Consumer complaint received 2021-08-16
Company: BBVA FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Timeline of Factual Events : 1. On XX/XX/2021, our computer was hacked by a XXXX employee impersonator ( XXXX XXXX ) and we fell victim of sending our money to a BBVA impersonator/scammer ( XXXX XXXX ). XXXX said he worked in an investigation department within BBVA and that someone at our branch was attempting to access our bank account and that we needed to withdraw our money and open a new bank account. We were told that our branch was being investigated. The scammer gave us information to give to the bank and told us to request an international wire transfer in the amount of {$44000.00}. XXXX said due to the branch being under investigation, our new account was not to be connected to this branch and he told us to say property purchase as the reason for the transfer. XXXX XXXX, BBVA financial consultant, clarified the information that he typed on the international wire transfer form and he told us that because it was after the cut-off time, that the bank would send the transfer the following day. 
2. On XX/XX/2021, around XXXX XXXX, we returned to the bank and notified the branch manager, XXXX , that we realized we had been scammed. XXXX told us that he would need to submit a wire recall request, that the request would be sent to the investigation department, and that it wasnt likely that the money had been picked up yet by the scammer, and that the usual international wire transfer takes 2 days or more. He also revealed to us that when he saw us in the bank the day before and overheard what we were doing and that when he saw XXXX step outside the bank to make a phone call that he had a strong feeling that what we were doing was fraud, and decided not to say anything to us.

3. Between XX/XX/XXXX, the banking staff could not provide us with any updated information and said they did not know the status of the recall request and that a resolution could take several days. The staff did mention that the money could be in an intermediary bank. We did not know what this meant and let it be known that we wanted to speak to someone who could answer our questions. XXXX gave us the name and phone number of the district manager, XXXX XXXX, and we called and left a message for her. 
4. On XX/XX/2021, we received a call from BBVA district manager, XXXX XXXX She said our money was at an intermediary bank and that BBVA was still waiting to hear from the intermediary bank. She said that once BBVA was notified about the status of the money, that we would then be informed.

5. Between XX/XX/XXXX, we still had not heard from either the branch manager or the district manager. We felt that we had waited long enough for BBVA to know whether the money had been deposited into the beneficiarys ( scammers ) account, so we called XXXX XXXX district manager, to request an update on the status of the investigation. She said she would forward our request to the operations manager, XXXX XXXX. 
6. On XX/XX/2021, XXXX XXXX called us and said our money was gone ; that it had been picked up early-on from XXXX XXXX. She didnt give a specific date that this had occurred. 
7. On XX/XX/2021, XXXX XXXX, client care analyst, called us and said she was reviewing the incident and would see if some or all of our money could be returned to us although there was no guarantee. We informed her what the operations manager had told us. XXXX said she was still going to seek answers to our questions regarding the wire recall process. We wanted her to find out : what time the recall request was sent to BBVAs investigation department, when the money was sent or arrived to the intermediary bank, and whether a freeze was put on our account. We also told her that the BBVA phone number given to us by the XXXX impersonator matched the number on the back of our debit card, and that this was why we believed the impersonators were legitimate. We further told her that due to our concern about the phone number being the same as on the back of our debit card and the possibility that BBVAs internal operations could truly be compromised in some way, that we reported this to XXXX in the customer care department. He opened a case and gave us claim # XXXX. 
8. On XX/XX/2021, XXXX XXXX called and said there was nothing new to report. She further indicated that there was no way to explain how the BBVA phone number given to us by the scammers could be the same number on the back of our debit card. We told her we would search our phone company call history. We told her we would forward her a copy of the report written by detective XXXX who had investigated another phone number given to us by the scammer. His report revealed that the number used by XXXX was an ( XX/XX/XXXX ) VoIP number from XXXX, North Dakata and that XX/XX/XXXX VoIP numbers are used throughout the world by suspects who commit internet fraud to mask their true identities from law enforcement. 
9. On XX/XX/2021, XXXX XXXX called and we informed her that the BBVA phone number did not appear in our phone company call history. She said the money was gone and that it had been picked up by the scammers. She would not say when it had been picked up, when the money got to the intermediary bank and whether a freeze had been placed on our account after we initiated the wire recall request.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation