Consumer complaint received 2025-08-04 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: KEYCORP
State: OH

Complaint narrative:
To who this may concern, I am writing on behalf of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to inform you that we are very concerned and dissatisfied with the recent handling of a fraudulent ACH payment on our primary account with KeyBank. 

On Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX  Eastern, an unauthorized ACH payment attempt was made to debit + {$13000.00} from our account. At the time this transaction was being processed, our primary account holder was physically present at the bank, and the payment was mentioned during communication. Working with Bank Manager, XXXX XXXX, we quickly assessed the situation and requested an immediate halt to the payment, as we do not typically engage with vendors or clients to process such a large payment. 

While we appreciate that XXXX XXXX acted swiftly to stop the initial request, we were dismayed to learn that he did not terminate the follow-up mechanisms within the ACH processing system. This failure allowed a second automated payment attempt, which ultimately resulted in a withdrawal of {$13000.00} to the account that was confirmed as fraudulent. 

This incident reflects a lack of adequate knowledge and due diligence on the part of the banks team and management, who are responsible for ensuring the financial security of client assets. It also exposes a critical flaw in the automated ACH processes, where human intervention to suspend suspicious transactions did not trigger a comprehensive follow-up action. More specifically, had management taken appropriate measures, such as flagging the recipient account for potential fraud and blocking all subsequent transactions, this loss would have been entirely preventable. 

In light of this, we believe there are significant opportunities for KeyBank to enhance its fraud prevention protocols, particularly concerning accounts flagged for fraudulent activity. Given KeyBanks substantial assets : -- {$180.00} XXXX in total assets as of XXXX XXXX -- {$60.00} XXXX in wealth management assets, -- {$19.00} XXXX in Key Family Wealth assets as of XX/XX/XXXX ) -- {$2.00} XXXX onboarded by Key Private Client from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX There is ample capability and responsibility to protect clients from such risks. Our loss of {$13000.00}, nearly half of our assets as a small nonprofit, would equate to a total of {$94.00} XXXX in client losses if this fraud were to happen on a larger scale, because if it can happen to one client, it can happen to any client when the bank is operating with flawed security systems and client protection in place. 

We strongly urge KeyBank to adopt the following best practices immediately : Implement automatic blocking or restriction of all transactions with accounts flagged and confirmed for fraudulent activity. 

Enforce a probation or monitoring period on flagged accounts, ensuring thorough investigation and minimizing risk before allowing any further transactions. 
Enhance the interaction between automated systems and human oversight to ensure that flagged incidents receive deeper, immediate follow-up action. 

Despite our direct communications with KeyBanks CEO, XXXX XXXX XXXX, and their Executive Assistant, our {$13000.00} remains unrecovered, and we have received no satisfactory resolution. Therefore, through this letter, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX files a formal complaint with the hopes of preventing other clients, regardless of service tier, from suffering similar losses due to these operational lapses and system flaws. 

We trust that KeyBank will take this matter with the utmost seriousness and respond promptly with a plan to rectify the situation and strengthen your controls to protect all clients. 

Thank you for taking the time to look into this urgent matter. We look forward to hearing back from you soon.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation