Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

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sunny_socal
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Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by sunny_socal »

My son, 19, opened a Chase checking account to get their $275 bonus. He set up a biweekly direct deposit and waited for the bonus to arrive - no problems.

After a while he wanted to put his college payment funds into a separate account so I suggested opening a Chase savings account for that purpose. He went online, logged in, opened the account. He then funded via an online transfer from another account - once again problems.

Went back some time later since it was time to pay the fees for the current college quarter. No savings account! Poked around some more, not a trace. This was the case online and within the mobile app. Wasted some time trying to call Chase. Eventually found a proof of transfer within some area outside the normal account records. It indeed showed funds transferred from the outside and also the account number. It was completed 12/16/2021.

He went to the local branch and they were helpful. They set up a new account for him and even converted his status to 'college' so he'll no longer need any minimum balance or direct deposits. But the money is still gone.

They said Chase closed the account due to 'suspicion' that he's involved in some kind of fraud. There was no email or phone contact prior to this taking place on 12/23/21. They said a check is 'in the mail.'

Well here it is 1/16/22 and the check hasn't come. What can he do? Chase is a big bank... so big that there's no one to yell at :annoyed
Makefile
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by Makefile »

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
JBTX
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by JBTX »

Makefile wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 10:30 pm Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
This does work very well. I used it to get a Chime sign up bonus they refused to pay and then they paid it.
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Stinky
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by Stinky »

How high have your escalated this within your local Chase branch? Specifically, have you spoken to the branch manager?

If not, I'd do that now. CFPB complaint might deliver results for you, but working within the Chase system should produce faster results (presuming that they can find the money).
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OnTrack2020
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by OnTrack2020 »

Have your son name and shame on:

Social media: Twitter; use the @.... so the company as well as others see it
Reddit
Facebook complaint on the company's website


....at least you'll feel better if you don't get your $$$ back. I mean, seriously, just because of you posting this, I would not recommend this to my kids.
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galawdawg
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by galawdawg »

I assume your adult son can't be too upset with Chase since he opened another savings account with them after this situation arose concerning his prior savings account. Is your son's gripe that he hasn't received the check yet from Chase?

Did the branch tell your son specifically when they issued and mailed the check to him? That may have been on a later date than December 23 which appears to be the date they closed his prior savings account. US Mail service is terribly slow these days. Add in the holidays, whatever processing time is involved to issue the check, and who knows....it may not have actually been sent out until after January 1.

Since your son apparently wishes to continue banking with Chase, I don't recommend starting this off with a CFPB complaint or with "shaming" on social media. Perhaps he should talk with the branch manager, see when the check was actually issued, confirm it is going to the correct address, and then if it has been less than thirty days since the check was mailed, give it some more time to arrive. If thirty (30) days passes without delivery of the check, he may wish to meet with the branch manager and request that Chase put a stop payment on the check and just process a deposit of those funds into his new savings account.

If he is unwilling to wait any longer or thinks he needs to escalate this, maybe Chase isn't the right bank for him. Personally, I don't reward a business that treats me poorly with repeat business. But that's just me. 8-)
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by sunny_socal »

galawdawg wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 6:16 am I assume your adult son can't be too upset with Chase since he opened another savings account with them after this situation arose concerning his prior savings account. Is your son's gripe that he hasn't received the check yet from Chase?

Did the branch tell your son specifically when they issued and mailed the check to him? That may have been on a later date than December 23 which appears to be the date they closed his prior savings account. US Mail service is terribly slow these days. Add in the holidays, whatever processing time is involved to issue the check, and who knows....it may not have actually been sent out until after January 1.

Since your son apparently wishes to continue banking with Chase, I don't recommend starting this off with a CFPB complaint or with "shaming" on social media. Perhaps he should talk with the branch manager, see when the check was actually issued, confirm it is going to the correct address, and then if it has been less than thirty days since the check was mailed, give it some more time to arrive. If thirty (30) days passes without delivery of the check, he may wish to meet with the branch manager and request that Chase put a stop payment on the check and just process a deposit of those funds into his new savings account.

If he is unwilling to wait any longer or thinks he needs to escalate this, maybe Chase isn't the right bank for him. Personally, I don't reward a business that treats me poorly with repeat business. But that's just me. 8-)
Yes - the issue is that he doesn't have the money. Talking to branch manager is a good idea.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by OnTrack2020 »

galawdawg wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 6:16 am I assume your adult son can't be too upset with Chase since he opened another savings account with them after this situation arose concerning his prior savings account. Is your son's gripe that he hasn't received the check yet from Chase?

Did the branch tell your son specifically when they issued and mailed the check to him? That may have been on a later date than December 23 which appears to be the date they closed his prior savings account. US Mail service is terribly slow these days. Add in the holidays, whatever processing time is involved to issue the check, and who knows....it may not have actually been sent out until after January 1.

Since your son apparently wishes to continue banking with Chase, I don't recommend starting this off with a CFPB complaint or with "shaming" on social media. Perhaps he should talk with the branch manager, see when the check was actually issued, confirm it is going to the correct address, and then if it has been less than thirty days since the check was mailed, give it some more time to arrive. If thirty (30) days passes without delivery of the check, he may wish to meet with the branch manager and request that Chase put a stop payment on the check and just process a deposit of those funds into his new savings account.

If he is unwilling to wait any longer or thinks he needs to escalate this, maybe Chase isn't the right bank for him. Personally, I don't reward a business that treats me poorly with repeat business. But that's just me. 8-)
It's been a month. Let's stop giving the bank the benefit of the doubt here, especially in this day and age. The bank could have just as easily transferred the money back into the son's old account.
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8foot7
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by 8foot7 »

OnTrack2020 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 6:55 am
galawdawg wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 6:16 am I assume your adult son can't be too upset with Chase since he opened another savings account with them after this situation arose concerning his prior savings account. Is your son's gripe that he hasn't received the check yet from Chase?

Did the branch tell your son specifically when they issued and mailed the check to him? That may have been on a later date than December 23 which appears to be the date they closed his prior savings account. US Mail service is terribly slow these days. Add in the holidays, whatever processing time is involved to issue the check, and who knows....it may not have actually been sent out until after January 1.

Since your son apparently wishes to continue banking with Chase, I don't recommend starting this off with a CFPB complaint or with "shaming" on social media. Perhaps he should talk with the branch manager, see when the check was actually issued, confirm it is going to the correct address, and then if it has been less than thirty days since the check was mailed, give it some more time to arrive. If thirty (30) days passes without delivery of the check, he may wish to meet with the branch manager and request that Chase put a stop payment on the check and just process a deposit of those funds into his new savings account.

If he is unwilling to wait any longer or thinks he needs to escalate this, maybe Chase isn't the right bank for him. Personally, I don't reward a business that treats me poorly with repeat business. But that's just me. 8-)
It's been a month. Let's stop giving the bank the benefit of the doubt here, especially in this day and age. The bank could have just as easily transferred the money back into the son's old account.
+1. Or the bank could have processed a stop payment on the check when your son was in the office, positively identified, and then deposited the funds at that point.

If it were me, waiting 30 more days would be a complete non-starter. Either the money gets into my account by the next business day, I walk out of the branch with a check, or the CFPB gets contacted. This isn’t hard.

And before the “big banks don’t work like that” folks jump aboard: If the bank’s process doesn’t allow for a customer presenting himself in person, positively identified, to electronically receive funds authentically proven to be theirs that the bank withdrew of their own volition, the process is broken and the bank is essentially stealing money from customers.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by galawdawg »

OnTrack2020 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 6:55 am It's been a month. Let's stop giving the bank the benefit of the doubt here, especially in this day and age. The bank could have just as easily transferred the money back into the son's old account.
Not according to my calendar. It is up to OP's adult son how he wants to handle it. But since he has apparently decided to continue to bank with Chase and has a local branch, then a chat with the branch manager about the delayed check would seem to me to be the next logical step, particularly since he found them to be helpful about getting the account issue resolved immediately. They may be just as prompt and responsive about handling the delayed check as they apparently were about addressing the account issue.

Of course, if he'd rather "shame" them on social media as you recommend, that's up to him.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by Nowizard »

Answer the degree to which you personally respond to issues that are of concern to others to find an answer about how aggressive to be with Chase. This is a very challenging time, but there are also individual expectations that differ.

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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by Silverado »

OnTrack2020 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 6:01 am Have your son name and shame on:

Social media: Twitter; use the @.... so the company as well as others see it
Reddit
Facebook complaint on the company's website


....at least you'll feel better if you don't get your $$$ back. I mean, seriously, just because of you posting this, I would not recommend this to my kids.
I don’t agree with this advice. Not at all. As mentioned, talk to the branch manager.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by SteadyOne »

How about filing a police report? Your money disappeared, right ?
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by JoMoney »

I would press them for a date I should expect to receive the check by. If they won't give a date, the date is unreasonably far out, or they do and the date passes, I would file a complaint with CFPB. I would not hesitate to bring up that if they won't give you a date you plan to file a complaint with CFPB.
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
If after more time (and in some fashion documenting) my attempts to resolve it hasn't resolved it, I would consider filing a suit in small claims court.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by galawdawg »

SteadyOne wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:27 am How about filing a police report? Your money disappeared, right ?
Surely you jest.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by bob60014 »

I bet there is more to the story.
Last edited by bob60014 on Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by samsoes »

I know from personal experience with Chase, Citi and CapOne that there is no way with the mega banks to talk to a person in a specific bank department (AVP, VP, department manager). Instead, the only people we can speak to are (usually) off-shore call center who respond with scripted answers, and are difficult to communicate with. If you can convince them to, they may open an internal ticket for escalation. In doing so, you'd have to make sure that the call center rep understands the issue and describes it properly in the ticket notes. Shockingly, when bringing your issue to a branch, the branch personnel call the same call center for escalation. I once had a branch person hang-up on the call center rep when it was clear that he didn't understand the problem and call the same number to hopefully get a smarter person!

And it's impossible to call back and talk to the same person for an update.

With a smaller, local bank, you or the branch person can speak directly to a specific bank department and get the name and phone number of the person in that department to follow-up on your issue.

Eschew the big and mega banks. Go local, always.

Edit: typo
Last edited by samsoes on Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by sunny_socal »

bob60014 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:13 am I bet there is more to the story.
I'm sure there is but they're not telling us anything. The source for the funds was USAA and he's been there for years. Not much credit history since he's a student.

These 'fraud departments' are rather trigger-happy. On one hand it's good since they seem to be rather vigilant. On the other hand they often get in the way - if I try to buy a tank of gas in a neighboring state I'll often find my credit card frozen!

In this case the annoying thing isn't the allegation of fraud, it's deleting the account without even contacting him and then pulling the money.

Anyway, won't be doing the "social media shaming" since we don't have any social media accounts in the family :beer
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by HueyLD »

“ JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., is supervised and regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and, with respect to certain matters, by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The Federal Reserve acts as an “umbrella regulator” over JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its subsidiaries.”

It’s primary regulator is OCC.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
400 7th St SW, Washington, DC 20219, USA
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by GoldenFinch »

My guess is the check is delayed because the bank takes a ridiculous 30 days to issue a check and the post office takes another three weeks to deliver it. I would call Chase and ask whether the check was sent. They should have a record of the send date.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by JoMoney »

sunny_socal wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:21 am...won't be doing the "social media shaming" since we don't have any social media accounts in the family :beer
:sharebeer Sounds like a smart mentally healthy family.
I'm assuming you're referring to commercial social-media, and discounting Boglehead's as something other than social 'media'
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by michaeljc70 »

Chase closes accounts they think there is fraudulent activity on with no notification to the account holder??? It sounds like your son is in college. Is it possible he didn't receive the correspondence? A bank cannot just confiscate your money.

I would agree with talking to the branch manager. If you call it might take forever to get to the right person.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by oldcomputerguy »

This topic is now in the Personal Finance forum (personal financial issues that don't involve investments).
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by livesoft »

When my son was that age, he tossed lots of mail

I learned last week of someone who had their IRS refund check that was mailed to them stolen and cashed. So far not replaced by the IRS yet. It is a distinct possibility that the same thing could have happened here.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by UpperNwGuy »

michaeljc70 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:54 am Chase closes accounts they think there is fraudulent activity on with no notification to the account holder???
Yes, they can. See this link:
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/bank ... my-account
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by Beensabu »

Wow. This makes me think of the bank run scene in Mary Poppins. "The bank won't give him back his money!?"
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by Spring garden »

Up to your son. I would have no tolerance for these shenanigans and would go back to the bank, withdraw any money with the bank, and request stop payment on missing check and immediate return of funds that are missing at the counter. Escalate to bank manager if needed; be polite and firm. Once all funds are returned I would close accounts and not do business with chase ever again (who is to say they won't close the account in the same manner in the future)?
Cmon, "the check is in the mail"? I didn't think that fooled anyone anymore.
Surely there is another bank or credit union that would be more than happy to have him as a customer.
These sorts of stories are why I do not chase bonuses or use Chase.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by Stinky »

SteadyOne wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:27 am How about filing a police report? Your money disappeared, right ?
Sorry, but I think this is a really bad idea.
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fortunefavored
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by fortunefavored »

samsoes wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:13 am Shockingly, when bringing your issue to a branch, the branch personnel call the same call center for escalation. I once had a branch person hang-up on the call center rep when it was clear that he didn't understand the problem and call the same number to hopefully get a smarter person!
Same experience with Bank of America. No one in local branches is empowered to do anything, they're just chair warmers.

Chase is infamous for randomly closing accounts. There's nothing to be done but wait for the check to arrive. You can complain to the CFPB, but I expect the check will show up before any action happens.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by worthit »

OP, if everything fails and you are reaching a dead end, you may want to write to the CEO, Mr. Dimon. His official email ID is on the public domain.

Explain your situation. you WILL get a response promptly from someone specifically assigned to your case with sufficient authority and resolving this to your satisfaction. Ask me how :sharebeer.
Last edited by worthit on Mon Jan 17, 2022 10:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
OnTrack2020
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by OnTrack2020 »

I don't believe there is anyone on this thread or these boards who would tolerate this from a local bank, but are willing to tolerate it from a larger bank--makes no sense.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by nisiprius »

worthit wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 10:05 am OP, if everything fails and you are reaching a dead end, you may want to write to the CEO, Mr. Dimon. His official email ID is on the public domain.

Explain your situation. you WILL get a response promptly from someone specifically assigned to your case with sufficient authority and resolving this to your satisfaction. Ask me how :sharebeer.
I agree with trying this. The worst that happens is that you waste time and feel the sting of rejection. It will not literally receive Jamie Dimon's personal attention, but it is a different channel within the company (and goes to people whose job rating isn't based on clearing every interaction in the shortest time possible).

It's my personal belief that a mailed, paper, USPS letter with a stamp on it, and the address written by hand, is better than email. As explained below, I think the correct address is:

Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO
JPMorgan Chase
383 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10179-0001

The letter should be less than a page long. The first sentence should state exactly what you want them to do. Under the circumstances it would be appropriate to acknowledge the possibility of a mistake, i.e. "Please send me $3,800 or tell me exactly what I need to do to receive it." The letter should be cordial in tone and should make no explicit or implied threats, no legal language, no mention of social media.

It is likely that it will work better if the letter is from your son," even if you write it and prepare completely and just have him sign it. Having it be from someone else will confuse things.

Pretend that the person seeing the letter agrees with you and says "OK." Enclose the exact materials that the person will need to have in order to take care of it. That means a copy of your son's account showing the exact number of dollars that was in it, and something confirming that the account was closed.

---------
Here's how I found the address, which I wrote as I was searched for it:

So, I am going to Wikipedia to see if I can quickly get the address of corporate HQ. Alas, they only confirm that it's in New York. OK, next stop, Wikipedia did mention that Chase Bank is part of JPMorgan Chase and that Jamie Dimon is the head of both... so I'm going to look for "shareholder relations" and try to find an annual report.

https://www.jpmorganchase.com

"2020 Annual Report (Released April 2021)"

The "learn more" link is just the Chairman's Letter, but it has a link to the complete annual report:

JP Morgan Chase 2020 Annual Report

On the next to last page I find:

Corporate headquarters
383 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10179-0001
Telephone: 212-270-6000
jpmorganchase.com
Last edited by nisiprius on Mon Jan 17, 2022 10:43 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by beyou »

I keep two checking accounts at two banks for redundancy.
One at a megabank with branches everywhere (not Chase but a close competitor) and a small online bank.
The online bank might as well be a local CU/small bank. You can actually chat a specific person in their customer service department.
I have had the same persons many times and find them helpful and empowered.

As a result I keep much more in the small online bank, and a trivial balance in the megabank.
Good to have the megabank account for various services a local branch bank might be needed once in a rare while.
Also good to have a low balance checking account for things like venmo etc that may increase fraud risk.
I usually leave 10x the balance at the small bank vs the megabank.
Megabank service is terrible, it's not just Chase (which I think is better than my megabank).
But having a small account if you can get without fees has some benefits. Just need to know what you are getting and deal with it.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by Katietsu »

UpperNwGuy wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 9:23 am
michaeljc70 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:54 am Chase closes accounts they think there is fraudulent activity on with no notification to the account holder???
Yes, they can. See this link:
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/bank ... my-account
Definitely. You must remember that they are closing the account because of concerns that the account holder is not who they say they are or that they are doing or may be doing something inappropriate with the account. I understand that people who are doing nothing wrong can get unfairly tagged. But think about the process again while assuming the bank is right and the account holder is transacting inappropriately at best and criminally at worst. Would you expect the bank to notify someone committing identity theft or money laundering before closing the account?

A separate conversation should be had about whether your choice of banks has the right triggers for labeling activity as suspicious. Or, more specifically, whether the bank’s actions are consistent with your preferences.

As far as the OP’s son, I does not seem like the son has tried any follow up to find out when or where the check was sent, at minimum. For example, maybe the son is home for break and he gave his college address when opening the account. I think it is useful to have information about possible actions if you have an intractable problem with the bank but this situation, as described, is not in that ballpark yet.
Last edited by Katietsu on Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jags4186
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by Jags4186 »

Chase did adverse action me several years ago -- closed my deposit accounts without notice (didn't affect my credit cards). I received a check in the mail within 7 days.

You need to attack this on *all* fronts. File a CFPB complaint now. File an OCC complaint now. File a BBB complaint now. Contact your state Attorney General's office now. Shame on Twitter and Facebook now. Go into the branch now. Call and escalate to the executive or CEO office now. When you call if the person you speak to doesn't help, escalate. Keep escalating until someone fixes the problem.

There is no reason to do one, wait for a result, and then move on to another avenue. Do all simultaneously. Get as many people working on this at once because there's a good chance that if you speak to 10 different people who say they can help you, maybe one follows through.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by michaeljc70 »

UpperNwGuy wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 9:23 am
michaeljc70 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:54 am Chase closes accounts they think there is fraudulent activity on with no notification to the account holder???
Yes, they can. See this link:
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/bank ... my-account
They have to send you your money unless they are owed it for overdrafts or have a legal garnishment.....

Maybe legally that don't have to notify you in a timely matter, but leaving someone's mortgage payment and other important bills to be rejected is a customer service nightmare. I download banking and related transactions almost daily so I don't expect this would happen and I wouldn't know.
Last edited by michaeljc70 on Mon Jan 17, 2022 1:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
UpperNwGuy
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by UpperNwGuy »

michaeljc70 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 1:45 pm
UpperNwGuy wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 9:23 am
michaeljc70 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:54 am Chase closes accounts they think there is fraudulent activity on with no notification to the account holder???
Yes, they can. See this link:
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/bank ... my-account
They have to send you your money unless they are owed it for overdrafts or have a legal garnishment.....
Yes, of course they do. The point of my post was that they can close an account without notifying the account holder.
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alpenglow
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by alpenglow »

Jags4186 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:11 am You need to attack this on *all* fronts. File a CFPB complaint now. File an OCC complaint now. File a BBB complaint now. Contact your state Attorney General's office now. Shame on Twitter and Facebook now. Go into the branch now. Call and escalate to the executive or CEO office now. When you call if the person you speak to doesn't help, escalate. Keep escalating until someone fixes the problem.
100% agree here to respond on all fronts possible.

