ) Missing bank card ( XXXX attempts to withdrawal cash without card since opening accounts ), 4 ) Back-to-back high-value cash withdrawals in different branches within same city ( XXXX consecutive cash withdrawals over XXXX since opening accounts ), XXXX ) Recent account conversion ( 1 day prior converted savings to MM ). 
This letter serves as a testimony to the susceptibility of the Santander security architecture and the inferior communicative efforts in the aftermath of that security failure. My confidence and respect in banking with Santander has been entirely diminished ; my hope is that my unfortunate experience with Santander might serve as a warning to others in the banking security sector.

Company response to consumer: Closed