Consumer complaint received 2024-06-30
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem using a debit or ATM card
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (TX)

We write to provide the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau information regarding experiences with Chase Bank and express our continued frustration with Chase that has done damage to our trust in the bank. There has been a series of fraud related activity involving our account and Chase has chosen to place the blame on long-time customers instead of communicating and asking questions during the investigative process. The below highlights two incidents and requests reimbursement for both.

The incident involving charges in XXXX XXXX ( XXXX # XXXX ) was broken up into two claims. Chase deemed that this was not fraud on XX/XX/year> and partially reimbursed us, finally. However, they have inexplicably denied the second of the two claims related to Incident # 1.

The second incident occurred in XXXX, Florida ( Incident # 2 ). Chase asked for documents and supporting photographs related to Incident # 2. This upload included photographs of me possessing the card in question in Texas ( far from XXXX ), on the phone with Chase at my home reporting the fraud ( as it was happening ), and much more. Chase made the conscious decision to not reach out and ask for context to these photos ( even though we were told that they would reach out if context was needed ).

Between these two incidents I have now spent countless hours on the phone with Chase trying to get answers and continue to be left appalled at the lack of communication from Chase and how they disregard obvious fraud and evidence. Instead, they have made the decision to directly blame the customer. I will now go on to provide a detailed explanation of this pattern of fraud Chase is ignoring.

Incident Number One - {$970.00} Outstanding I woke up on XX/XX/XXXX to a Fraud Alert on my phone for {$2500.00} at The XXXX in XXXX XXXX, Nevada. The alert had happened while I was sleeping and I immediately checked my account. To my dismay our checking account had been drained in XXXX XXXX. The charges primarily occurred at The XXXX and the Passport Bar. This was despite the fact that Chase had asked if it was fraud and then allowed the transactions to process without a response.

We also received a notification that our cell phone was unenrolled from XXXX with Chase.

I promptly logged into my Chase Mobile app and learned that despite the above alert someone had drained the money from my checking account. 

These transactions occurred in XXXX XXXX, Nevada. My card was with me in Texas. We called Chase immediately and reported the fraud. We were stunned to learn that despite the fraud alert Chase allowed someone to drain our account.

We followed up with Chase several times and we were told that there was an ongoing investigation. Suddenly, after having to call back on the XXXX day, Chase informed us that the claim was denied because the individuals had a hard copy of the card ( it was with us in XXXX, TX ) and they used the PIN. We were told, by Chase, that there is no way it was not us. Chase customer service said that there is no way to get information from debit cards and there is no way to steal PIN via skimming. However, this is physically impossible, as we were in XXXX, Texas, and no one knows our information. 

Further, simple online research suggests that Chase is either incorrect, or lies to consumers. I assume that Chase is aware of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX investigations related to skimming. Video XXXX XXXX XXXX takes action against card skimming - XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) The FBI homepage regarding skimming immediately mentions that the PIN can be vulnerable. We called Chase approximately one week
before Incident # 1 because our email was signed up for almost hundreds of listservs and research indicates this is a trend known as spam bombing. This occurs to distract users of potentially illicit activity regarding their information ( or banking ). Most concerning, we received a text, similar to the one we received the night of the subject incident, indicating we had been unenrolled from XXXX. Chase assured us that our account was secure during this phone call.

Chase issued the refund for one of the two claims involving Incident Number 1. However, they continue to deny the second of the claims because the PIN was used correctly. Obviously if our information was comprised they would get the PIN correct. They have now denied the claim three times.

Incident Number 2 - {$490.00} Outstanding On XX/XX/XXXX, our account was once again compromised. We received the same message that indicated the phone number was, once again, unenrolled from XXXX. 

We were on the phone with Chase as the scammers tried to process another transaction and we were able to stop that one from processing.

We later found that Chase had somehow allowed our mailing address to be temporarily changed to a XXXX address. We fixed that as soon as we noticed. However, it is quite suspicious. This XXXX address appears to be an actual residence.

Given that Chase somehow was still blaming us for Incident # 1 and the account continued to be compromised. I walked into a Chase Bank in Texas and withdrew the vast majority of the money left in our account the morning of Incident Number 2. This was because we were done with Chase accusing its customers of being the bad actors and had eroded our trust. This establishes that we were not present in XXXX and were not the individuals draining money from our account again.

There is clearly a massive security issue at Chase and they have chosen to blame the customer instead of conducting a thorough investigation of the claims at hand.

Perhaps most concerning is the fact that NO ONE at Chase contacted us to request information related to documents we previously uploaded. They claim that a thorough investigation was completed, however, no investigator ever contacted us or asked for more information.

We have attached letters to our complaint that were sent to Chase and include photographs and evidence to support our complaint above.