Consumer complaint received 2020-03-24
Company: PEOPLE'S UNITED BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: VT
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
Around XXXX on XX/XX/2020 I got a text claiming to be from People 's United Bank ( the bank I use for personal banking ) asking me if a charge was fraudulent. Not having made the charge, I responded that yes, the charge was fraudulent. I immediately received a phone call from someone claiming to be from People 's United Bank. They asked me to confirm my identity by asking for my PIN number. I thought nothing of this, since when I go to People 's United in-person I am required to enter my pin to make any transactions on my account. The person on the phone told me that my account had been compromised and that I would be issued a new debit card. The person on the phone acted kind of strange -- quiet and not as friendly as I would expect a customer service person to be -- so I asked them to verify that they were from the Bank. They read off my social security number and then told me that they were calling from the People 's United hotline on the back of my debit card ( XXXX ), which they were. They then walked me through the process of issuing a new debit card. Finally, they said that they needed to test the fraud alerts on my account. They told me that I would receive a test alert. I received a test alert saying : " Did you try a XXXX charge at CHASE on card XXXX? Reply YES or NO '' and they told me to respond " YES '' to it, claiming that it was not real and just a test. 

As soon as I hung up the phone, I realize that the situation was deeply wrong. I checked my checking account, and sure enough, money was starting to flow out it. Meanwhile, they somehow accessed my savings account and money was being transferred from my savings to my checking. I immediately ran to the People'e United branch near my office ( on XXXX XXXX in XXXX, MA XXXX. The staff there listened to my story, were extremely helpful, and promised over and over that I would " get all of my money back ''. Since it was XXXX on a Friday afternoon, they froze my accounts and told me to come back next week to file a claim. I returned to the branch the next Wednesday, after all of the charges had cleared -- like they told me to. We reviewed the charges on my account -- there were over {$1100.00} in withdrawals from a XXXX ATM in XXXX Florida. This seemed impossible to me since I had my debit card in my hand the entire time. I didn't understand how someone could be using my checking information at an ATM in another state. I filed a claim, while the staff continued to promise that I would " get all of my money back ''. 

A few days later, I received a letter in the mail from People 's United Bank stating that they had conducted an investigation and found that they were not liable for the fraud on my account. That day, I called the People'e United Branch I had been working with. They reiterated that I would " get all my money back '' and that the branch manager would contact the Fraud department and get the decision changed. That was on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called the branch to check on the status on my claim. The woman who had been helping me this whole time told me that they had tried to help but there was actually no way I was getting my money back. She claimed that since I had given out my PIN, the liability fell completely on me. My understanding was that as long as I reported the fraud charges to the bank promptly that the bank would give me my money back. I feel strongly that People 's United Bank should honor my claim and help me get my money back. I am wondering what steps the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will take on my behalf to resolve this dispute.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation