Consumer complaint received 2024-02-08
Product: Checking or savings account — Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: Chime Financial Inc (MI)

On XX/XX/2024, I was wired money to a person that I thought was a XXXX representative. After realizing it was a scam I immediately called my bank to let them know that I had been scammed and had sent the money in error. I explained to the representative that I wired that money under false pretense because I thought that the money would release the money that the " buyer '' of my furniture had wired me through XXXX. I received several emails from very official-looking emails stating that the person whose name on the XXXX account that messaged me was named XXXX, I don't have her last name on the email. The representative then emailed me and told me that I would then need to send the money through XXXX to the representative XXXX XXXXXXXX and the entire {$900.00} amount would be released. I let XXXX know that I did not have that amount and explained that I was selling my furniture for that purpose. XXXX then asked if I could borrow it from someone and that I could use the {$200.00} that she had added to pay that person back. So, I did that. I first tried to XXXX the money and it didn't go through. I tried several times and the amount still wouldn't go through. I checked my account and realized that I was {$3.00} short of the {$200.00} amount. I let the representative know that I was short and she asked me how short I was and I let her know. She emailed me that the amount should suffice and then I tried several times to XXXX her that amount. The amount would not go through. The representative emailed me that I could send it via Chime and gave me her Chime id ( $ XXXX ). So I wired the money to that person the {$190.00}. After sending the money I then received another official-looking email stating that I would then need to send them another {$300.00} for a transfer fee. It was then I realized that I had been scammed. I immediately called my bank, Chime, and let them know what had happened and he told me that because it was a person-to-person transfer there was nothing that they could do. I explained to him that the transfer was made fraudulently because I was under the impression that it was a legitimate company. The representative told me again that there was nothing they could do since the person had already taken the money. I asked the representative if I could speak with another department. He put me on hold for about 20-30 seconds came back and told me that the disputes department told him that there was nothing that they could do either. I then asked him to transfer me to that department so that someone there could tell me that or transfer me to someone who could. He then put me on another 20-second hold and came back to me and stated again that the disputes department told him that there was nothing that they could do and added that because I sent the money myself they couldn't do anything. I then asked him again to transfer me to that department so that they could tell me that themselves. He then put me on a 30-second hold so that I could speak with his supervisor. The supervisor came on the line and told me that because I wired the money person-to-person they couldn't help me and that they couldn't/would n't do anything unless my account had been hacked and the transfer was made without my knowledge. He then asked me a leading question if someone had hacked my account. I then hesitantly said that I would not have authorized the transfer if I had known that this was a fraudulent request. he then put me on hold and the call " disconnected '' I waited about 5 minutes and did not receive a call back. I then had to go back on the Chime app and request for another representative to call. The representative called back and looked at the notes on my account and then transferred me to the disputes department. A woman on the line took my information gave me a dispute number and told me that it could take up to 45-60 days for the investigation to end and a final decision would be made. She told me that they would give me a temporary credit to my account by day 10. On XX/XX/XXXX ( 2 days later ) they emailed me back that they had found that no error had occurred. I then called Chime back the same day to dispute asking how they could have done a thorough investigation in 2 days. The representative that I spoke to mumbled something about them having people who do their investigations 24 hours a day. I then told her that I would like to have them investigate again letting her know that I had email correspondence proof of what happened and that I wasn't sure but also the XXXX messages as well. She then stated that I would be able to download all that information. Once I received the link I found out that I could not download the emails or the XXXX messages. I sent what I could and waited. Less than 24 hours later, I received another email stating that no error occurred. I'm very frustrated with the situation and wonder what type of recourse I have.