Consumer complaint received 2022-01-04
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (FL)

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Fl. XXXX Chase XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Attn : Fraud/Recovery unit XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, DE. XXXX Re : Notice of disputed charge to Account No. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Dear Fraud Recovery unit : I am writing to Chase and copying this to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to dispute a charge of {$6100.00} made on my Chase XXXX XXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXX, XXXX. The charge is in error because I NEVER made it. A replacement card your company sent me via the U.S. mail apparently was stolen and used to make the fraudulent charge to the XXXX XXXX department store. 

I never saw the card and still have no idea what was purchased or how it was done. 

I am requesting the error be corrected, that any finance or other charges related to the disputed amount be credited to my account, and that I get an accurate statement. 

Attached are copies of supporting phone and text records. Also included is new information from XXXX XXXX - garnered at the prompting of your representatives- showing I have never had a financial relationship with the store. 

Please correct the error on my account promptly. 

Since this is my first communication with the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau on this matter, I want to provide a thorough recounting. But first a question for Chase representatives : What in my background or in my relationship with your company has convinced you that I'm a thief and a liar? 

I am a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I have never been accused of a crime and never sued anyone or been sued. I have a credit score of XXXX, according to your bank, and a pristine payment history with your company. I pay my credit card bills on time and usually in full. 

My wife, a newspaper reporter, makes a good living. We have substantial savings in our 401-k accounts and two pensions. We soon will pay off our mortgage. 

We don't need to steal anything. 

Still, your company says I woke up the morning of XXXX XXXX, XXXX and decided to make a {$6100.00} charge and then lie about it repeatedly, including, I suppose, with this letter. 

It's just absurd. Frightening, actually. 

This mess actually began on XXXX XXXX, two weeks before the XXXX XXXX charge. On that day your company sent me a text asking if I had attempted to make a XXXX purchase at a place called XXXX. ( Screen shot enclosed. ) I responded " no, '' the account was closed and a replacement card sent out via U.S. Mail. 

This was the card used to make the XXXX XXXX charge. I never received it. 

Instead, on XXXX XXXX, I got a text message and an email from Chase asking if a {$6100.00} charge was mine. 

I thought I pressed the " no '' button in response, as I had done two weeks earlier. But a Chase customer service rep eventually told me that I had made a mistake and hit the wrong button. 

I do have issues with spatial comprehension, so it's certainly possible I hit the wrong button. But should an honest mistake merit a {$6000.00} penalty? Especially given the actions I took in the hours immediately after? 

The screen shots of the records below show Chase representatives and I exchanged five text messages and four phone calls in the 2 1/2 hours after I apparently hit the wrong button. I clearly indicated this was not my charge, as evidenced by a XXXX p.m. email from the company saying it would research the charge and send me yet another replacement card, this one via UPS. Unfortunately, Chase did not choose to use this more secure method of delivery after the first fraud attempt. If it had, none of this would have happened. Chase has significant culpability here. 

I'll put this in simple terms : If Chase has anything other than my mistaken response to the initial text message to support its claim that I'm a thief, I challenge the company to produce it. I assume Chase records its calls. 

Put up or shut up. 

Two other items worth noting : In XXXX, I paid Chase a total of {$20000.00} to cover my spending on the card. I have paid another {$28000.00} so far this year. 

Is this the profile of a credit card thief? 

At the suggestion of a Chase customer service representative, I contacted XXXX XXXX. A store representative there confirmed their system has no record of my name, address, email or phone number ( see copy of live chat below ). I have never even stepped foot in a XXXX XXXX. 

So far, I have resisted the urge to take this fiasco to social media. As a longtime newspaper editor, I'm quite familiar with its uses and potential impact, and believe what is happening to me is a cautionary tale that deserves wider exposure. 

But I'm still hoping you'll do the right thing. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX