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A CHASE customer has revealed that fraudsters took thousands of dollars from his account, and the bank was not eager to help him get it back.
In 2019, Jacob Conway initially thought he lost his card, but after a couple of strange transactions, he realized that scammers had somehow stolen his PIN and taken over $2,000 from him.
“I noticed I misplaced it. I thought I left it in the work van so I went to work searching for it, searching the car and I noticed it was nowhere to be found,” he told local ABC affiliate WLS-TV.
“Then I started getting emails and statements from Chase ‘hey in your account, checks are bouncing, you are in the negative’, what’s going on. So I immediately called Chase and said ‘this is not me, this is fraud’.”
Conway claimed that the scammers had deposited fake checks in an ATM and then withdrew thousands of dollars from his account.
The victim was left to deal with the bounced check fees, starting a major battle between him and Chase.
“I got a call back from Chase saying, ‘can’t prove this is fraud, sorry.’ So I went to the police department that weekend,” Conway said.
With nowhere to turn, he filed a police report with the Midlothian Police Department in Chicago for fraudulent activity.
While originally the bank had closed the case, In 2020, they reopened it once the station sent over the police report and his ATM account statements.
“I’m getting my money refunded. I got a check within two days,” Conway said.
He received a second check two days later totaling $2,400.
Chase said that it approved Conway’s claim “… based on new information.”
The bank added that if a card has been lost or stolen, customers should immediately report it to their 24-hour fraud line.
“When filing a claim for any unauthorized charges, it’s important to provide full and accurate information,” Chase added.
Unfortunately, Conway was not the only Chase customer who was scammed out of their money.
84-year-old Judy Mavie revealed she was scammed multiple times, with fraudsters targeting her savings.
“I think I might be the queen of getting new bank cards,” she told AZ Family.
Top tips on avoiding scams:
As scams become more sophisticated with the use of artificial intelligence, it is important you know how to spot a scam and how to avoid them.
- Be skeptical of online deals that seem too good to be true, especially on social media.
- Scammers will often use tactics to make you panicked so you make quick decisions – be cautious if you are told to take immediate action and verify who has contacted you.
- Chase Bank warns customers to “never return any unexpected funds without calling Chase first.”
- Never send money to someone you have only spoken to online or by phone as this is likely a romance scam.
- Unless you 100% know who you are talking to, never give someone remote access to your device.
- Never accept help from strangers at an ATM and always be vigilant when making withdrawals.
- Do not send money or click any links indicating that you have won a prize.
Source: Chase.com
Mavie claimed that many of her accounts had been hacked after a timeshare scam cost her thousands of dollars.
“That very day, my bank account went to zero,” she told the outlet.
Like Conway, Chase was able to help the elderly woman get her savings back, but this is not always the case.
“Unfortunately, with fraud-related schemes, typically once the money is gone, it’s very difficult to follow up and track that money down,” said Captain Brian Stutsman of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona.
The elderly are typically the target of these scams, he added.
“I can tell you from our experience, in a nine-month time frame, we identified over $2.7 million worth of fraud in primarily the Sun City, Sun City West areas,” said Stutsman.
“Just slow down. Time is on your side if you just stop and don’t believe all the things you’re hearing. Question everything.”
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Chase for comment.
