Customer Says He Was Robbed By A Bank, Phone Scammer
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A south suburban senior said scammers took more than a thousand dollars out of his checking account.
But then, Anthony Marino said he was victimized a second time. This time, by his bank.
Marino has been unsuccessfully trying to get his cash back since right around Valentine's Day.
Marino said he knew he made made a big mistake. He let a phone scammer, pretending to be repair person, access his computer.
"Like an idiot," said Marino. "Like a complete idiot."
"I called my sister-in-law and she said 'no that's a hack. Someone is hacking you.'"
Marino then called a Chase Bank 877 number. He said his phone records prove he spoke to a bank representative for more than 16 minutes.
"He said 'OK, I'll freeze your account, that way they can't get anything out.'"
The 65-year-old widower called his local Chase branch the next day to check on his account and got shocking news.
"I said 'no, no, no. I called your bank last night and froze the account.'"
Despite that freeze request, Marino noticed two unauthorized PayPal charges. Plus a Zelle QuickPay debit for $1,200 that Marino said he didn't make.
"I'm not trying to scam anybody. I just want my money back," Marino said.
Chase reversed the PayPal transactions and credited his account for $1,200 a few days later.
"To me, $1,200 is a lot of money. I'm on a fixed income," he said.
But then, Marino got a letter that read "we made a mistake. To correct our error, we debited your account $1,200."
Marino has been battling MS for 30 years. The fight with Chase began in February.
"I submitted like four claims. Then I gave up," Marino said. "I thought they're not listening to me. Maybe they'll listen to a television network."
CBS 2 reached out to Chase on Friday. A spokesperson said they're still looking into it.
