Consumer complaint received 2022-01-05
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Hello we need your help we are senior citizens that have been taken advantage of by Chase bank. I feel I need to share my story as it affects all people that remotely deposit checks through their cell phones. 

Myself and my father-in-law are victims of a crime that encompassed a crime by the perpetrator, banking negligence and this could ( and will ) happen again and again unless people know. 

In late XXXX my father-in-law wrote me a check in the amount of over {$5000.00} dollars. 

I deposited the check remotely on my cell phone as I do most of my checks in fact with COVID all of my checks. I scribbled deposited on the check that was deposited with the intent to file the check away with my other checks. 

Somewhere along the line I lost track, maybe I threw it away, I dont know if it was stolen, if it dropped out of my notebook but somehow the deposited check that already cleared unbeknownst to me was missing. 

Later on in XXXX the check resurfaced and was redeposited by a criminal and then paid out once AGAIN by my father in-law. My father in-law noticed that the check was cashed again and called the bank. 

The bank manager XXXX XXXX at CHASE located in XXXX Center Drive in XXXX XXXX investigated the incident and determined that the check was washed the re-deposited. Check washing is a process, where mail snatchers erase the ink on a check with chemicals found in common household cleaning products and then reuse the checks by rewriting them to themselves. So once the Payee is removed they either write in cash or a persons name and go cash the check. 

Well that is exactly what happened to me and my father-in-law. Interestingly enough the bank personal are aware and even trained on the washing process. 

So heres where it gets really interesting because you would think if the bank has safeguards in place for this type of fraudulent behavior the perpetrators they ( the perpetrators ) would have a hard time redepositing the checks. 




Apparently CHASE does have this safeguard in place but in our instance and in my father-in-laws instance the check was deposited and cashed and paid twice and guess who paid twice you guessed we did!

Now heres where it gets really unbelievable. CHASE acknowledges the fact that they should have prevented this from happening in fact the perpetrator actually tried to deposit the check at an ATM and the ATM did in fact flag the check and bounced it back. Then they attempted to cash it at the bank and this time they succeeded.

So you would think with all of the insurance that these big banks have and the fact that they have irrefutably discovered that it was a fraudulent transaction, and that they know about washing checks they would pay us back, make us whole and offer an apology and perhaps a bottle of wine and dinner, maybe even interest.

However, thats far from what happened Chase has been completely unresponsive the branch manager at the Chase XXXX XXXX where my father-in-law has his account did say from the very beginning that the bank is doing its due diligence and we would be made whole in just a few weeks. A few weeks turn into months, a then a few months until finally the branch manager said I dont know what to do anymore they are just not cooperating with me I feel sorry for you, youre the victim we were wrong you are right I just dont understand why they wont cooperate. Thats great but I dont know why either and why are we even discussing this? 

Today the saga continues we have NOT been paid back, we have been placated strung along lied to but they have not risen to the occasion and made good on the check that they deposited twice and my father in-law and I paid twice they just simply took it out of our account and offered nothing in return other than excuses. 

Now we are at the point where we are turning to the institutions that govern banking such as the CFPB ( Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ) and hold CHASE accountable. 

Myself XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX ( my father in-law ) are available for comments and anxious to tell our story about the dangers of remote check deposits with CHASE. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief