JPMorgan Chase says a customer who lost $24,000 in a sophisticated scam is out of luck – even though the funds were sent directly to a Chase bank account used by the scammer.
New Jersey resident Todd Kirby says he received a text message on June 6th that appeared to be from Chase, asking if he’d just authorized a $4,000 transfer, reports NJ.com.
He replied no, and promptly received a call from the same phone number that’s on the back of his Chase debit card.
Kirby picked up the phone and over the course of the next few days, a fake representative convinced him to transfer his entire balance to another Chase account set up by the scammer.
When he realized he may have been duped, Kirby immediately notified the bank, filed a claim to get his money back and notified the police.
Three business days later, Chase rejected the claim. Kirby filed two additional claims that were also rejected, and says the bank has a responsibility to reimburse his account.
“Let’s start with the basic fact that they were impersonated to a T, really beyond any of the standard bank fraud that a consumer would see. Looking back, I don’t see anything that I should have realized using common sense…
They impersonated Chase’s phone number, their text had the correct spelling, they did everything as Chase customer service would have handled a fraud. You’re not going to protect me? Really?”
Chase says it made “reasonable efforts” to recover Kirby’s funds.
When asked by NJ.com how the bank was able to reject the initial claim so fast, Chase refused to comment on its internal fraud investigation.
And when asked why the bank didn’t freeze the stolen funds, since they were transferred to another account at Chase, the bank again refused to comment.
Chase is pointing people to a page on its website with tips on how to avoid scams.
“We urge all consumers to ignore phone, text or internet requests for money or access to their computer or bank accounts. Legitimate companies won’t make these requests, but scammers will.”
Kirby said he’s not done fighting to get his money back.
“If it weren’t for Chase’s lack of proper education [for consumers], more sophisticated scammers who literally mimic their own exact phone number, their own easily replicable process in addressing fraudulent transactions, and their incredibly inconsistent customer service response, I would still have this money.”
