Consumer complaint received 2022-07-04
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account — Transaction was not authorized
Company: Chime Financial Inc (CA)

On XXXX the XXXX I was out running errands when I started receiving text message alerts for transactions I had not made, as I am reading these in disbelief. I think no worries I will just call my financial institution or Chime and they will help stop these transactions. So as soon as I was able I called my bank and let them know that the following transactions were not made by me - Instacart on Monday XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX am for {$270.00} - Instacart on Monday XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX am for {$120.00} - XXXX  on Monday XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX am for {$32.00} - XXXX By XXXX XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX am for {$110.00} - XXXX By XXXX XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX am for {$70.00} - XXXX By XXXX XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX am for {$90.00} Totaling {$690.00}! All transactions were fraudulent and not made by me. So I call Chime and tell them these XXXX transactions were not made by me. The lady I spoke with at Chime told me that the charges were pending and that they couldnt do anything or investigate the matter, until the charges settled. I was really surprised that they would even let them go through. But I said ok I will call back when they settle. In the meantime I contacted XXXX XXXX and told them what had occurred and they asked me to fill out a secure form which explained in depth each charge and from what card these cards were charged from etc., so they could investigate. So I filled out the form and within XXXX hours I got a response that stated that XXXX was sorry that my card had been used without my permission. That they reviewed my request and found that the charges in question was for an order on an account that they deemed fraudulent. That the account was deactivated and my card info had been removed. And they recommended I contact my bank because my card has been compromised. So first I cancelled the compromised card and the other card I had with my Chime account just in case. Ordered new cards and I waited until the charges settled. In the meantime I was also temporarily locked out of my Chime account. I dont know if this is relevant information. But I finally was able to reset my password and get back into my account. By then the charges had settled so I called to dispute the 6 transactions made on XXXX the XXXX. For the first dispute I sent over the letter I received from the vendor and thought that would be enough. They denied my dispute and said they thought there was no mistake that no error occurred and they would not give me my money back. I couldnt believe it. I then called them and emailed them several times. I was angry and could not believe they were doing this to me. I stated how wrong this was. Because it seemed they didnt even go over the evidence I sent to make their decision and I explained that regardless of whether my cards were in my possession or not. That it didnt mean that somehow, someone obtained my card information. I dont know how, but they did. Meanwhile, I had also contacted my XXXX XXXX regarding these fraudulent charges and started a case with them. I had received an alert from them also when the charges started coming through for the groceries from XXXX so I took a screenshot of the letter from the merchant and a screenshot of the alert from chime and submitted my first rebuttal, within XXXX hours they denied my first rebuttal on XXXX the XXXX. The decision made had nothing to do with the evidence I had submitted. They said if they had determined that because I had my card on me, that I knew my pin and that since my card wasnt taken. Also because I had made other transactions that were close to the same dollar amounts of that of the fraudulent ones, that there was no error made. And denied my first rebuttal for all XXXX disputed charges. So I contacted XXXX again and this time it was escalated to the Restorations department. I was sent over a bunch of things to do. I had to file a police report. Which was filed through XXXX XXXX XXXX badge # XXXX of the XXXX Police Department. I had to fill out a 6 page affidavit packet. Submit proof of ID, a copy my SSC and proof of residence. Along with all correspondence I made with Chime and have XXXX thing notarized. It was a lot and was very stressful. But XXXX from XXXX helped me get through it. And once everything was complete, I sent the notarized documents to them on XXXX the XXXX and thought my troubles were over and XXXX XXXX would do the rest. Nope! XXXX contacted me a few weeks later and said he had tried to fax all this information over to Chime to help me get my money back. And he had also sent it certified mail. When he got no response he let me know what was going on. And XXXX XXXX who had a notarized power of attorney form ) him and I both contacted Chime to get an update. And they said they didnt get mail and they didnt have a fax. Even though a different representative had told us differently before. So then after spending some time on the phone hoping they would make some notes on my account and trying to get this resolved, they told us that we would have to email this packet over. So XXXX from XXXX mailed me the packet and I took XXXX photos of XXXX documents and sent them all over via email at XXXX as requested by the XXXX in the disputes department at Chime. So when sending all these documents, I requested a second rebuttal based on all the evidence on the XXXX. Within XXXX hours they said they had not changed their decision and they said they based their decision on other things again that didnt seem to have anything to do with the evidence I had submitted. That it was based on the following Phone was neither reported as lost/stolen. Based on XXXX XXXX, it shows that there has been no intrusion of any suspicious foreign device before, during the timeline of the disputed transaction suggesting that member is in full control of the transaction. Disputed transactions have entry mode XXXX, stored credentials on file. This is an evidence wherein member has given the disputed merchant their personal financial information in the past and has authorized transactions off the disputed account. No hallmarks of account takeover nor PIl changes occurred during the disputed timeline. XXXX was almost exhausted after the last disputed transaction. No fraud alert was captured in the system. So here I am not knowing where else to turn next. I was referred to this website from XXXX from the resolution department of XXXX XXXX. Please help me to get my money back. Yes I had my card and my phone was not stolen. But these transactions were made online by another party and they were NOT MADE BY ME!!! I have no knowledge of how this person ( s ) attained my debit card information but if the police can find out I want to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. I have done pretty much all I can think of. I am also going to file a dispute on the website of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and hopefully that will help also. Hope you can assist me! This has been a nightmare! Please help me.