I'm sorry that you son is dealing with this. Please let us know how it turns out.
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alpenglow
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by alpenglow »

Katietsu wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:04 am A separate conversation should be had about whether your choice of banks has the right triggers for labeling activity as suspicious. Or, more specifically, whether the bank’s actions are consistent with your preferences.
My understanding is that banks are purposely opaque about fraud/suspicious activity triggers.
GP813
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by GP813 »

Join a reputable local Credit Union as soon as possible it's probably just Chase's stupidity.

But also double check with your son just to make sure and be positive he didn't give anybody his account info. A lot of teenagers on social media have been falling for "the scheme" aka card cracking, where somebody in their friend circle or outside of it promises to give them money by depositing a check, it's a bad check that bounces but not before the perpetrators clear out the account and have the owner liable for both the bounced check and left with no recourse to recover their own funds. The banks are dealing with this problem all the time.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by coachd50 »

GP813 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 3:44 pm Join a reputable local Credit Union as soon as possible it's probably just Chase's stupidity.

But also double check with your son just to make sure and be positive he didn't give anybody his account info. A lot of teenagers on social media have been falling for "the scheme" aka card cracking, where somebody in their friend circle or outside of it promises to give them money by depositing a check, it's a bad check that bounces but not before the perpetrators clear out the account and have the owner liable for both the bounced check and left with no recourse to recover their own funds. The banks are dealing with this problem all the time.
What account info would he have given? If you write a normal preprinted paper check to anyone you are giving that entity your account number
GP813
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by GP813 »

coachd50 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 4:04 pm
GP813 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 3:44 pm Join a reputable local Credit Union as soon as possible it's probably just Chase's stupidity.

But also double check with your son just to make sure and be positive he didn't give anybody his account info. A lot of teenagers on social media have been falling for "the scheme" aka card cracking, where somebody in their friend circle or outside of it promises to give them money by depositing a check, it's a bad check that bounces but not before the perpetrators clear out the account and have the owner liable for both the bounced check and left with no recourse to recover their own funds. The banks are dealing with this problem all the time.
What account info would he have given? If you write a normal preprinted paper check to anyone you are giving that entity your account number
They usually use the physical bank/ATM card with the pin or online login credentials with the password. It seems unbelievable that anybody would share these but teenagers and young adults are doing it way too often.

"Card Cracking" Scams
TN_Boy
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by TN_Boy »

alpenglow wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 3:42 pm
Katietsu wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:04 am A separate conversation should be had about whether your choice of banks has the right triggers for labeling activity as suspicious. Or, more specifically, whether the bank’s actions are consistent with your preferences.
My understanding is that banks are purposely opaque about fraud/suspicious activity triggers.
Right. I've had credit cards (different card types and issuers) decline charges for no rational reason at all. In one case they canceled the card for a single suspect charge. These were businesses I use on a somewhat routine basis (probably every month for one, 3 or 4 times a year for the other). Both pretty run of the mill businesses. Amount of the charge typical. Both mail-order businesses. Charges made at reasonable time of day for someone in my billing address zip code.

I asked why -- especially when they cancelled the one card -- and the reps on the phone had no idea. I personally think it is not always obvious to anyone at the company, including the people that wrote the fraud-checking code, why some charges get declined.

For example, I order two shirts from LL bean in September. Total cost maybe $150. Then in November I order some pants from LL bean, for $75. And they decline the 2nd charge. I'm changing the name of the company and the amounts, but this example closely mimics what happened. I mean, why?

That said, I've also had them correctly decline charges when (somehow, the card had not been stolen) the number was used to make an illegal charge.

There are definitely things I don't understand about how credit card numbers are illegally used, and what triggers fraud alerts. It can be frustrating, since I can't say "well, this might look suspicious, I'll call the card issuer up and tell them I'm about to charge with vendor X." It's just, from my viewpoint, a random decline.

Back to the OP, I am surprised they would close an account like that. I'd expect them to make a reasonable effort to contact the account owner, using the contact information (did they have a phone number?) given when the account was created. And they would surely send a letter as well as a check.
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anon_investor
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by anon_investor »

fortunefavored wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 9:56 am
samsoes wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:13 am Shockingly, when bringing your issue to a branch, the branch personnel call the same call center for escalation. I once had a branch person hang-up on the call center rep when it was clear that he didn't understand the problem and call the same number to hopefully get a smarter person!
Same experience with Bank of America. No one in local branches is empowered to do anything, they're just chair warmers.

