Consumer complaint received 2024-05-05 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: AZ

Complaint narrative:
To : Complaints Department, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau From : XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX : XX/XX/2024 Re : Chase Bank fraud against us ; Chase Bank Case # XXXX I am writing to file a formal complaint regarding my treatment by Chase Bank . I have been defrauded in the amount of over {$17000.00} through a series of wire transfers that neither my husband nor I authorized, and Chase will not provide any sort of reason or documentation to prove that either of us did authorize them. Chase has treated me very unfairly and abused the trust I placed in them. I have reported them to the XXXX XXXX XXXX, and also to the FBI. I am considering legal action against Chase for their unfair treatment of me and for their violations of various federal laws and regulations. My husband and I are over XXXX XXXX XXXX and English is not our primary language ( we are XXXX ). I feel Chase is taking advantage of our ages and difficulty in understanding complex financial issues due to the language barrier. 

In total, 5 wire transfers were made from our checking account totaling more than {$17000.00}. Neither my husband nor I had ever done wire transfers before from Chase or any other bank, and certainly not to any international locations, as these were. All 5 wires were processed within a 30-minute period of time on the same day, and neither my husband nor I authorized any of them, either on a paper form or electronically. It would take 5 separate authorizations to do this over this short period of time ; we did not provide even one. Chase refuses to provide any sort of proof that we did. Theyve just told us that we authorized the wires and our case is closed without any additional information other than essentially, we think you authorized the wires. It seems a gross breach of Chases duty under federal law to monitor for potentially fraudulent transactions to allow multiple wires over a short period of time to international locations from an XXXX customers account where none had ever been done before.

To make matters worse, the amount of these wires exceeded the amount of money we had in our checking account. Without our consent, Chase transferred money from our savings account to cover the wires. When opening our accounts ( and well before this fraud ), we specifically refused any sort of automatic transfers between accounts to cover overdrafts. Chase tells us that transfers are automatic to cover wires regardless of whether we allowed the bank to do it or not. This seems incredibly unfair, and seems like theft to me. Chase refuses to provide any sort of proof we opted in to overdraft transfers, or authorized a transfer on that day. Im told this is a violation of federal Regulation E, as the bank is required to provide documentation when they deny our dispute of the transfer between accounts. I know it is also a violation to require us to file a police report before processing our dispute, as Chase did, as detailed below. 

The fraudulent wires were all done on XX/XX/2024. While looking at my account to print documents for taxes on that same day, I noticed a fraud alert on their website for my account. I called my husband immediately and he saw that the majority of our funds had disappeared from our account. He called the Chase fraud department ( I got their number from their website ). He was on hold for 5 minutes, then after becoming frustrated he decided to call the Chase branch on XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX, AZ, but no one answered the phone. He then called the Chase branch on XXXX XXXX in XXXX, AZ, and had a 32-minute conversation with a very helpful employee to report the fraud. She pulled up our account and could see that money was in the process of exiting our account. She expressed surprise that nobody could stop the fraud that was happening before our eyes. She then stated not to worry and we would get our money back, which was very reassuring. She then transferred him to another department, where he had to explain the entire situation again. We were very frustrated that no one seemed to approach our money disappearing with any sense of urgency. The gentleman from the fraud department ended up hanging up on my husband. Apparently, he was only on the job for two weeks. The really maddening thing is additional wire transfers went out of our account AFTER we had these calls with the bank. Chase knew we had not authorized any wires ; yet more wires came out after they were on notice.

In a panic, I jumped into my car and drove to the Chase branch on XXXX XXXX XXXX. A teller at the branch told me I had to file a police report before I could make a claim to the Chase Fraud Department, which seemed odd to me. Couldnt they stop the fraud, or at least start to investigate, before I had to file a police report? They did not even offer to shut off the ability to make further wires. She gave me the wrong address to the police department, but I finally made it over to the police department. I received a police report number and called the Chase Fraud Department. The Chase Fraud Department never did ask me for the police report number, which was odd since they told me they required this before I could file a dispute. This seems like a waste of time to me, since the bank could have been working to prevent further fraudulent wires from being done. I know now also that the bank can not make me get a police report before they investigate the transfer of funds from my savings to my checking account. 

On XX/XX/2024, I went back to the Chase branch on XXXX XXXX XXXX, but was told I had to come back later to speak to XXXX, which I did. XXXX closed our accounts and opened new ones, ordered new credit cards, then said I would have to come back on the next Tuesday ( Monday was a holiday ) with my husband XXXX to complete the investigation into what had happened. 

