Date Received: 2022-04-18
Issue: Managing an account
Subissue: Problem using a debit or ATM card
Consumer Complaint: Reference Case # XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Dear Fifth Third Bank Disputes, We are writing this letter to document the chronology of events that resulted in a severe hacking, identity theft and bank fraud event to our on-line checking account and requesting a reversal of the decision to deny the dispute for case # XXXX. We are requesting dispute charges totaling {$18000.00} Key facts 1 ) Primary Account Holder : XXXX 2 ) Additional Account Holders : XXXX, XXXX 3 ) Branch Location : XXXX Florida, XXXX XXXX XXXX 4 ) XXXX XXXX relocated from XXXX to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX 5 ) None of the account holders have a mobile banking account with Fifth Third Bank 6 ) All Fraudulent charges were executed in Georgia Chronology of Events 1 ) XX/XX/XXXX a. Hacker gained access to the on line account and changed the phone number, email address and included a secondary address i. New Phone : XXXX ( home ) ii. New Email : XXXX XXXX. Secondary Address : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, XXXX, GA, XXXX XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX a. No Activity 3 ) XX/XX/XXXX a. Hacker generated a new debit card XXXX and updated the pin number b. Hacker executed multiple bank card withdrawals ( XXXX ) and merchant ( XXXX ) purchases in XXXX Georgia totaling {$5500.00} for that day c. Bank Alert was sent to the newly created Hacker phone number XXXX and was accepted by the Hacker as a legitimate charge 4 ) XX/XX/XXXX a. Hacker continued to make XXXX ( XXXX ) and merchant ( XXXX ) purchases in similar amounts to the previous day totaling {$4800.00} for this day 5 ) XX/XX/XXXX a. XXXX and XXXX logged into her online account and noticed the unusual charges b. Hacker continued to make XXXX ( XXXX ) and merchant ( XXXX ) purchases in similar amounts to the previous day totaling {$7800.00} for this day 6 ) XXXX XXXX XXXX a. Since it was the weekend, XXXX and XXXX made multiple phone calls to the Customer Service and Fraud Center to alert Fifth Third Bank of the fraudulent charges and ask that they be put in dispute and that the account be locked. XXXX could not remember her verbal password and XXXX was not asked for her SS # which does not have a verbal password so the requests for support were unsuccessful with the overseas Customer and Fraud support teams. Representative : XXXX ). XXXX requested to speak to a supervisor ( XXXX XXXX ) and was put on hold. The supervisor was not available. XXXX requested a follow call from the supervisor. She never received a call. b. In an attempt to protect the remaining money, XXXX deactivated the Hacker generated card XXXX, moved the remaining money from checking to savings, changed the account password, inactivated another card, changed the Email and phone number to her contact information, and added additional security questions. c. XXXX sent an Email directly to XXXX XXXX the Branch VP and asked for help resolving the issue. XXXX called XXXX first thing Monday XXXX morning and told her to call Fraud again and the move the money out of the bank account. 7 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX was finally able to reach a very helpful a Fraud support agent in the US XXXX in Michigan - he was able to see the issue and generate the Dispute Case number. At the time, he also questioned how multiple XXXX withdrawals for the same amounts were able to be executed. XXXX asked if it was necessary to file a police report and was told that was up to her. It was not a requirement. b. Shortly thereafter, about XXXX XXXX PT, XXXX was then contacted by XXXX phone number ( XXXX ) XXXX at the Fifth Third Bank Corporate Office in North Carolina asking whether she ( XXXX ) was trying to make any further changes to the account post the Fraud report. The answer was no. XXXX informed XXXX that they had a women on the other line calling from the Hackers phone number XXXX trying to make changes again. XXXX was also informed that this person had XXXX SS #. XXXX told XXXX she was not the only one in this situation. c. At that point XXXX asked what more could be done to protect the remaining money. A XXXX XXXX was added to the conversation. At this point it was agreed that XXXX would contact Fraud and put a Hold on the account and XXXX and XXXX would lock the credit tied to XXXX SS # on all three credit platforms. The credit freeze was completed. d. XXXX was asked to provide XXXX the bank wire information to her XXXX account in XXXX XXXX California so the remaining money could be moved out to a more secure location. XXXX Emailed XXXX the wire information e. XXXX called XXXX back and said that the corporate office could not wire the money that needed to be done by the local branch back in XXXX Florida f. XXXX XXXX checked in that evening and informed XXXX that the hold on the account was not done properly it was only set for 24 hours and that she needed to contact the corporate office again to ensure the hold was extended. 8 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX contacted the corporate office again and asked them to put a more secure hold/block on the account and the did. Balances set at approximately- $ XXXX each b. XXXX talked with XXXX XXXX about executing the wire. XXXX said she could not execute the wire because neither XXXX nor XXXX could not come to the bank in person. Instead, she recommended that they open a new account and XXXX write a check from one account to the other. XXXX and XXXX opened a new joint account at XXXX, deposited the money and Emailed photos of the check, the deposit slip, and the receipt to XXXX. XXXX was able to release the money that day. 9 ) XX/XX/XXXX a. No Activity 10 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX called the Fraud line to check on the status of the dispute claim. After one lengthy hold and talking with one representative XXXX put on another lengthy hold and transferred to another representative who informed that the dispute had been denied. The reason for the denial was that when the bank sent the alert on XX/XX/XXXX and it was accepted remember, the alert or phone call was made to the Hacker. Bank Alert was sent to the newly created Hacker phone number XXXX and was accepted by the Hacker as a legitimate charge. There also seemed to be no records in the dispute file from the Corporate Office regarding the call form the Hacker on XX/XX/XXXX from the same phone number requesting to change the information again. b. At this point XXXX asked to speak to the investigator to ensure all the details were clear. The Representative said that was not possible. XXXX asked to speak with the head of Customer Support that request was also denied. XXXX requested to speak to a supervisor and was put on hold. No supervisor was available. XXXX requested a follow call from the supervisor. She never received a call. c. At this point the Representative agreed to reopen the dispute and asked XXXX XXXX document all the information as well as open a police report. She also informed XXXX that now the dispute could take up to 30 days to close. d. The account will need to remain open and locked through this time and all withdrawal transactions will need to be individually released by XXXX XXXX XXXX 11 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX reached out the XXXX XXXX police department to file a report. XXXX XXXX XXXX took the report. CASE # XXXX. 12 ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX composed the chronology and Emailed it to all parties involved 13 ) XX/XX/XXXX a. Yet another breach of the account happened Thursday evening XX/XX/XXXX. b. XXXX received an Email @ XXXXXXXX XXXX PT alerting her that the XXXX information had been changed. She reviewed the change in the alert. The Hacker updated the address to the fraudulently created card number ending in XXXX. That card should be disabled. c. XXXX contacted the phone number in the Email alert - offices closed d. XXXX contacted the fraud specialist phone number - offices closed e. XXXX contacted the standard fraud line - reached a XXXX in XXXX who informed her he could not help me since she already had a case open and told her to call back in the morning during regular business hours f. We need this dispute resolved immediately, the stolen money replaced and the accounts closed to ensure we can protect my mothers identity and my identity from any further comprise. In closing, I want to state that my mother has been a decades long client of this bank, she is an XXXX widow who entrusted her entire life savings to this institution of which she has obviously been the victim of fraud. Fifth Third Bank needs to remedy the situation immediately and improve their policies, detection algorithms and systems so others do not have to have the same horrific experience. After the countless hours of hold time, dropped calls and direct communication it is absolutely unacceptable and frankly appalling that we have been asked to provide this level of detail to this institution to resolve this problem.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 950XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-04-18
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-04-16
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Person claimed to have sent me funds but I had to send a deposit since XXXX had my funds on hold. I sent 2 payment but never received any payments for the xbox series x I am selling
Company Response:
State: NC
Zip: 28273
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-04-16
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-04-15
Issue: Trouble during payment process
