Consumer complaint received 2022-05-05
Product: Debt collection — Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was result of identity theft
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (WA)

I am contesting a denied claim related to card-not-present fraud at point of sale. A series of unauthorized purchases, charged to my account, were apparently made using a mobile phone app at two different locations in Washington, ( XXXX and XXXX ), many hours distant from me. All were billed as XXXX XXXX. 

I am a XXXX XXXX XXXX widow. I live minimally on a small island off the coast of Washington. I have no savings to draw on, and value my access to credit, to cover unexpected shortfalls. Consequently, I have always kept my credit rating high. I have been a Chase cardholder for 25 years, and pay down my bills faithfully and on time. 

The purchases were allowed by Chase using a mobile app I neither have nor use, on a phone not mine, in a location and at a store I do not live near, from a vendor I do not frequent. My physical card is rarely used and was always in my possession. I gave no one else access to my number or account. 

The number of charges made to XXXX XXXX total nearly {$3000.00}. Most of those charges were made between XXXX and late XXXX. Fuel Purchases of up to XXXX were deducted daily during that time, sometimes twice or three times daily. 

Because I was carrying around {$6000.00} on my card, and making more purchases than usual during XXXX I regrettably paid my XXXX bill without scanning it, not surprised that it was rising. ( Holiday time, I now realize, is when scammers often hit ). When I went to pay my XXXX bill, however, it seemed noticeably high. I downloaded my statement and saw with horror what had been happening. I called Chase immediately, ( XXXX XXXX ) and was issued a new card. The purchases stopped. 

During my call to I report the incident, I was assured that, as a Chase customer, I would not be held liable. When the charges reappeared on my new statement, I called to ask why. I was told that this was normal, pending an investigation. I assumed then that the Fraud Investigation Department would fulfill its obligation to investigate my claim, and would determine that they had failed to stop these unusual and unauthorized purchases, and honor our cardholder agreement.

Instead, Chase denied my claim. First, they said it was because I was a XXXX customer, and had made earlier purchases, in XXXX and XXXX, at those venues. ( I had not, nor would that have legitimized the unauthorized charges. ) I contested this claim by proving I was not, nor had I ever been, a XXXX customer. In fact, those were early tester purchases, which because of their low dollar amount, slipped through without my notice. Prior to that, I had never used this card to purchase anything from XXXX, as Chase could have seen, if they had ( as they implied ), actually examined my billing statements. 

Then they demanded I investigate my own case, and provide them with receipts and alibis to prove my innocence. Although a ) the nature of the purchases themselveshundreds of dollars worth of fuel purchased at the same POS daily or twice daily, should be adequate proof of fraud, and b ) fraud investigations are Chases obligation, not mine, ( XXXX declined to provide receipts without Chase on the line ), I cooperated in providing receipts and alibis as requested, to prove that these purchases were in fact unauthorized. 

Then, they informed me that, because I had made payments on the XXXX and XXXX bills, containing the unauthorized purchases, these earlier uncontested payments constituted my implicit authorization of the later, more clearly fraudulent purchases. 

This, despite the facts that : a ) The Fair Credit Billing Act limits my liability for unauthorized use to {$50.00}. 
b ) My report of unauthorized use was initially accepted and my card changed. 
c ) Chase now seems to agree that those were not my purchases, nor had I in any way deliberately allowed or authorized those purchases. 
c ) Almost all of the purchases in question fell well within the 60 day margin of liability. 
d ) Chase advised me, throughout the dispute, to continue paying on my card. 
e ) It is common for customers to pay bills containing unauthorized purchases, either because they did not notice them, or because the fraud was not yet apparent.

Nowhere could I find evidence of my legal liability with regards to Chases argument. 

In fact, from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, I found this : If a charge unexpectedly appears on your bill for something you did not authorizeyou can report it over the telephone. You are also not required to do so within 60 days, although the sooner you report it, the better. After you report an unauthorized charge, the credit card lender must conduct a reasonable investigation of your claim. A reasonable investigation might include analyzing the signature on the credit card slip, obtaining a copy of a police report, or comparing where a purchase was made versus where you live. 

