(WXYZ) — Several local people say they’ve lost tens of thousands of dollars thanks to fraud on their bank accounts. And they’re not alone. Across the country, scams are on the rise. But unlike credit card fraud where you can usually get your money refunded, these families say they’re furious that their bank won’t help them get their money back.
Chase bank is calling this a “societal problem” and saying these customers either did not do enough to secure their accounts or they authorized these wire transfers. But some of these local families say that’s just not true, and say they think their bank should do more to protect them.
- If you have experienced wire fraud or other forms of financial fraud, there are several agencies that suggest filing complaints:
- FBI: https://www.ic3.gov/
- Consumer Fraud Protection Bureau: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
“It's just very frustrating that they don't care,” said Amber.
“I've been very, very upset for a year, to the point where sometimes I think I might be having a heart attack,” said Bill Brown Jr.
“There's nobody on your side. There's nobody to help you,” said Anne Gongos.
Amber, Bill and Anne all say they lost huge chunks of their savings to scammers, and then they were shocked to learn their bank would not help them get their money back.
“It’s hurtful, that’s our hard-earned money that we worked for-- and it’s all gone,” Amber told 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.
Amber says she had just left the Chase Bank branch in St. Clair Shores in January when she got a text on her phone that looks like it’s from Chase. The text alerted her to “fraud” on her account.
“I immediately called Chase and I was going through the prompts. And when I was going through those prompts, I received a phone call from Chase,” said Amber. “They knew my name, my accounts, they knew the balances, they knew everything. And they said to secure the account, we have to move your money.”
But Amber quickly learned, she had been on the phone with a scammer who tricked her into making a wire transfer to what she thought was a new secure account. And now she’s missing $17,500.
Within moments of the call, Amber rushed back to the bank to try to stop the wire transfers that were still pending.
“But he said it's not on us to be able to stop it, which I find weird that the bankers can't stop these transactions,” said Amber.
Amber has no idea how the caller had so much of her account information already, but what she does know is that her money is gone. So is her trust in her bank.
“It's just very frustrating that they don't care and they just let these people get away with it and they blame you for it,” said Amber.
Amber isn’t alone. The spoofed Chase phone number scam appears to be costing customers tens of thousands of dollars in cities across the country.
And that’s not the only fraud that Chase customers say they’re facing.
“I couldn't breathe,” said Anne Gongos.
Anne says she noticed more than $31,000 missing from her savings account back in 2021.
This mom from Oakland Township says she never authorized the wire transfers that were made to purchase cryptocurrency.
“Who has income that they can just have stolen from them, right out of their account,” said Anne.
Anne says she’s been battling with Chase ever since. She says they did return some of the money but she’s still missing $7,000.
“It's so frustrating to me that they said I made this transaction, and I didn't,” said Anne.
“I'm at a loss. I need help,” said Bill Brown Jr.
Bill says last February he noticed $35,000 had been wired out of his Chase Home Equity Line of Credit account. A few days earlier he says he got an odd phone call about his computer being hacked but says he does not think he gave the caller any personal information.
Brown says he visited his Chase branch in Grosse Pointe Farms and reported the fraud immediately, only to later learn Chase would not be refunding his money either.
“They decided I did not take the appropriate action or steps to protect my computer or information. Now, I don't know what other steps anyone could take to protect their information,” said Bill.
Brown’s family is furious.
“What do they rely on to release these transactions? Who did they send them to, and did they do anything to try and reverse them or stop them,” said Bill Brown III.
“And you don't have answers to those questions,” asked Catallo.
“They won't talk to us,” he said.
“It's a lot of money for someone his age to be losing,” said Grosse Pointe Woods Police Detective Miles Adams.
Det. Adams tried to help get Brown’s money bank but says once it’s transferred out of an account – that’s nearly impossible. The only thing police and the banks can really do is caution customers to protect their accounts as best you can.
“It's hard to determine if it's a scam or not with phone spoofing. My advice is to do all things in-person if you can,” said Det. Adams.
Chase Bank Vice President of Regional Communications Stephanie Gostomski would not comment on the specifics of these cases on the record, but did offer this advice:
“Scams are a societal problem. Scammers impersonate companies, banks and even government agencies to try to trick consumers out of their hard-earned money. We urge all consumers to ignore phone or internet requests for money or access to their computer or bank accounts. Legitimate companies won’t make these requests, but scammers will.”
Here are some additional tips from Chase:
SCAM PREVENTION TIPS:
- Consumers should protect their personal account information, passwords and one-time passcodes.
- Banks will never call, text or email asking for you to send money to yourself or anyone else to prevent fraud.
- If you want to be sure you’re talking to a legitimate representative of the company that contacted you, call the number on their official website.
- To learn more about common scams and ways to protect yourself visit: www.chase.com/security-tips [nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com]
- Never click on suspicious links or grant anyone remote access to your phone or computer
- If you want to be sure you are talking to a legitimate representative of your bank call the number at the back of your card or visit a branch
The 7 Investigators reached out to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of the Currency Comptroller which oversees banks like Chase:
“The OCC regulates national banks and federal savings associations. The information below pertains to OCC-regulated institutions only. It does not apply to state-regulated banks or credit unions. Other federal banking agencies may have similar procedures for consumers to submit complaints regarding banks regulated by those agencies.
The OCC encourages consumers to contact the OCC’s Customer Assistance Group to file a complaint against a national bank or federal savings association. Consumers may reach the Customer Assistance Group at 1-800-613-6743. Information on how to file a complaint online, by mail or by fax is available at www.helpwithmybank.gov [helpwithmybank.gov]. There’s also information on what consumers can expect after filing a complaint. The website also has a section with information on fraud and scams, in addition to other topics, that may be helpful: https://helpwithmybank.gov/help-topics/fraud-scams/index-fraud-and-scams.html [helpwithmybank.gov].”
The U.S. Secret Service also investigates financial crimes. A spokeswoman told us: “We recommend that individuals report financial crimes to their local Secret Service field office: https://www.secretservice.gov/contact/field-offices [secretservice.gov]”