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I want to present a complaint against Fifth Third Bank. They have unfair consumer practices. In XX/XX/2021 Fifth Third risen my mortage payment from {$2500.00} to {$3700.00}. I've risen the concern since XXXX ( E-mail attached ) that this monthly payment is a hardship for me and requested support from the Bank with no response as of today. I have requested to remove a PMI insurance they have on my Mortgage of around XXXX on a monthly basis. I am already paying {$3700.00} for my mortgage and between the Taxes and the PMI, the Escrow of this mortgage ascends to {$1700.00} monthly on top of my principal and interest. I have escalated the case to remove the PMI, as the current loan represents only a 56 % of the property current value and offered to pay for this appraisal to get this PMI removed. And having not missed any payments on, y loan in addition of having a good credit score. With only a waiting response from the bank ( e-mail from XX/XX/XXXX attached ) when I need to continue paying and paying month over month and nobody cares about me as a consumer. Please help me alleviate this situation, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 334XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-04-16
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-04-15
Issue: Managing an account
Subissue: Problem accessing account
Consumer Complaint: Text XXXX From Fifth Third Bank : We have placed temporal hold on your account. Proper verification needed below. XXXX XXXX XXXX
Company Response:
State: TN
Zip: 37620
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-04-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-04-15
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Subissue: Transaction was not authorized
Consumer Complaint: Fifth Third bank terminated all of my accounts in XXXX of 2021. I had called in with a transaction dispute concerning my debit card connected to my checking account. I explained a merchant had charged my card without authorization. I received a call back a few hours after submitting the dispute. I was told that they could not give any information, that all my accounts were closed. I called back a little while later to let them know I contacted the merchant and they were going to refund the transaction. Who ever I spoke with then said something did not seem right, and that they would call me back later after checking into the situation. I missed that call, it was around XXXX in the evening. I had no access to my accounts for about 5 days. I had been a customer for over 20 years. I had savings accounts, checking accounts, business account, and credit card account. I also had a previous dispute with my credit card account. I received a provisional credit, but that was reversed and charged back to my account. I am still disputing this. The charge was for a XXXX XXXX channel that a company was building for me. I never did receive the channel. After they charged my account again, they lowered my credit limit. Now my credit score has lowered significantly. Credit utilization for the account shows over 160 %. Also, after closing my accounts, they allowed auto payments to continue, so my account ended up in the negative.
Company Response:
State: TN
Zip: 37072
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-04-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-04-14
Issue: Managing an account
Subissue: Deposits and withdrawals
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/XXXX, I deposited a check via mobile app for {$2500.00}. This check is from XXXX for sale of some stocks. I expected the funds to be available the next day, XX/XX/XXXX. I saw in my account they were not available. I call Fifth Third, and spoke with an agent who told me they placed a 10 day hold on the check. She said it was because of the amount. I asked to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor advised that there was nothing they could do. She then placed me on hold. She came back on the phone and said they looked at the check to see if they could release the hold, but told me because I hadn't received a similar deposit recently, they couldn't release the hold. I feel this violates my access to funds and that certain checks/customers are able to get the hold removed and I wasn't. I believe this to be a possible UDAAP issue as well.
Company Response:
State: OH
Zip: 451XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-04-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-04-13
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Subissue: Debt is not yours
Consumer Complaint: I started receiving calls from XXXX XXXX 6 months ago telling me that they are a debt collection company representing Fifth Third Bank and that my file was placed with them for collection. I thought someone had stolen my identity because I knew I had never had an account with fifth third bank so I started to file a report with identity theft.gov. In filing such report they ask for information from the original source of debt. So I called Fifth Third Bank on XX/XX/XXXX and they said they could not find anything in their system with my name or social security number and even if the account had been closed they would still he able to pull it up. They advised me to ignore the calls. I've been called every day since though and the calls start early morning and stop after 10pm sometimes. They call every hour and I've had to just turn off my ringer because they drive me crazy. I've tried blocking the numbers but they call from another. They have left me several nasty voicemails which I have saved for proof if needed.
