Consumer complaint received 2025-05-01 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
In efforts to increase my income and to have more financial stability, I decided to pursue a side hustle. This is not a new venture for me, as over the years, I've made additional income through mainly supporting small businesses via administrative tasks, via platforms like my University 's job search site and XXXX XXXX. I was recommended to try XXXX, a very popular XXXX XXXX to work as a XXXX. I invested money in this platform ( with receipts ) in over {$100.00}, including gaining access to their premium platform which allows you to bid various jobs on the hopes of working with that client. This took money, time, and energy, for what I thought was a good investment long term. Through one of the projects I bidded for, the client reached out directly to me ( I had included my resum in my application ), saying they would like to interview me. I of course, was open. We had gone through the standard protocol, where they asked me interview questions ( all I which I have receipts for ), etc. My tasks included being an executive assistant ( which I currently am for another small business in XXXX ), and specifically help them plan the various educational seminars they'll be hosting across the XXXX this summer. For simple and straight forward, they had sent me a contract to sign ( XX/XX/2025 ) + later an onboarding form for their " accountant '' to enroll me in their payroll ( XX/XX/2025 ) for my weekly contracting fee. This unbeknownst to me, meant I gave away my account + routing information in good faith. In the first few days, they sent me tasks related to the summer planning, where I was responsible for reaching out to event venues in various cities where they 's be speaking, as well as keeping email correspondence with current vendors that were already onboarded. I have all the email exchanges between myself and this party, all the vendors I contacted, etc. About the XXXX day in, this " employer '' had informed me that they'd want me to handle the payments to some of these vendors. Not thinking much of it at all, I agreed, thinking I was doing my job. He informed me that said " accountant '' will be emailing a picture of the checks in order for me to cash into my account and then pay these vendors. They said they'll be sending me a company card, but for now they need to pay these vendors in order to reserve their event dates, which didn't raise a flag to me because when planning for these speaking seminars with legit businesses, that's one thing I was informed of, that they require deposits in order to reserve the dates we plan to book. Mind you, I've never done anything in the event space, so although I've been an executive assistant, this aspect was new to me and I was learning as I went. The first check was for {$1500.00} and the " employer '' gave me the contacts to send the deposits to ( XX/XX/2025 ). First it was a XXXX, and the reason why that didn't stand out to me was because there's been many times in my personal life where business owners I worked wanted to be paid via XXXX XXXX for example, when I took my mom to the hair salon ). Because this was a service, and the employer had already established the relationship, I didn't think much of it. The same when they asked me to attempt a XXXX / XXXX XXXX ( XX/XX/2025 ). Again, I've had personal experience paying businesses for their services via these platforms and hence didn't raise any red flags. I NEVER TOUCHED ANY OF THE MONEY FOR MY PERSONAL USE WHICH IS WHAT CHASE CLAIMS I DID. And mind you, the first time I tried to XXXX the contact my " employer '' gave me there was a flag in the system. I CALLED CHASE asking them why ( XX/XX/2025 ), and they said they were doing their background checks, which of course I had no problem with. The person on the phone asked me a bunch of questions regarding the transaction to which I answered truthfully. I even told them that I WAS EMAILED A CHECK to perform this transaction. I also told them this was for a recent job and that I HAD NEVER MET THAT EMPLOYER IN PERSON. Looking back, I don't know how a PROFESSIONAL in the fraud department didn't even question my answers. He just went along and did nothing to confirm whether this was a fraudulent transaction or not. And I of course had my own personal funds in my account, but if you account for those fraudulent transactions and the check, they balance out. Outside of those transactions, I still had my personal funds to pull from and none of MY personal transactions would have brought my account to a negative, because I am on top of my finances and make sure I always have enough in my bank account. Anyways, at this point, I'm still not aware this is a scam, I fact I spoke to my mom about this new " job opportunity '' and she wasn't even flagged of anything suspicious. My " employer '' followed up again with another check of {$1500.00} ( XX/XX/2025 ), for me to perform this same tasks. I did my business as usual, and this time the check was put on hold. Now mind you, I had called Chase AND the bank on the check ( XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX ) concerning this because I found it weird. The person I spoke to from CHASE told me I had NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT and that they would perform the necessary checks and balances to make sure I was in the clear. I BROUGHT UP THE CHECK AGAIN, asking how I can confirm this isn't a bad check ( just because I was curious ) and they said there's NOTHING THEY COULD DO and that I would have to call the bank on the check which is what I did IMMEDIATELY after. I got in touch with XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX  and their teller told me the best I can do is confirm the account has sufficient funds. I specifically asked if I could CONFIRM THE OWNER OF THE ACCOUNT, to which they said no because it goes against company policies, which of course, I couldn't argue with. I informed my " employer '' of the hold and said we would have to wait. Because scammers thrive on urgency ( which I wasn't aware of at the time ), he told me there was a deadline for a vendor and that I would immediately be refunded by the next day. I told him I didn't feel comfortable sending {$200.00} of my own money. He pressed on about the urgency, and because I wanted to do a " good job '' and figured since I didn't get any BAD REPORTS FROM SPEAKING TO BOTH BANKS EARLIER, that I'll make the sacrifice and just wait to get paid back the following day. For some reason, I got this urge to call Chase the following Tuesday morning ( XX/XX/2025 ), and I specifically called their frauds department line. The first lady I spoke to informed me that even though CHASE APPROVED the check they would have to do further investigation because the checks I deposited did not look like past checks from that " employer. '' I asked her why they didn't do their due diligence when I spoke with representatives the first time, to which she didn't have a proper answer for. She informed me that the check will be put on hold until the scheduled clear out date and that I would potentially have to call their Chase collections to pay off this DEBT that SHOULDN'T BE MINE TO BEGIN WITH. That same lady said she'll close my account since I had given private information away, which I agreed to. I had called Chase again later that Tuesday afternoon trying to understand what I can do to best get my account in order in shape, because I was lost and confused and felt gaslit because I did my due diligence and acted in good faith by calling them and asking the best questions I knew how. Then I wake up today ( XX/XX/2025 ) to find that I can no longer access my account, which I was warned may happen by the last Chase rep I spoke with, so I immediately got in touch with their frauds department to get to the next steps. I got connected to one of the most disrespectful employees, who's apparently the supervisor of the department branch. He kept cutting me off despite asking me questions and kept speaking over me, as if I woke up one day and decided that I wanted to be scammed as some sick funny joke. My account has been compromised due to the course of events and my balance is now at a - {$1300.00} balance which Chase wants me to pay. BUT THEY REFUSED TO DO THEIR DUE DILIGENCE DESPITE TALKING TO MULTIPLE REPS IN THE COURSE OF FOUR DAYS. I got various answers from various people which tells me that Chase truly does not have a grip on their operations. YOU HAVE A FRAUD DEPARTMENT, AND COULDN'T EVEN RECOGNIZE FRAUD. And now what was supposed to be an opportunity to make my life just a little bit easier, has now set me back over a XXXX dollars and I am beyond infuriated and upset.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation