Consumer complaint received 2015-10-02
Product: Bank account or service — Checking account
Issue: Using a debit or ATM card — 
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (CO)

I was XXXX in XXXX outside of an ATM in the XXXX on Monday XX/XX/XXXX. My watch, phone and debit card were stolen from me. When I returned to my hotel room I called the police and my wife. My wife attempted to call Chase immediately that night because I was in bad physical shape after the XXXX and I was talking to the police. She told Chase that the debit card needed to be cancelled because it had been stolen outside of an ATM and they would not allow her to cancel the card even though it is a joint account because she was not me. After seeing a doctor and finishing with the police I got on the first plane I could back to XXXX where we live. Once I returned to XXXX I went to the XXXX and returned home to get some rest and recover. When we woke up the next morning, we had received several notifications that transactions had been approved on our debit card and that our savings and checking amounts had been severely depleted. We immediately went to a Chase branch to address the issue, provided forms of our ID 's and started the claim process. They assured us all funds would be returned in 12 hours, and that the card had been cancelled and there was no reason to close or freeze our accounts. Subsequently we received several emails stating the claims had been cancelled due to a conversation Chase had, had with me over the phone. This was not me calling, the only identifying information they requested in the claims and/or fraud department was the card number and PIN which they knew the criminals had after several conversations we had with them. Since the initial call from my wife and since the first time we cancelled the card and received assurance that the card could NOT be reactivated, and several visits to Chase ourselves, Chase has reactivated the card twice over the phone with a fraudulent caller and cancelled the claims 3 times allowing the criminals to continue to compromise and spend our money. How this is even possible I do not know. We have requested several times that any changes or request for information on our accounts had to be made in person with ID 's and calls needed additional identification like our security questions and as much personal information possible in order to take any action or hold any conversations. As of this morning, we received notification that our claims are being denied again and we need to go to the Chase branch again. We still do not have any resolution to these claims and transactions that continue to take place in XXXX when we are in XXXX and have been since Monday. This has required us to miss several days of work trying to resolve and if it does not get resolved will force us into delinquency on our mortgage, our child 's school payments, credit cards and basic everyday living expenses. Chase 's lack of controls or care in confirming our identity including lack of action when my wife called and several other issues along the way. It seems outrageous that to cancel the the card by a joint holder of the account would be much harder than reactivating a card that had been claimed as stolen over the phone more than once. This was our life savings and we have zero control what is happening in a different state with our money and ca n't seem to find anyone who can help which has caused us now to have to find a way to borrow money to find an attorney to resolve this issue with Chase.