Consumer complaint received 2019-08-19
Product: Checking or savings account — Savings account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account — Transaction was not authorized
Company: SUNTRUST BANKS, INC. (VA)

Recently my family and I discovered we were victims of online banking fraud.  Someone fraudulently linked their XXXX   account to our SunTrust savings account and withdrew $XXXX through 5 separate transactions over the course of 3 ½ months dating back to XX/XX/XXXX.  While that amount may seem insignificant to some, we have a single source of income with XXXX young kids and depend on that money trusting it is safeguarded by our bank.  Unfortunately, the way SunTrust has handled the situation and the lack of customer service and care they have shown has been very disappointing.  In early XX/XX/XXXX I was transferring money from our savings to checking account and noticed the balance on our savings account appeared lower than it should have been.  We do not regularly check the balance, nor do we review our savings account transactions because we don’t normally withdraw money from that account.  Since I noticed a lower balance, I reviewed several months of activity and identified several suspect XXXX transactions.  Our savings account has never been linked to a XXXX account, and I confirmed these transactions were not associated with my XXXX account.We immediately called the SunTrust fraud department to report this activity and they opened a case to investigate the issue.  I was informed the process would take 10 business days and they would follow-up with a phone call or email.  However, the only communication we received was a letter from SunTrust dated XX/XX/XXXX stating they would provide a credit of $XXXX because they have a policy that disputed transactions must be made within 60 days.  On XX/XX/XXXX we called SunTrust to determine whether this was the final outcome of our case and they explained the $XXXX represented an initial credit but the investigation was still ongoing and would be completed XX/XX/XXXX.  We followed up on XX/XX/XXXX and the individual we spoke to this time informed us the investigation had been closed on XX/XX/XXXX and the $XXXX represented the final reimbursement amount and no further action could be taken.  On XX/XX/XXXX we called the SunTrust fraud department again and requested the phone number for the SunTrust president’s office.  We were told that number can be provided to customers but someone from the office ultimately returned our call.  On XX/XX/XXXX they returned our call with the same message that nothing that could be done due to their 60-day policy.SunTrust’s policies and their mismanagement of our case is extremely concerning.  We also feel this should be brought to the attention of all SunTrust consumers.  First, they determined the appropriate course of action was to credit us $XXXX   even though that was the oldest of the 5 transactions.  Second, the individual we spoke to from the SunTrust president’s office explained that even though we had not conducted any transactions on our savings account it was our responsibility to ensure there wasn’t any suspicious activity.  This individual went on to say SunTrust doesn’t have the ability to identify suspicious activity unless a transaction involves a bank debit card.  This lack of oversight and inability to identify threats to their customer’s finances is extremely alarming.  It was my understanding that when banking with Suntrust (or any bank) that it was their responsibility to protect our money.  I also believed our money was federally insured so if anything happened to it through no fault of my own it would be reimbursed regardless of the timetable. Even though I believe this is an issue with SunTrust and they should make every effort to resolve this, I did contact XXXX   to see what could be done on their end.  They were unwilling to help because the transactions were more than 180 days ago, and they were not associated with my XXXX account.I am extremely displeased with the way SunTrust has managed our case.  At no point did SunTrust express any concern with the impact this has had on our family and reiterated it wasn’t their responsibility to do anything.  We hope this letter generates some sort of response that will help us move forward and recover the money we lost.