‘I spent hours and hours on the phone’: Man gets $1,900 back after online banking dispute

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A Chesterfield man, Lloyd Chaser, shared his frustration after months of battling online banking issues with Wells Fargo, stemming from a series of account breaches and unauthorized transactions.

“I used to be cautious, but now I’m downright paranoid,” Chaser stated, recounting his exhausting ordeal of trying to resolve issues across multiple financial accounts.

It all started when Chaser’s Chase credit card was hacked, and his reward points were stolen. Fortunately, Chase Bank promptly restored the points, but the problems didn’t end there. Soon after, $179 was taken from Chaser’s account through PayPal without his authorization.

“Chase refunded the PayPal transaction quickly, so I felt like things were getting back on track,” Chaser said.

However, his troubles escalated when his Virginia Credit Union account was hacked for nearly $16,000. In this instance, someone had opened a checking account in his name. Virginia Credit Union also took swift action and returned the stolen funds. But while resolving those issues, Chaser’s attention shifted to yet another concern: his Wells Fargo account.

“I spent hours on the phone, in person, going through what happened. I checked my Wells Fargo bill pay account in June 2024, and there it was—an unknown Capital One credit card with a $1,990 charge paid through my account,” Chaser explained.

The problem? Chaser wasn’t even a Capital One customer.

“I could see how maybe Wells Fargo thought I was paying for someone else, but I don’t have kids or anyone who could’ve asked me to make a payment for them,” he said.

Chaser immediately contacted Wells Fargo to dispute the transaction. The bank opened an investigation, but months of back-and-forth only led to denial letters and confusion. Chaser was shocked when Wells Fargo’s response included an affidavit stating the bank’s research showed the transaction had been made through a secure online banking session, either by him or someone authorized to act on his behalf.

“I talked to a friend in cybersecurity who said hackers can mimic my computer’s identity and make it seem like I made the transaction myself,” Chaser explained.

Alex Nette, a cybersecurity expert and founder of Hive Systems, weighed in on Chaser’s situation, acknowledging that hackers can impersonate a user’s online activity. “It’s incredibly difficult for banks to differentiate between a legitimate user and a hacker, especially when the activity occurs on a secure platform,” Nette noted.

He added that banks often rely on patterns in account activity to flag suspicious behavior. “For example, if someone logs in at an unusual hour and adds a new credit card to bill pay that doesn’t match the user’s profile, that might be enough evidence to dispute the transaction,” Nette explained.

Chaser’s persistence paid off. After months of frustration, he received a call in late September with the news he had been waiting for—Wells Fargo would credit him for the $1,900 transaction. The bank decided after verifying with Capital One that Chaser’s name was not associated with the account used in the bill pay.

In a statement to the media, Wells Fargo acknowledged the complexity of the situation: “This was not a typical case. While our investigation showed no error, given the unique circumstances, we are issuing a refund to our customer as we continue working together to resolve the matter.”

For Chaser, the resolution brings some relief after months of uncertainty, though he remains cautious moving forward.

“I’m just glad it’s over, but I’ll definitely be more vigilant from now on,” he said.

Sources:

https://www.12onyourside.com/2024/10/01/i-spent-hours-hours-phone-man-gets-1900-back-after-issue-with-online-banking/