Leviton told me he read that column and sympathized that seniors on fixed incomes had to go through such difficulties reclaiming their cash. After I got involved, the $22,000 was restored to the Hansens’ account within days. The bank was unaware anything was wrong until the Hansens asked what happened to their money.Ĭhase dragged its feet for about a month. Incredibly, none of that suspicious activity was noticed by Chase. They related how someone hijacked their account, had new checks printed up with multiple names and addresses, and made off with $22,000. My earlier column about Donna and Michael Hansen attested to this. The American Bankers Assn., for its part, says scammers have been especially active since the start of the pandemic.Ĭon artists “have increased their efforts to gather customer information that lets them hack accounts,” said Paul Benda, senior vice president of risk and cyber policy for the industry group. “But this other guy was given $19,000? Even my rep at the bank couldn’t believe this happened.”Ĭhase, as you’ll see, had little to say to me about the matter. “They won’t let me touch the money in my account,” he said. Leviton said he made multiple calls to Chase and couldn’t get any more information than this, not least how what would seem to be an obvious act of fraud could have been perpetrated despite his account being frozen and in the process of being shut down. Chase proceeded to transfer $19,000 to the bogus account from Leviton’s account to cover the overdraft. The guy on the other side of the country then made a purchase for $19,000, money that wasn’t in the joint account. Leviton said the rep dug a little deeper and said it appeared that a man on the East Coast - presumably the same one who went after the $60,000 - had opened a joint Chase account in both his and Leviton’s names. “I asked how that could happen if the account was frozen and I myself couldn’t access any of the money. “That’s when the rep told me that someone had just transferred $19,000 out of the account,” Leviton said. Business Column: If this is the best banks can do to prevent fraud, we’re in a lot of troubleĭespite several signs of suspicious activity, Chase bank did nothing to prevent a scammer from raiding a Southern California couple’s checking account.Ī few days later, Leviton told me, he stopped by the Chase branch to ask when his funds would be released.
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