Consumer complaint received 2022-08-02
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: GA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
My name is XXXX XXXX and I am a Truist customer. I have been banking with Suntrust years prior to the merger and I've never faced fraudulent activity of this caliber since the merger of the two firms, Suntrust and BB & T. 

I have been dealing with these issues since XXXX. I am a recent XXXX XXXX looking within the job market. I was under the impression that I was employed remotely with the company XXXX, and I was sent checks for the purchase of office equipment. I sent the first check through XXXX to the " equipment suppliers '' after doing a mobile deposit and no red flags were raised because Truist cleared this money. I believe the next day I was messaged by someone on XXXX, where I announced my job opportunity, she then alerted me that it may be a scam. These scammers sent her a check as well, but luckily for her, her bank detected that the check was fraudulent and no further action was taken. I had just been sent another check that day, which was also cleared by the bank, but instead of sending it, I let it sit within my account. 

Realizing my predicament, I sat on the phone for hours to speak with a Truist representative to get hung up on twice and then finally be told I need to go into a branch to create a claim. After that, I went to the bank to freeze the account and cancel all credits and deposits coming into the account. The money that was sitting in my account was removed by the clerk and my claim was filed. The next day a police report was filed. 

There was paperwork that needed to be filled out, it needed to be sent back into the claims department within 10 days of them sending it through the mail or your claim would become invalid. I believed this was infeasible, and after 6 days of waiting I was finally able to get a Trusit representative to email the documents because they still had not arrived in the mail. I filled out the paperwork, I added my police report case number and emailed back the documents. The original claims paperwork arrived over two weeks later, way past the 10-day period. I signed all the documents they needed me to sign to authorize the claim to remove liability from me. My claim journey began. 

( **side note : Before moving to Suntrust I was a XXXX client. I was hit with fraudulent activity there because someone got ahold of my bank information. The case was resolved, the account was closed and I was reimbursed for my loss all within the same day of filing that fraudulent claim. *** ) Truist representatives, not all but some, gave attitude to me as I tried to resolve these issues both through their call centers and within the banks. They were not very knowledgeable, every representative had a different explanation for my account and its activity. I was recommended from department to department to review my case. I was told that I would not be held liable for all the overdraft fees and miscellaneous fees that have since appeared on my account since the beginning of the claim. I was told my police report would remove liability from me to be forced to pay the fraudulent check money back. I have also been given the excuse that it takes Truist 5-7 business days before a check is reviewed through mobile deposit which is why the check was cashed. Which in turn, also means that scammers have 5-7 business days to receive the funds before Truist can identify that the activity is fraudulent. Allowing these organizations to cash checks that can not be tracked or traced back to the person the money was sent to. 

My account is now - ( {$2000.00} ) dollars and my claim for reimbursement has been denied because, according to the mail I received, " The client has not suffered a net loss of funds ''. I've called multiple and different departments about this decision, I was told there was nothing they could do and I was told to report to a branch. I reported to a branch and they told me there is nothing they could do, I need to call the department. I was sent back and forth before finally being told my account is still under investigation, which disregards and invalidates the letter I received. The teller could not hand me any tangible proof that my case was still under investigation. I quote, " They're trying to get them, the scammers, to send the money back. '' So my question was, " Will I still be held liable if the scammers dont send the money back? I can guarantee they will not, it's their job as scammers. '' Then the teller shrugged as a response. 

I, again, called multiple departments to file a rebuttal because I was constantly being redirected or told it's a different department that handles rebuttal claims. After two weeks, I was finally able to get the rebuttal filed. Again, I received no tangible paperwork to support the claim through email or mail. By mid-XXXX, Truist sent me a notice saying that the account will be closed and the difference left will be reported to my credit. I called the bank to be told my rebuttal has not been recognized in the system yet. After another two weeks, I reached out again because I had not heard from them. As I predicted, they could not obtain the money their system cleared and sent to the scammers, so my rebuttal was denied. 

As I said earlier, I am a recent XXXX XXXX. I have a XXXX  checking account with Truist. It is not fair of Truist, as a bank, to have a faulty system where their customers lie and remain the main victims. The firm is refusing to take any blame for the activity among customer accounts. They simply released a statement saying that, " Our customers are our main priority ... '' but show otherwise when their customers need them.

Waiting within the lobby areas of Truist branches to speak with representatives, I learned I was not the only one there disputing a fraudulent charge on an account. Suntrust customers are reporting checks being cashed that 1. ) weren't even endorsed and 2. ) are BB & T checks. These customers have been with Suntrust for 10+ years and never BB & T, yet the bank still allowed these checks to not only be cleared but dispersed. I've researched more and found that since the merger, I am not the only one who has had issues with Truist and their fraud security problem. Small businesses, families and individuals alike have all been negatively affected because scammer organizations realize there is weakness in Truist 's security and these scam organizations are exploiting it. Instead of Truist protecting and helping minimize the damages occured, we, the customers, are being blamed and held liable for the occurence. 

Truist 's customers are the ones who are truly being harmed from their lack of security since this merger. This is not just about mobile deposits, there are cases where people have checks being cashed from outside of the state in which they reside and Truist is clearing them, leaving people with over $ XXXX worth of losses. The bank doesn't reimburse this money to clients, cardholders are expected to pay it back to the bank. 

Truist bank is active on social media platforms in order to speak directly with their clients. Since the fraudulent activity, clients have spilled into their comments throughout different social media platforms expressing their frustrations and anger with Trusit bank. Since then, the bank has cut off their commenting on all their social platforms, they've stopped responding to customer direct messaging through these platforms, and they've also had their representatives on XXXX cut off their messaging ability. The bank is closing off communication from their clients. Call centers and branch visits go nowhere. 

I have filed a complaint with the XXXX  and I am filing a complaint with the Department of Banking and Finance as well as Consumer Finance. We, their customers, are being ignored and forced to pay money to them for their faults. I don't believe that is fair, also considering that prior to the merger, both Suntrust and BB & T were fairly trusted banks. Now, customers are pulling their money from Truist and banking elsewhere before any more damages can be done. A firm that publicly claims to have their customers best interest prioritized yet ignores their customer in their time of need

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