Consumer complaint received 2020-06-30
Company: SANTANDER BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I was scammed on XX/XX/20 as I responded to an XXXX  bill that was originally sent to me via my email. I responded immediately on XX/XX/20 by calling XXXX customer care to dispute this bill that stated that I purchased a game, I did not purchase it. I began speaking with the XXXX XXXX XXXX service representative and asked for confirmation that it was XXXX, they confirmed yes. I continued to dispute the bill, with a man who claimed he was going to help me rectify the problem. He asked me to check my IP address to see if it was private or public, He walked me thru how to do this, I confirmed it was public, then we spoke about the game purchase and he claimed he saw the purchase and asked me if I have plugged my cell phone in any public area, or if I have used any money transfer apps. To be clear he never asked me for any passwords, or anything private. He seemed professional and knowledgeable. 
At first I said no but it came to me that I had printed pictures through XXXX, and I have received and sent XXXX XXXX  transactions in the past. 
This representative whom I thought was a legitimate XXXX representative said that me using XXXX XXXX was the problem, he reported I was hacked through my XXXX XXXX  as well as my savings account through my bank has also been compromised. He instructed me to transfer money from my savings to checking to avoid further fraud payments through XXXX XXXX. He said he can help me save my identity from being completely compromised. As we continued to speak over a three hour time span he instructed me this can take a long time and to be patient due to Corona virus stores weren't open and that he had to connect to the sever etc, basically asking me to be patient etc. 
At this time he then instructed me to authorize Santander Bank when it pops up so that my transfer would go through as he reassured me that the money that was hacked through XXXX XXXX was going to be reversed one by one and that I have to be patient because it takes time. He instructed me to shut off my computer and to not take incoming calls or texts as they would interrupt the server and the process while trying to supposedly reverse the charges that were supposedly already taken from my account. Ultimately by the middle of the conversation we lost touch through bad connection he called back, we spoke again for a while he reported that he needed me to download a app called XXXX XXXX so he could remotely help me reverse multiple charges from XXXX, Massachusetts, California, Florida etc. I did as instructed, we lost connection again, I called him back he continued to ask me to respond to XXXX XXXX sent payments by reporting to him what color the screen was once I would push send. Often the refunds from XXXX XXXX would come through so I definitely thought I was reversing the payments. when I questioned this he responded by saying the screen turning a certain color is demonstrating that the charges are being reversed and my account is replenishing itself. 
Unfortunately this went on for three hours all along instead draining my account not replenishing. I was completely unaware. After my husband came home the man on the line pretending to be an XXXX representative seemed anxious and requested me to purchase a gift card from XXXX to use for future purchases to avoid future scams he said it would cost {$500.00}, at that point I started feeling uncomfortable and suspicious of him as did my husband, he then instructed me immediately to reset my phone so that future hackers can't get my IP address and that I don't lose my identity, he said my social media etc will be hacked. I declined purchasing a gift card but reset my phone per his request, but was nervous about that as I didn't know what I was really doing he supposedly helped me through it and then when I completed it he abruptly hung up, right after my husband and I didn't feel comfortable and tried to call XXXX XXXX but could not get through or even find a resolution center until finally now I found this opportunity. Unfortunately this is exactly a week later, after finding out my account was depleted of thousands of dollars and in the negative for {$1500.00}. Through False Pretenses I followed instructions to rectify a serious problem of identity fraud and now I am in desperate need of your help to investigate and resolve this matter as soon as possible. When I first reached out to XXXX XXXX there was no solution, please help me.

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