Chase Bank Wire Transfer Fraud
Your Money is Not Safe at Chase
This scam commonly happens to Chase Bank customers. It starts with a text, warning of a potentially fraudulent transaction. If you answer that you didn't authorize the transaction, a phone call will follow. Callers say they are from Chase’s fraud department. They use a "spoofed" number that matches the customer service phone number printed on the back of Chase debit cards. Some scammers already know account numbers, balances and passwords. Others ask for additional information. Although every call is different, scammers are ultimately able to wire large sums of money out of Chase bank accounts. Since wire transfers are instant, the money is gone immediately. Although it's difficult to trace or recover the stolen money, It appears to victims that Chase doesn't even try.
IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!
The Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) was passed in 1978 to protect consumers from being defrauded when making a transaction via an ATM, debit card or direct deposit. The law limits liability for lost debit cards to $50 or $500, depending on how quickly the lost card is reported. The EFTA also allows consumers to sue banks for violations and collect triple money damages plus attorney's fees if they win. But banks say EFTA does NOT protect victims from fraudulent wire transfers. Federal regulators have not yet weighed in on the issue. So there is a loophole that scammers use to steal billions of dollars. Banks take advantage of the situation to avoid responsibility, refusing to reimburse their customers’ stolen money.
According to the FBI, about $2 billion is lost annually to wire transfer fraud. Some cases involve payment apps such as Zelle while others rely on traditional wire transfers from bank accounts.
Most wire transfer fraud seems to involve scammers pretending to be Chase employees. The company calls it a"societal problem"
and blames their own customers;
saying the victims did not do
enough to secure their accounts; they authorized the wire transfers or
they benefitted from the transactions.
Laws and regulations have not kept pace with ever-evolving scams. As a result, fraud prevention experts are advocating lawmakers make spoofing websites and phone numbers illegal — and add protections for wire transfers.