Consumer complaint received 2023-07-14
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem using a debit or ATM card
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (FL)

Between XX/XX/XXXX- XX/XX/, someone fraudulently withdrew {$1200.00} from my Chase checking account using non-Chase ATMs in XXXX, XXXX ( in the same time period, I legitimately withdrew a total of {$160.00} from ATMs myself, just to be clear ; this amount is not included in the {$1200.00} of fraudulent withdrawals ). I submitted a claim for {$460.00}, since they said they would only consider reimbursement for a XXXX window of the fraudulent withdrawals, and they ended up denying all of that amount anyways. 

I was warned about a convenience store here in XXXX that uses fake debit card readers at the checkout/register. When a customer inserts their debit card, the transaction will fail, but the fake debit card reading machine will steal/duplicate the information a customer enters into the fake machine, including the chip identifier, card number, pin number, etc. This apparently allows the owner of the fake debit card reader to create a " clone '' instance of your debit card, which they can proceed to use at ATMs as much as they want. The ATM reads the cloned card, and interprets the transaction as being made with the original legitimate debit card, even though it is an illegally duplicated copy of the original/actual debit card. 

I filed the claim with Chase, who promptly denied it, and said the reason was because " ATM transactions can only be made with legitimate debit cards '' - as if it is impossible for someone to clone a debit card, which is simply false. I know this is fraud because I know I never withdraw more than {$100.00} at a time from ATMs, nor did I use ATMs myself more than 4 times over the same time period. There was also another fraudulent ATM withdrawal yesterday for {$170.00} ( I left my apartment at XXXX for work, returned at XXXX, had my debit card in my pocket the entire time, and I didn't touch an ATM whatsoever ). I called Chase 's fraud department many more times ( for a total of 3+ hours and at least 6 different phone calls, all of which are recorded ). They informed me that the burden of proof is on me, not them, and that I needed to prove I physically had the card in a different state when the ATM withdrawals were made, otherwise they won't even consider taking another look at the claim. 

It is my understanding that this is illegal on their part - as far as I can tell, the burden of proof is legally not on the consumer in banking situations like this, but is on the banks. When I explained this to the representatives on the phone calls ( which, again, are recorded ), they refused to elaborate on why they practice this policy, stating that they don't want to be on record verbalizing what their policies imply. Now I fear they will not reopen my claim, and told me I need to send evidence ( receipts from other states, plane tickets / boarding passes, paper copies of transactions, etc. ) proving that I was out of state when transactions took place via fax machine to them, and hopefully wait for them to decide to reopen the claim. I don't have access to a fax machine ( as I'd imagine most people don't ), so JP Morgan Chase is not only illegally placing the burden of proof on their customers, but they also make it unreasonably difficult for their customers to receive reimbursement of fraudulent ATM charges, even if they have all necessary evidence. 

ATMs generally have cameras. Chase refuses to use the camera footage as evidence, even though this footage will clearly show the face of anyone who uses the ATM. Apparently, the reason they won't use camera footage is that a person could've given someone else their debit card and pin number, and had someone else withdraw money on their behalf. What this means is that Chase implicitly accuses their own customers of committing fraud every single time a customer reports an ATM withdrawal as fraudulent. I believe this practice by Chase is blatantly illegal, but even if there's a legal loophole in their obligations to their customers, it is certainly deceptive and exploitative, at best. 

Based on this chain of events, a bank as massive as XXXX should be investigated for illegally handling all ATM fraud cases, with the exception of those where a debit card was physically lost ( as someone could have legitimately found the original card & used it fraudulently, which is a very different situation than this one ). I highly doubt I am the first person this has happened to, and based on the number of clients they have, I am confident they are well-aware of how their policies come to fruition. I'm sure it ends up saving them hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars every year by refusing to help their customers recoup what was stolen from them.