In fact, Chase Card Services did NOT conduct a reasonable investigation. Instead, they told me it was my responsibility to file a police report, and to travel to XXXX to look at video footage to prove my case ( this would have entailed a XXXX hour round trip, minimum ), and to obtain receipts from the vendor. It was my investigation that revealed how, when, and where the unauthorized purchases were made, and I was the one who provided alibis and other information, after my claim was denied. The only investigation they initiated was to scan my most recent billing statements, and issue their decision. 

I therefore called again to contest their decision. On XX/XX/XXXX, I asked a senior in the Fraud Department ( XXXX ) to explain how regular payments on my account would in any way constitute my legal agreement that the unauthorized purchases were legitimate, as I could find no law distinguishing legitimate from illegitimate debt. 

To this, XXXX provided only confused defenses, mostly attempts to convince me of my own irresponsibility. When I suggested a compromise : that Chase cover the amount that fell within the 60 day limit, while I assumed responsibility for the unnoticed test charges, he declined. 

I formally requested that Chase provide their legal defense in writing, as per the law, to prove they were not in violation of the FCBA, in holding me liable. He again declined.

To date, Chase has provided me only with identical electronic form letters, attached to my statement, simply declaring my claim to be denied.

Except for my failure to notice the initial unauthorized purchases, I have behaved in all ways responsibly as a Chase card customer. For 25 years, I have reliably repaid loans with interest, and taken reasonable care to protect my identity and account. I reported unauthorized activity as soon as I noticed it, and complied with all requests for help in Chases investigation. I have made every effort in our recorded conversations to remain polite and humane while standing my ground. This, despite Chases persistent refusal to respond helpfully to any of my reasonable requests. Since I first reported the incident, I have invested over 20 uncompensated hours of my time, in phone conversations and, ( at XXXXhases request ) research and written responses. Much of this labor was spent doing work Chases Fraud Investigations Department employees are legally tasked with. 

On the other hand, and possibly because their effort to hold me liable is not legitimate, Chase has treated me not as a loyal and valued customer, but as a suspect. During our series of conversations over the past months, I have consistently been misdirected, denied, reprimanded, interrupted, talked over, sent in circles, and treated as an adversary. This, despite the facts that Chase has : failed to keep my data secure, or to detect, decline or prevent unauthorized use failed to alert me of suspicious activity failed to acknowledge instantly obvious fraud failed to thoroughly investigate claims of unauthorized use failed to assume liability for the result of obvious security breaches, and failed to provide documentation to support its decisions as required by Federal law.

Despite this, Chase card services insists on holding me liable for the entirety of these unauthorized charges, plus accumulating interest.

It seems that, regardless of its cheerful assurances of customer protection and satisfaction, Chases actual approach is to deny customers legitimate claims, to their advantage. To wit : JPMorgan Chases announced first-quarter net earnings for XXXX is a healthy {$8.00} billion, with credit losses at historically low levels. This, while the most recent FTC report shows that identity theft has doubled between XXXX and XXXX, ( XXXX XXXX reports ) and continue to rise exponentially. 

It's common knowledge that corporations like Chase are powerful and amoral entities, beyond the ability of civil jurisprudence to substantially affect, in no small part because of their unfair ability to influence legislation, and to avoid complying with existing consumer protection laws. 

If Chases treatment of my case has now become typical, its easy to see why credit losses might be historically low. I am concerned that Chases behavior in my case is not only typical, but that it represents, at best, an increasing effort to shirk legal responsibility and shift the growing burden of fraud onto the shoulders of consumers. 

This, above all, is why I feel obliged to stand my ground, to ask for every legal protection, and, if necessary, demand fair redress. 

Thank you for your help in this, Sincerely