Wire Transfer Fraud through online banking

[chigirl1023]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois

My fiance and I have 3 joint checking accts with Chase. This morning we woke up to emails notifying my fiance that there were wire transfers posted. We logged in and saw that all three of our accounts had two transfers each totaling $1500 per acct. They were going to a bank in Mexico.

They were submitted that morning. We immediately called Chase and then went into a local branch. They put a recall on the transfers but so far we don't have confirmation that the receiving bank received the recalls or stopped payment. It turns out I didn't get alerts because the phone number was changed on my acct. Chase requires you to input a code they send via text before you can complete the transfer so they got the alerts, not me.

Chase says that it is the receiving bank in Mexico that will need to give me my money back and if they don't I'm out of luck. Would this not be covered under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act regulation E? If not do I have any other action with Chase?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[Heir7]

Go down to your local police department with the information and file a police report immediately. Police reports are the first step to take when fraud like this is involved. Then take the police report to Chase and tell them this is obviously fraud and you want to know how the bank intends to protect you, the customer, from this fraudulent activity, which drained your checking accounts.

If they don't make it right for you, then it is time to go see a real lawyer about this situation.

 

[Zigner]

Go down to your local police department with the information and file a police report immediately. Police reports are the first step to take when fraud like this is involved. Then take the police report to Chase and tell them this is obviously fraud and you want to know how the bank intends to protect you, the customer, from this fraudulent activity, which drained your checking accounts.

If they don't make it right for you, then it is time to go see a real lawyer about this situation.

What law do you think that Chase has broken?

 

[LdiJ]

What law do you think that Chase has broken?

They let a fraudulent wire transfer go through.

You should also close both of the accounts and open new ones. If it cannot be stopped, they may do it again.

 

[Heir7]

What law do you think that Chase has broken?

The police report would be to report that some unknown criminal (not Chase) has fraudulently transferred money out of their accounts and sent the money to a bank in Mexico.

It is a standard thing to do when some sort of fraud or identity theft has occurred to file a police report. You can then fill out and notarize an identity theft affidavit and begin the process of clearing this matter up. Without the police report Chase may have reason to think they had something to do with the transfer of money.

What is sad is how it seems so obvious that fraud was involved but Chase is standing back and not really doing much to help in this matter. They should have had some sort of protocol to verify the identity of the people involved before transferring the money. It leads me to believe that my money would not be too safe inside a Chase checking account, and maybe that is what they might need to motivate them to do the right thing in this case-- some bad p.r., some negative publicity where they might fear that the public would start to wonder whether their money was really safe in a Chase checking account if they won't protect it from fraud.

 

[davew128]

Chase's response here is odd. About a month ago I went to a Chase ATM about 5 miles from the border in Tijuana and withdrew cash for a transaction I needed actual cash for in that area. 90 minutes later I get texts and email notifications from Chase asking me if I had just used my debit card to purchase $250 in groceries at a Tijuana supermarket. Since I obviously hadn't, I informed them, and I'm guessing, the ATM (which was a wall mounted bank Chase owned ATM) probably had a skimmer on it, and the card cancelled and new one immediately issued.

Point is, Chase is pretty good with this stuff and they stand by their clients.

 

[ShyCat]

Chase's response here is odd. About a month ago I went to a Chase ATM about 5 miles from the border in Tijuana and withdrew cash for a transaction I needed actual cash for in that area. 90 minutes later I get texts and email notifications from Chase asking me if I had just used my debit card to purchase $250 in groceries at a Tijuana supermarket. Since I obviously hadn't, I informed them, and I'm guessing, the ATM (which was a wall mounted bank Chase owned ATM) probably had a skimmer on it, and the card cancelled and new one immediately issued.

Point is, Chase is pretty good with this stuff and they stand by their clients.

You apparently missed this in the OP:

It turns out I didn't get alerts because the phone number was changed on my acct. Chase requires you to input a code they send via text before you can complete the transfer so they got the alerts, not me.

 

[Indiana Filer]

Chase's response here is odd. About a month ago I went to a Chase ATM about 5 miles from the border in Tijuana and withdrew cash for a transaction I needed actual cash for in that area. 90 minutes later I get texts and email notifications from Chase asking me if I had just used my debit card to purchase $250 in groceries at a Tijuana supermarket. Since I obviously hadn't, I informed them, and I'm guessing, the ATM (which was a wall mounted bank Chase owned ATM) probably had a skimmer on it, and the card cancelled and new one immediately issued.

Point is, Chase is pretty good with this stuff and they stand by their clients.

That's been my experience with Chase also. Whenever I use my card in a very strange (as in non-local, such as out-of-state) place, or in a strange manner, I get a text and email asking if the use was by me.

 

[davew128]

You apparently missed this in the OP:

No, I'm just not STUPID enough to not have a correct phone number on file with my banking institution.

 

[questionforu2]

No, I'm just not STUPID enough to not have a correct phone number on file with my banking institution.

Can you read?

The fraudster changed the phone number.

 

[davew128]

Can you read?

Better than you it seems.

The fraudster changed the phone number.

Of course we're not actually told this, so you just made it up. Buh bye.

 

[Zigner]

Better than you it seems.

Of course we're not actually told this, so you just made it up. Buh bye.

It turns out I didn't get alerts because the phone number was changed on my acct. Chase requires you to input a code they send via text before you can complete the transfer so they got the alerts, not me.

Dave - it was said.