Company Response:
State: ID
Zip: 83686
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-04-13
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-04-12
Issue: Closing an account
Subissue: Can't close your account
Consumer Complaint: I've been trying to close my 5/3 checking account for several months now. Every time I call, they come up with a different reason why I can't. I've been told, alternately, that I have to close it in person ( I live several XXXX miles away now ) or that I can't close it until the balance is {$0.00}. I finally drew down the balance, and they hit me with a service charge, overdrafted the account, and now I can't close it until I pay off the shortfall. The {$11.00} service charge isn't a lot of money, but the frustration of trying to close an account only to hear one excuse after another is immense. I hope to never do business with 5/3 again.
Company Response:
State: NE
Zip: 693XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-04-12
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-04-12
Issue: Closing an account
Subissue: Funds not received from closed account
Consumer Complaint: My account was put on hold I tried to explain that my card was lost that I didnt make the transactions that was on my account so I asked if I can withdraw the money from my savings so I can pay my bills during the dispute investigation they told me they was using it for the negative balance in my checking from a check that wasnt deposit by me.
Company Response:
State: IL
Zip: 60653
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-04-12
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-04-12
Issue: Other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I was awarded a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. When my funds arrived into my Business Banking Account, I attempted to withdraw $ XXXX to place in my home private safe. I did this because I am aware of the dangers of an EMP ( Electromagnetic Pulse ) attack during War time. I already knew that war was imminent. XXXX Bank policy on withdraws are XXXX. I did not learn this until XXXX " XXXX Bank Investigator '' contacted be communicated this. She also said that the teller should have told me this. She did not. Once funds were sent into my Business Banking Account, and I attempted to with draw said amount, my account was flagged or in this case " XXXX '' and investigated. I had been in a business banking relationship with XXXX Bank for 6 years... never any problems and certainly no fraud of any kind. I grew frustrated when I was told by the Branch XXXX " XXXX '' that the investigator " XXXX '' would contact me the next day... but I did not hear from her until 15 days later ; and that, only because I contacted your offices here with the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. After getting clarity from the Investigator " XXXX '' as to why my account was frozen. She also mentioned or repeated to me what I had requested be done, when I spoke to your offices. That was to unfreeze my account, allow me to speak to a professional concerning the unprofessional behavior, and finally close my account, so that I could take my business elsewhere. When the XXXX " XXXX '' call me, she told me that the funds had been coded to be sent back to the XXXX and that they were going to end the business relationship. When I asked for an explanation as to why she could not give me an answer, but I stated why do we need to do that... you have explained why my account was being investigated, there is no fraud, and you have admitted that your teller did not communicate your bank policy effectively. She then said, ok I will code it to reverse the current request. I said, ok. That was on Friday afternoon, XX/XX/XXXX, at approximately XXXX. On Monday XXXX XXXX I received an email from XXXX Bank saying that funds had been sent back to XXXX. I call numerous times to " XXXX 's '' office to no avail : I wanted simply to ask her did she follow through with what she had said, in terms of reversing the coding to send funds back to XXXX, and this was simply the system following the first order... but again to no avail. No follow up whatever. Totally unprofessional. I later received a letter from your office stating that XXXX Bank would be sending funds back to XXXX and showing the amount of the funds in the account at the time of them closing my account. I feel that I was racially profiled and discriminated against, being a African-American man. I simply wanted to get my funds that I was awarded from XXXX and handle my business with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Please assist in any professional way you can. This has caused my company to lose business and to be in even greater need of the funds initially requested. As of XX/XX/22 I have not received my funds, and I am being told by some of the XXXX Agents that I have spoke to, that the funds have NOT been sent back to XXXX. This is especially troubling. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Co XXXX XXXX
Company Response:
State: OH
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-04-27
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A