Meanwhile, several Facebook groups have sprung up with names like “Chime Bank has FAILED” and “Chime Thieves.” They’ve attracted some 700 members combined. Marcus, the new online bank created by Goldman Sachs, with 4 million customers, has generated seven such complaints.Ĭustomers have also filed 4,439 complaints against Chime at the Better Business Bureau, compared to 3,281 for Wells Fargo.Ī message from Chime to Jonathan Marrero after his account was closed suddenly. By comparison, Wells Fargo, a bank with six times as many customers and a lengthy recent history of misbehavior in its consumer bank, has 317 CFPB complaints tagged for closed accounts over the same time period. Of the 920 complaints filed about Chime, 197 were tagged as involving a “closed account.” The CFPB’s complaints are labeled inconsistently, and many of the other 723 also detail problems involving accounts that were closed against customers’ will. Many customers have told the CFPB that they can’t access their money or accounts, and that, among other things, Chime is slow to resolve problems.

“For a company that most people have never heard of, I think that’s a lot of complaints,” said Lauren Saunders of the National Consumer Law Center. Chime, which provides app-based banking services to an estimated 12 million customers, has according to experts been generating a high rate of complaints, with 920 filed at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since April 15, 2020. ('Scripps').įollow John on Instagram John on Twitter more consumer news and money saving advice, go to grievance is not unusual. That way, you are not scammed, and you don't waste your money.ĭon't Waste Your Money' is a registered trademark of Scripps Media, Inc. If your bank claims a problem with your account, call the bank at their main number, not the number given you from any text, call or email. None of them have anything to do with these messages. Logos of Fifth Third, Wells Fargo, US Bank, and Bank of America have all been used in this scam. Never give your account number to someone who calls or texts you.Do not call a phone number in the text, as it may be the scammer's number.The FTC says if you get a suspicious text or phone call from your bank. 'They changed my user name, my password, changed my card PIN, and started to withdraw money,' he told us. So he gave his account number, but within minutes realized he had been scammed. 'They had detected suspicious activity, and they were going to help me,' he says of the alert he received. Shortly before the pandemic hit, Damon Lander was hit by this scam. The FTC believes they don't know who you bank with, but rather send these texts randomly, knowing if you have an account with that bank you're going to pay attention. So how do these scammers know you have an account with that particular bank? Good thing: It was a text message scam, often called 'smishing ,' the text version of an email phishing scam. It also said her online banking had been 'locked due to unusual activity.'īut Hoeting didn't have a Wells Fargo account, which is when she got suspicious. She almost clicked the link, when another text arrived, this one from Wells Fargo Bank. 'I use my debit card for almost everything.' 'It was terrifying that my bank was going to be locked,'she said. 'It said my account has been locked due to suspicious activity,' she said. Her bank - Fifth Third Bank - was locking her account. Michelle Hoeting got a text message on her phone the other day, and immediately started to worry. But if you fall for this slick scam, it's even scarier. Some call it the most dangerous bank scam ever: A text or phone call from your bank stating your account has been locked for fraud.

Wells fargo online access suspended