Consumer complaint received 2024-03-03
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: Chime Financial Inc (IN)

Complaint Hello My name is XXXX XXXX, Im here to make a complaint my complaint is with Chime. Chime is an institution where you can deposit your cash, payroll checks direct deposit, and even use to make online purchases. Chime is located at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX. Ive been a active member of Chime for right at XXXX years never had a issue of disputing or needing to reverse any of my transactions during that time but on XX/XX/XXXX I became a victim of what recognized it to be fraud or some sort of fraudulent scam. 

I usually have my payroll checks deposited every Friday but for some reason on this particular Friday my paycheck wasnt deposited so I reached out to Chime to see if there was an issue as to why. So I went online to XXXX to retrieve Chime customer service number and proceeded to acquire Chimes customer service information. Once I found it I tapped on the number and a Chime representative ( who i assumed was a Chime representative at the moment ) came on the phone and asked me what I needed I told them I was checking to see if my employer had released my paycheck and why havent it posted. 

The chime person look at my chime account on their end and replied to me that my Chime account had a hold on it. Which the previous night prior I had been receiving notification that XXXX XXXX  had tried to charge my Chime card. Since I hadnt made any purchases on XXXX or XXXX I replied no and they sent a message saying no money had been taken out my account. This happened approximately three times that night which wasnt normal so when the posing Chime person said it was a hold on my account I assumed that was the reason. The Chime person posing proceeded to tell me that in order to unhold my account I would have to transfer my funds to a secure account to them while on the phone with the Chime person. The posing chime person sent some sort of codes to type in to my phone and I went along with the process. The chime poser sent several codes and emails each was supposedly to secure the funds and unhold my account. After a couple of steps I noticed my account funds were decreasing so I asked what was going on and he replied these are the necessary steps. After that he ask me to download an app to help with this process since each time we tried it was not unholding. The app was a screen share app XXXX where they pretended to be helping to unhold my account while walking me through the steps. It ended up being XXXX steps each step my funds were being deleted from my Chime account. After the few steps the posing Chime representative told me to wait 30 minutes and my funds would show up where they originally were. So I waited patiently not knowing this was giving them time to escape with my funds. After about twenty minutes I reached out to the chime poser asking what was their chime ID number and he replied with chimes the customer service number and said everything is being processed I have, I have documentation of these transactions and the email they used to move my funds to. 

Approximately 30 minutes had passed I reached back out to the chime poser and he responded that my funds should be there so I opened my chime app and my account was still at XXXX. I text the number back again asking is this really chime he replied yes and stated my funds should be there but none was in my account so I reached out again to customer service again and this time a actually chime representative responded. I accessed my account and while explaining what happened the customer service person said they could see the transaction and I had been scammed. They knew about the fraudulent number on XXXX and the XXXX  app. The representative stated I was scammed and this has happened to a numerous amounts of customers and it was nothing they could do. The rep stated it was useless to make a dispute and told me to have a nice day. I pleaded with them but to get me off the call they redirected me to the fraud department. Upon speaking to the fraud department they said they would look into and to submit any documents that would support my claim. I submitted screens shots of the text, emails and phone numbers. The fraud department stated give them XX/XX/XXXX hours to make a decision. What I noticed after ending the call it was within the same hour I received a email that they seen no suspicious activity and closed the claim. I pleaded with them through email to no avail. 

Determined not to just give up on my funds I emailed them again with extra documents. What they then stated was that within 5-10 business days the funds would be credited back if the issue wasnt resolved by 45 days. What I noticed again that within that same hour the claimed was denied. I again pleaded that Ive never made a dispute or claim nor fraud claim and would they be willing to reconsider they waited a few hours and responded in email the same thing about not seeing any suspicious activity. Even after sending in supporting documentation they refuse to help me or refund my account. So which leads me to filing a complaint. I hope with filing the proper complaints I can go through the process of resolving this and getting back my funds. The amount that was fraudulent obtained was a little over {$2400.00} us currency. Please review my complaint and report me the next steps I should take. Thanks for your time and efforts Sincerely, XXXX XXXX