Chase is infamous for randomly closing accounts. There's nothing to be done but wait for the check to arrive. You can complain to the CFPB, but I expect the check will show up before any action happens.
When I had an issue at Bank of America I called the Preferred Rewards hotline even though I didn't have the status yet. I spoke to a US based rep who was very experience (he told me only experienced reps are on that hotline). He helped solve my issue which did require the rep calling me back, but it was the same rep. I was very
Impessed by the service. Not sure if Chase has a similar hotline.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by MikeG62 »

OP, can you get details on the check - date written, check number and date mailed?

I’d try and call the Chase customer service number and see if you can get a quick/immediate answer to those questions. If no answers, I’d go back to the branch and see if you can get the branch manager to engage. Realize this could be difficult if your name was not on the account as banks are typically unwilling to speak with anyone but the account holder.

It could be that because of the claimed fraud, Chase is slow rolling this (not intentionally, but just because they’ve got a lot of process around it)?
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Abe
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by Abe »

This is why I like to deal with small local banks. They know me when I walk in, and I know them. If there is a problem they fix it.
Slow and steady wins the race.
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Soul.in.Progress
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by Soul.in.Progress »

I’m so sorry that this happened to you/your son. It is incredibly frustrating as we know first hand: a very similar thing happened to my then 19-year old son from Chase. Then it happened at Citi. Then we gave upon big banks and had no problem with DCU :D , which I learned about from this wonderful forum. We had even more money at stake, and I was sweating buckets (probably more than my son even though it was his hard earned money) because I didn’t have trust that the [large] check would arrive in the mail without some possible nefarious interception along the way. It eventually arrived, thank goodness, but the big banks could not tell us why he got flagged other than the fraud dept flagged it (as someone upstream mentioned, banks are weirdly opaque even about the process). It was definitely a case of over triggering as he had never had a relationship with a bank before and had even opened the account in person with valid ID. Unfortunately, it was his first banking experiences so I was sad that in contrast to my first banking experience with my dad in my own youth, his was quite negative and confusing. I understand and value the need for fraud protection but I fear that with opaqueness, how does anyone have oversight that they are doing things correctly? For example, we have a fairly common last name in our culture of heritage, so they might assume that anyone with that name is the same person if they aren’t culturally aware. Sigh. Anyway, OP I wish you and your son luck and I hope you get that money back smoothly and swiftly! I agree with what’s been said about finding out date of check being mailed and verifying the address.
Last edited by Soul.in.Progress on Mon Jan 17, 2022 6:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Freefun
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by Freefun »

I like both ideas of writing to mr Dimon AND talking to the Branch manager. I believe one of these approaches will work.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by coachd50 »

GP813 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 4:08 pm
coachd50 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 4:04 pm
GP813 wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 3:44 pm Join a reputable local Credit Union as soon as possible it's probably just Chase's stupidity.

But also double check with your son just to make sure and be positive he didn't give anybody his account info. A lot of teenagers on social media have been falling for "the scheme" aka card cracking, where somebody in their friend circle or outside of it promises to give them money by depositing a check, it's a bad check that bounces but not before the perpetrators clear out the account and have the owner liable for both the bounced check and left with no recourse to recover their own funds. The banks are dealing with this problem all the time.
What account info would he have given? If you write a normal preprinted paper check to anyone you are giving that entity your account number
They usually use the physical bank/ATM card with the pin or online login credentials with the password. It seems unbelievable that anybody would share these but teenagers and young adults are doing it way too often.

"Card Cracking" Scams
Ah, I never considered the idea of telling someone "hey, give me your login info, and I will use mobile deposit". Thank you for the info.
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Re: Chase 'took' $3800 from my son's account and closed it

Post by RubyTuesday »

Tell the branch manager that they need to provide the funds within 1 business day or you will both write CEO Dimon and the CFPB.

If the “check’s in the mail” they can cancel the check and deposit the funds directly into your account.
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