Consumer complaint received 2024-04-18
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (HI)

On XX/XX/XXXX, I deposited a XXXX $ check from my father, which was intended to pay me back for spending $ XXXX on his medical expenses when he did not have access to his funds. I deposited my check, and on XX/XX/XXXX, Chase put a hold on my account for " potential '' fraud, which a representative told me was due to the fact that " it was unclear if the check was intended for you, '' because " the name is not clear on the check. '' The statement says " Due to recent activity, or because we need more information from you, we have restricted your account ( s )... .and may close it soon. We understand this is inconvenient, but protecting against fraud is a top priority. Please act quickly to better understand the restriction on your account- you may be able to provide information needed to keep it open... Please call us at XXXX quickly to see if we can address the issue. We look forward to speaking with you ... '' On XX/XX/XXXX, I called the number and I asked them to verify this check with the person on file, and they first accidentally called my old phone number ( which I used to register with Chase in XXXX ) and then called a completely random number that was not associated with my father in any way. The first person I spoke to told me that they could take my father 's number from me and call him ; I told him that it was XXXX ( in my local time ), and he might not be awake but it would be okay to try. The man then said " oh, we can not call then '' because " we only work after XXXX '' to which I said " but is it not XXXX in EST already? '' to which he replied " well we work in local time, '' which was inconsistent. The second person told me that the " back office '' would have to review and would clear the check eventually. The third person told me that there was nothing they could do because the number of my father was not verified I needed to seek a " stop pay '' from the other bank if I wanted this check to not go through. Finally, on XX/XX/XXXX, the fourth person I called said that I need to " verify [ my father 's ] number in the public record '' such as through " a company like XXXX XXXX XXXX '' in order for them to even contact him to verify the check. When I asked if the company would return the {$5000.00} to the issuing bank ( my father 's bank ) they said that they " are unable to do that '' and the money would " stay with Chase '' until " the verification can be performed '' even if they ultimately decided to close my account. My father called his service provider to seek " verification '' and they said that it was " weird '' and that they had " never gone through the process of listing a number publicly, '' as it was " not something that they do. '' They said that they " do not know how to make the number more public '' because although " some people have their numbers blocked from the public record, '' my father 's number " was not restricted and caller ID is registered to his name. '' Essentially, Chase " can not '' " verify '' the check but has given inconsistent feedbackfirst telling me that it would be " okay '' to call him but would not because " it was too early, '' then telling me that they could not verify the number repeatedly until finally telling me that I could " register '' the number with the service provider for my father 's cell phone, although when I did call the service provider they had no idea what that process was supposed to be. I did nothing wrong here, and I am in danger of losing {$5000.00} that should have been deposited to my account.