KISSIMMEE, Fla. — A Kissimmee woman claims scammers hacked her bank account and stole nearly $25,000. Then a well-known big bank turned down her fraud claim.
“I was very shocked,” Nalanie Parsaud said.
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She claims scammers hacked Chase Bank accounts she shares with her husband and daughter.
“Did you ever think something like this could happen?” asked the Action 9 producer.
“No. Never,” Parsaud replied. She said the first sign of big trouble was when her online account password didn’t work.
Parsaud explains what Chase bank told her when she called for help. “They said maybe your account is being compromised.”
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She said the bank confirmed that someone changed passwords.
After access was restored, she discovered bogus checks had been deposited into the account and that about two dozen transactions had drained her money. The transactions totaled nearly $25,000.
Parsaud made a fraud claim with Chase and backed it up with an incident report she filed at the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. In the report, she said her original account, and a new one had been hacked.
Despite the documentation she provided, Parsaud says Chase Bank closed the case two months ago without returning any money.
Chase investigators said it could not find evidence of fraud and the transactions tied backed to her computer’s network address.
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“They said it is being done from your device and they don’t want to give me any information about the receiver,” Parsaud explained.
“Are they denying fraud claims too quickly?” asked Action 9′s Todd Ulrich.
“I think that’s exactly right. The law is unfortunately weak when it comes to fraud,” Ed Mierzwinski said.
Mierzwinski is a leading consumer advocate with USPIRG. He said major banks dismiss fraud too soon, especially ones involving mobile payment apps like Zelle. That big bank app was used to transfer thousands out of Parsaud’s accounts.
“They have to do better re-investigations and they have to find out all the circumstances, and in many cases the consumer is not liable,” Mierzwinski said.
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Since first contacting Action 9, Parsaud says the bank returned $10,000, and reopened the case to review the remaining balance with a decision expected next month.
Chase Bank told Ulrich it’s reviewing her case.
“I would like them to refund back my funds, my money they took,” Parsaud said.
If your account has been hacked, after notifying your bank, complete a police report and contact the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.
Chase Bank response:
We monitor accounts to help detect fraud as early as possible. When a customer alerts us to suspicious transactions, we review their claim and the facts before making a decision.
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