Consumer complaint received 2024-08-07
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (CA)

This is my recollection of the event to the best of my ability. 

On Monday XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX I went to Chase Bank in XXXX XXXX Ca XXXX to withdraw {$200.00} from XXXX XXXX thru ATM machine for pocket money. When I received the printed receipt for my withdrawal, I observed that the remaining available balance was far less than what it should have been. At that point, I went inside the bank and requested a print-out of my account from a window teller. That print-out showed a " pending '' online domestic wire transfer for {$17000.00} ( initiated at XXXX local time as verified by an agent of the bank at a subsequent meeting on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX ). The " pending '' wire transfer shown on the print-out is exactly quoted as : " Online Domestic Wire Transfer via : XXXX  XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 

Upon realizing the problem, I immediately told the teller that this pending transaction was unauthorized, that I did not initiate the wire transfer request, that it was indeed fraudulent and needed to be stopped immediately. The teller looked at the account details and saw that my wife was also a signator on the account and asked me if she possibly made the request to transfer the funds. Once I assured her that my wife had not made the request and does not even have online access to the account, the teller asked me to step aside and wait in the reception area of the bank until a " banker '' could provide me with service ( approximately XXXX - XXXX minutes ). Once I was with the banker ( XXXX? ) in a semi-private cubical, I explained the issue to him which prompted or initiated an internal investigation conducted on the telephone by the banker and other agents of the bank, including at least XXXX from the fraud department. During the interview and while discussing the details, the female agent on the phone told me that she could see a request for a transfer of {$15000.00} plus. I stopped her and told her " no '', the wire transfer was for {$17000.00}. She told me that I was correct and that she was seeing the pending transfer but also saw an additional request to transfer another {$15000.00} plus, that had been denied. Simultaneously, the banker ( XXXX XXXX, that I was sitting with in the bank cubicle, confirmed to me that there was a second unauthorized attempt to withdraw funds from the account, but that request had been denied. 
While discussing the details on the phone with the fraud department I requested again that the pending transfer be halted but was informed that the money was already sent to the recipient bank. They also informed me that they would put in a request to recipient bank to return the funds but that there was no guarantee the bank would comply. At that time, the banker told me that it would take approximately 5 days for the process to play out however, the agent in the fraud department said that they have 10 days to conduct the investigation and would get back to me via telephone once they have more information. Needless to say, as a senior citizen on a fixed income, I was upset and reeling. I am aware that my recall of the exact details of the interview may be a little blurred but I also suspect that the conversations that took place on the phone during the interview were recorded.

Over the course of the next few days, I filed reports with the local police department, the FTC-Identity Theft.com department and the IC3 division of the FBI. 
On XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX, I met with the branch manager / vice president of the bank to go over some of the details and to get a status report on my claim. While the manager was having a private conversation on the phone with agents from the claims and fraud departments, as we sat in his cubical, he informed me that my claim had been denied. He said the reasons for the denial were stated to be that my personal computer and cell phone were involved in the transfer and as far as they were concerned that the transfer was authorized. It took me a few minutes to process and get over the shock of the information that I was just told. I then asked the manager what if anything I could do to pursue the claim. He told me that they could put in a request to escalate claim, which I agreed to. 
On Monday, XX/XX/XXXX I returned to the bank to make some changes to my accounts with the intention of improving the security of my remaining assets. The agent that was assisting me at that time told me that I could expect to hear a response to my escalated claim with the next day or XXXX. 
On Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX I received a call from an agent of the claims department regarding the escalated claim. He informed me that my escalated claim had been denied and as far as they were concerned, unless I could produce evidence of fraud from a third-party source that the status of the claim would remain denied. He wished me good luck and said goodbye. 
I should say that I understand the posture of the bank but do not agree with their decision. Also, I feel that I have been abandoned by Chase Bank which I have done business with for 38 years without ever having made a claim. I am truly disappointed that this is the way Chase Bank treats its customers and hope in a small way to contribute to future changes in the laws that will ultimately hold banks responsible for their negligent activities. 

Thank You XXXX XXXX