Consumer complaint received 2022-01-20
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
XXXX Chase Card ending in XXXX Summary : My credit card was fraudulently used to purchase and pick up an XXXX at a XXXX location while I am out of the country. I have sought to resolve this issue directly with my credit card company but they have refused to recognize the charge as fraudulent. I am seeking for this charge to be removed from my account immediately. 

Below is a detailed timeline of events surrounding this case. 


Timeline of Events Regarding Fraudulent Card Purchase XX/XX/XXXX I and my family moved overseas for a work assignment in XXXX. As of this date, every purchase on my XXXX Chase card since has been for XXXX. I exclusively use this card for XXXX purchases when overseas and have not used it for any other merchant. The address associated with the card is still in XXXX, GA at my parents current residence. However, the physical card is in my possession in XXXX and has been since moving here. There are no authorized users on my account beside myself and I have not given my card number to anyone else. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX I logged into my Chase phone application to check my bill for the month and noticed a charge of {$1500.00} dated XX/XX/XXXX that had just hit the card and was still pending. The merchant was listed as XXXX. It was after closing hours so I had to wait until the next morning to contact Chase. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX AM Thinking it was probably an internet scam, I contacted XXXX Chase fraud services department by phone immediately upon opening hours. I reported the charge as fraud and was told that the charge would be removed from my account and not to make any payments related to it. I made my monthly payment to cover the remaining card fees. I also requested a new card since my card number had been compromised. Chase indicated they would immediately cancel the old card and re-issue a new one. I also requested for my phone number to be updated at this time. The phone number ( ending in XXXX ) associated with the account was an old one that I have not had since XXXX of XXXX. I requested it to be updated to my current phone number. 

XX/XX/XXXX The XXXX charge dropped from my account and I assumed all was well and handled under Chases zero liability policy. 

XX/XX/XXXX I received notice via the Chase application that my fraud claim had been reviewed and that I was deemed responsible for the XXXX charge since merchandise was billed to or shipped to your address ( Attachment XXXX XXXX. The charge was reapplied to my account. Puzzled, I phoned Chase and asked them to re-open the fraud investigation. Using the number associated with the charge that had hit my Chase card ( XXXX ) I was able to go through the XXXX XXXX website as a guest user to lookup the purchase information. I do not have an account with XXXX XXXX and I never have, but using the order number indicated on the credit card charge ( XXXX ) along with my old phone number ending in XXXX I was able to locate the order. The purchase information showed that on XX/XX/XXXX my card and name were used for an online purchase of an XXXX. The XXXX was picked up the same day in store at XXXX XXXX XXXX, GA. It is worth noting that the email address used was not my email address and the name used was not my full name ( my Chase card includes my middle name on the card ). 

I immediately sent an email to Chase fraud services including the following supporting documents : ( 1 ) Passport with visa stamp to show my entry to XXXX ( attachment XXXX and XXXX ), ( 2 ) XXXX flight receipt showing a one way ticket to XXXX as of XX/XX/XXXX ( attachment D ), ( 3 ) photo of my Chase credit card showing it is in my possession ( attachment XXXX ), and ( 4 ) screenshots of the XXXX order showing pickup in XXXX, GA under a different email address and phone number than my own ( attachment XXXX ). 

XX/XX/XXXX While waiting to hear back from the chase fraud investigation, I decided to contact XXXX XXXX XXXX and see what I could find out from their end. I spent over 2 hours on hold and spoke to three different people ( 2 in store, XXXX and XXXX, and 1 with their customer service system, XXXX ). Both people in store could not tell me who the designated pickup person on the order was. XXXX XXXX has a policy to check both credit card and ID on order pickup, but the employees could not verify if that had been done or not. After explaining the situation, I was placed on hold multiple times only to have the call dropped after a 20 minute wait. Finally I was patched through to a customer service rep at a call center for online services. She listened to my situation and indicated that she would open a ticket ( # XXXX ). She also stated that I should expect to hear from XXXX XXXX. I provided my email address for further contact but to this day have received nothing. 

XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter via the Chase application stating that the fraud claim had been reviewed and the transaction was still deemed as valid. No further reason was indicated. Notice that now the letter indicates account ending in XXXX since my old card had been closed and a new card issued ( Attachment XXXX ). 

XX/XX/XXXX I received a voicemail from Chase asking me to call the fraud center ( attachment XXXX  ). I called them back the same day and was told that the supporting documents I had sent in via email attachment could not be viewed because the format was unreadable ( they were all png and jpeg documents ). The representative asked me to re-send the documents and make sure they are screenshots included in the body of the email. I resent all of the documents the same day. I would like to point out that Chase sent a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX saying they deemed the my claim invalid but they contacted me on XX/XX/XXXX saying they were not able to see the supporting documents that I had attached. This seems to indicate that Chase does not WANT to see the evidence or adequately pursue the details regarding this fraud claim. 

XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX Realizing that Chase was not working with me on the fraud investigation and seemed rather to be working against me, I went ahead and contacted XXXX Police Department to file a police report regarding the unauthorized use of my card number. I spoke with officer XXXX and filed a police report with confirmation number XXXX ( attachment XXXX ). Officer XXXX asked if I wanted the case investigated. I asked what that would entail, and he said that if they investigated and found the person responsible then I would be required to come back from overseas and testify in court. I am currently XXXX weeks XXXX with my third child ( also have a XXXX year old and XXXX year old ) so I am unable to travel to the States for the foreseeable future. Also, considering plane tickets from XXXX to XXXX, GA cost upwards of {$1300.00} sometimes up to {$2000.00} round trip, the cost of the return trip would far exceed the fraudulent charge on my card of {$1500.00}. Due to these reasons, I was forced to indicate that I did not want the case investigated and only wanted the police report for documentation purposes. 

I did not initially file a police report because Chase immediately removed the charge from my account. I wrongly assumed it had been an online order ( XXXX  ) and that the charge had been stopped before the merchandise was delivered. When Chase re-applied the charge to my account over a month later, I was able to use the order number included in the charge detail to discover that the merchandise was picked up in store the same day of purchase. 

XX/XX/XXXX I received another notification from Chase via the phone application that my case had been reviewed but yet again charge is still deemed as valid ( attachment XXXX  ). Chase gave no further reason or proof as to why they believe the charge is valid. Though I have sent them an abundance of evidence, they are refusing to uphold their end of the cardholder agreement to protect their cardholders from fraudulent charges. Chase should have noticed the unusual activity from the time the XXXX charge originally hit the card. Every other card company I have used has been quick to contact me if a charge seemed unusual or out of my normal patterns. Chase, on the other hand, has continued to insist that a charge was valid even though I immediately reported the charge and have provided ample proof that I and the card were out of the country and had been for months prior to the fraudulent purchase. My card history itself showing exclusively purchases for XXXX XXXX over the prior three months should have been enough for Chase to recognize that the purchase was fraud and to stop the charge before it was even completed. Instead I have lost hours of time, lost sleep ( dealing with a XXXX hour time zone difference to make calls Stateside ), and am facing the possibility of debt collections over a {$1500.00} charge that I could not possibly have made and for an item that I could not possibly have picked up. Chase has failed to provide their reasoning for not recognizing this fraudulent claim as fraud, other than the fact that the address on the order matched the billing address for the card. It may be worth noting that as I am a XXXX XXXX  in the state of XXXX, anyone can look up my name and find my Stateside address as public information. Therefore Chases argument is extremely weak at best.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation