A JPMorgan Chase customer who lost $30,000 in a sophisticated banking scam will not be reimbursed by the bank.
Milissa Ferrari says she recently received a text message and a call from someone whose phone number matched the customer support number on her Chase debit card, reports the Portland-based television news station KOIN 6.
“I got a phone call with the very recognizable Chase voice of a female saying that there was potential wire fraud on my account and that I needed to press 1 to speak to a fraud agent.”
After pressing 1, Ferrari was connected to a scammer and began handing over personal details on her bank account.
After a few hours, the scammer told Ferrari to go to her bank in person to “unlock her account,” which she immediately did.
According to Ferrari, a teller at the bank said the account appeared to be fine.
“They’re giving me reassurance that everything looked fine. And I walked out of the door not realizing that I was now launching this whole scheme on the part of someone on the phone that didn’t work for Chase.”
The scammer promptly sent $30,000 in wire transfers out of Ferrari’s account in the span of seven days. Ferrari says she then went to a different branch, where a representative said Chase had failed her.
“She looked at me and said, ‘I am so sorry we failed you. I’ve talked with the other branch and I know what happened to you there. We should have closed your account that very first day.'”
In a statement, JPMorgan Chase says it has sympathy for Ferrari, although it will not reimburse her account.
“These types of scams are heartbreaking. As soon as Ms. Ferrari reported the scam we tried to get her money back but we were not successful.
We urge all consumers to protect their accounts by never sharing personal information with someone they don’t know. Banks will never call, text or email asking customers to send money to themselves or anyone else to prevent fraud, but scammers will.”
Back in May, Chase it would not reimburse a California customer who faced similar circumstances because she “did not take the appropriate steps” to protect her account from theft or unauthorized use.
KOIN 6 says more than 60 victims in similar circumstances have reached out to the news organization to report similar stories.
Many of the victims say the scammers were remarkably well-prepared and already knew detailed personal information about them or their bank account.
The Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) and Regulation E are designed to protect people who use banks to electronically transfer money.
However, the regulations don’t cover wire transfers, credit cards or transactions sent through paper checks.