On XX/XX/2024, we spent 4 hours with XXXX. We were told that the case had already been closed, as the bank is saying we authorized the wire transfers. I told her we have never wired funds from our account, we dont use wires, and we did not authorize these wires. In addition, the majority of the funds were in our savings account which had been transferred to our checking account to complete the wires. We never authorized any sort of transfer from our savings, either when we opened our accounts or to do these wires that day. In fact, we specifically declined overdraft protection when we opened the account. She just kept saying that the fraud department said we authorized everything, and wouldnt provide any explanation or other information or documentation, even when we repeatedly asked. 

On XX/XX/2024, I went to the Chase branch in XXXX XXXX, AZ, and spoke with XXXX, a personal banker. After explaining our entire situation, XXXX saw at this point all of our money was gone from both checking and savings, and that our checking account was now in a negative balance due to bank fees applied to our account. XXXX was able to reopen our case, but she requested a report from IT. It seems incredibly unfair to charge us {$120.00} in fees to perform wires that we did not authorize ( which they have refused to refund, also without explanation ) that put our checking account in a negative balance. Do we now have to pay overdraft fees too since Chase charged us wire fees? 

On XX/XX/2024, I called XXXX at the Chase branch on XXXX XXXX XXXX again to tell her that all of my emails and contacts on my cell phone are gone. She told me that she thinks my cell phone was somehow mirrored and someone else authorized the wires using our credentials. She advised me to go get a new cell phone, new phone number and to not transfer anything from the old phone to the new phone. She also advised that I close out all of my email accounts and open new email accounts. I did all that was advised, although this seemed to be just her personal opinion. There was nothing from the Chase fraud department or IT department saying anything like this. This also seems to contradict what the bank was telling me if my cell phone was mirrored, then it seems the bank thinks the wires were authorized by someone other than my husband or me. So why is the bank closing the case and saying we authorized them? 

I also contacted all the credit bureaus and place a freeze and fraud alerts on my credit report just to be safe. I also called the Social Security Office and placed a fraud alert on our records. 

On XX/XX/2024, I contacted the Chase Escalation Department, who told me that after a review of our case, our case has been closed as they believe we authorized the wires. Again, this contradicts what XXXX had told me. They refused to provide me with any additional detail or documents to back up why they think this is the case, even though I repeatedly asked. They told me I needed to obtain a subpoena to get any other information, which seems extreme. These are my accounts, and if we did authorize those wires, why wouldnt they show us what they are using as proof that we did? It sure seems like they are hiding something, or just trying to get us to go away, especially since were over XXXX XXXX XXXX and dont speak English very well. We are in the process of getting subpoena, but it takes time and money. Like I said above, I know at the bare minimum were entitled to information about the transfer from the savings to the checking account. Throughout this whole ordeal, they have refused to provide anything at all, including any information about how they concluded that we authorized these wires. 

During XX/XX/2024, weve made many additional calls to Chase on this, which are all dead ends. Ive made an official complaint to the Chase complaint department, which has also been ignored. I have a handwritten timeline of the many calls made on these wires and to try to get an explanation. Nothing. We were able to track down the recipients of all the wire transfers through XXXX XXXX ; one or more went to XXXX. I question again why Chase would allow 5 wires to go overseas from a customer who had never wired funds before, and especially AFTER wed called them to tell them they werent authorized. This was our life savings. Why would I wire it to XXXX? I know there is a lot of fraud in XXXX, especially when it comes to wire transfers. 

On XX/XX/2024, I was told by a Chase wire transfer team member that although I had not opted in for overdraft protection, savings transfers were automatically done for wires. This seems ridiculous we never authorized transfers for anything, and especially for wires where there is such high risk of fraud. Again, they refuse to provide any sort of proof that this is allowed, or that we authorized it. I know that we are entitled to documentation of transfers where there isnt an automatic agreement. I called XXXX from the Chase executive office on XX/XX/2024, to inform him of this and of my expectation that opting out of overdraft protection would prevent what has happened to my life savings. I trusted Chase with my life savings. This again was ignored. 

I think Chase is ignoring our requests for more information and documentation, even when we know were entitled to it. I think they are just trying to get us to go away, especially since were both XXXX  and dont speak English very well. Not only is this treatment not right, its against federal laws banks must follow. 

If we have to get a subpoena to get any information, we will do this. We will also sue the bank for their treatment of us as XXXX, non-English native customers, and for their violations of federal banking laws. 

Please provide whatever help you can to us to get to the bottom of this. We did not authorize these wires. We just want our funds back. 

Thank you. 


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Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation