Consumer complaint received 2019-07-18
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
On my last vacation, in XX/XX/XXXX, I experienced some bank fraud beginning shortly after XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and lasting up till moment of debit card cancellation on same date through Chase customer service department in lost or stolen card reporting transfered me to Claims Department to give details regarding timeline when card was last in my posession. I was very clear with reporting it was last in my hand when paying for {$1.00} water at XXXX Gas Station between XXXX and XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and that nothing else was spent by me on this card. During this crime spree approximately {$2900.00} was taken out of my Chase bank account by way of debit card and utilizing my PIN, where only two-thirds were returned through the fraud department at Chase. I am very thankful they were able to identify the usage of the card through erratic service attainment ( breakfast, car wash, lunch, 2 purchases of exact same high dollar amount at XXXX & again at XXXX ) through their multicity Louisianna-run as some kind of " hallmark of fraud '' and after much communication with Chases service center & customer complaint department I was able to have the fraud department reconsider their finding that this was fraud activity by my 2nd request at a resubmission after they previously denied my claim. Unfortunately, the portion of claim Chase refuses to accept as fraud were 3 withdrawals, in rapid succession, directly from a Chase ATM equalling to the amount of {$1000.00}. that began AFTER Chases identification of legitimate fraud activity ( and funds returned to my account through assistance of fraud department ) and before the END of fraud activity Chase identifies as legitimate on that date of fraud. In other words, the amount identified by fraud department as fraud for which funds were returned to my account spanned the time prior to the three fraudulent withdrawals till after the three withdrawals yet they are still refusing to acknowledge the three withdrawals as fraud. I believe the withdrawals were rejected as " fraud '' by Chase because it was submitted as a separate fraud claim a few days after the event when I returned home and looked at my bank statement online. Yet the ATM withdrawals occurred AFTER the first 2 debit card fraud amounts - and those first two debit card fraud amounts we're identified by myself when speaking the first time to the fraud department on the very date they occured allowing enough time for fraud department to address the purchases and withdrawals originally as all a single claim of fraud being reported on day of occurance. I had let them know several times that my card was out of my own control at the moment the first two fraudulent charges occurred at a XXXX Gas Station. And I reiterated this several times so as to be clear. ( But Fraud Department is still refusing to see the chronology of events that include thes ATM withdrawals as being " during thhe legitimed time of Fraud activty '' as deemed by their department. Anything that occurred from the moment going forward from the XXXX gas station had not been within my control. That would include the ATM withdrawals, but I do not remember the customer service fellow ( that I spoke to regarding fraudulent amounts coming out of my account 8 hours earlier ) mentioning to me anything about ATM debits coming out of my account on occurance date ( XX/XX/XXXX ) at XXXX XXXX Chase offers no communication as to how they demonstrate that I have authorized these charges in the midst of a crime spree nor are they offering statement of how I specifically acted so negligent as to have played easily into the hand of a criminal. The details following as reported to claims were such that any average citizen would have assumed the debit card handed back to them was their own in this case. 

The chronology of events are as such : I entered a XXXX ride from a venue called XXXX XXXX XXXX   and was driven to the XXXX gas station at approximately XXXX in the morning. I went inside very quickly and chose a water very quickly and brought it to the service attendant very quickly because of the desire to leave the service station very quickly as it was a crime ridden part of the XXXX XXXX   that the XXXX driver decided to stop at to reset her GPS to navigate me to my hotel. I bought the water using my ATM debit card but the service attendant requested I place it in a very large, retro looking card reader with a extremely large pin pad that was very easy for him to read my numbers on since the large buttons were spread apart. When I determined that this retro-looking card reader was not reading my card he asked to hold my card while he swipes it on his register. Unbenounced to me at the time, that was the last time I saw that card since another Chase debit card was handed back to me that I found out the next morning did not have my name on it. From that XXXX occurrence there were two amounts that were not the {$1.00} bottle of water that I intended to be charged for. Two XXXX charges were made that early Friday morning rather than the expected charge of the {$1.00} water that was brought to the counter. It was an unauthorized charge after i had left the gas station of {$39.00} and of {$34.00}. Not knowing yet that I had the wrong card in my wallet returned to me from the service attendant I had arrived to my room and went to bed. By approximately XXXX XXXX that morning I went online and looked at my account and saw many charges going through my account that I hadn't authorized. They were all out of chronological order however and it wasn't plain at that time for me to see where the ATM withdrawals were included. I almost believe that the ATM withdrawals werent evident to myself or the claims person due to not showing having posted yet. Or if they HAD posted and i was asked by the claims person about these withdrawals I may have assumed they were withdrawals from the Friday prior that were just posting on Monday morning ( since I stopped a few times during that vacation to take out cash in attempt to budget myself early on in the trip ). So I'm not sure if I communicated 2 the customer service in claims department that I had made those withdrawals thinking it was several days prior before everything would start batching on a Monday or weather we didn't address it seeing as how all the items of fraudulent charges were coming out of chronological order and it didn't at first appear on the chase website as occurring during that seemed early morning crime spree. It was at that time, approx. XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ( Monday morning ) that I had told the claims department that everything since approximately XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX when I was at the XXXX station all charges to that debit card were not authorized by me. That would include also the ATM withdrawals. I was able to tell him that the very last time that debit card had been in my control was moments earlier at a venue called XXXX XXXX XXXX and it was at their ATM machine. After that period of time it was obvious that the card was no longer in my control since the charge at XXXX was not registered for the water that I bought. It was instead divided by two different charges at much greater total then the cost of water. 

From that explanation to claims department only the items used to make purchases were researched and I was aware that the customer service and I hadn't dwelled further on ATM withdrawals that unwittingly occurred within the period of fraud spree. Once I returned home I then looked at my online account again to see, if for some reason, any other amounts were coming out of my account despite the customer service cancelling my card and I found a restructuring in chronological order that included these ATM amounts being withdrawn from my account amidst the other unauthorized debits. It was now visible that this large amount had come out of my account during that same crime spree. I then called claims department to include the claim of these withdrawals as well. It was a couple weeks later that I hear back from the fraud department that they declined seeing any of my claims as being fraud. I then resubmitted and there was a judgement in my favor that the purchases using my debit card were of fraud. The claims personnel told me at the time that because I submitted the withdrawal out of my ATM as a second claim approximately 3 days later that they see it not as fraud. That it could have been a setup prior to fraud that I was involved in. I have much to say about this, how uniquely coincidental that I would attempt to fraud the bank DURING the time someone else has stolen my card and created fraud on that card as wel, yet how would i be able to make an ATM withdrawal of {$1000.00} without card in hand anymore.. I also am completely disheartened as to how Chase would only see this as my problem and not a threat to all customers when they are truly ignoring the facts in this case which is the timeline of fraud activity which included ATM withdrawals after the first activity of fraud I had told them about for which they agreed ultimately was fraud beginning at the XXXX Station. 
I'm aware that it is my responsibility to be in view of a debit card being returned back to me as being only my debit card and I have certainly learned to never be complacent having a card returned back to me. But, I am also aware of chases fraud prevention policy and that it includes 100 % return of money to the customer if called in in a timely manner and that of {$500.00} charge to the customer if called greater than 2 days later as to fraud activity. This hadn't been the case so I would ask them for evidence of credibility in their fraud department with regard to approaching the average customer with a disparity of how they implement policy compared to the written word of their policy, as well as the decision to overlook the chronology of fraudulent items which arent including this {$1000.00} withdrawal that began at XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX after the fraud items that Chase has already agreed to that began at XXXX at approx. XXXX XXXX prior. 
Thank you on behalf of all Chase customers and for allowing Chase to move into the future with an improvement in policy integrity. 

Sincerely, XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief