ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Chase Bank says it will reimburse a St. Augustine couple who lost $42,000 in a sophisticated impersonation scam, following new public records obtained by the News4JAX I-TEAM, including audio recordings of an imposter posing as the couple on the phone with the bank.
Tom and Ann Hill, both retirees, lost their life savings nearly two years ago after scammers convinced them they were dealing with Chase Bank representatives. At the time, the bank denied their claim, saying the wire transfers were authorized. The case was previously closed.
Now, Chase confirms it has contacted the Hills and offered to reimburse them in full.
The decision comes as the I-TEAM obtained police recordings that captured the fraudster speaking directly with Chase Bank and requesting the wire transfers. When the couple listened to the recordings, they immediately recognized the voice was not theirs.
“It’s definitely not my wife,” Tom Hill said after hearing the audio. “It’s not you either,” Ann Hill added.
The recordings were reviewed by St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office fraud Detective Bobby Fultz, who said the impersonation was clear.
“You could tell clearly that it was not the same person,” Fultz said. “Besides the voice itself, but I mean the attitude, the way what she’s asking for, the way they’re going about it, just the urgency of trying to get these wire transfers taken care of."
Fultz said he was able to trace the stolen money to a fraudulent Bank of America account he called a “mule.” The funds were quickly withdrawn as cash, making them untraceable and leading the investigation to a dead end.
“There’s fault on both sides,” Fultz said. “Not blaming anybody, but mistakes were made. Things could be done to rectify that.”
Chase previously told the Hills it could not return the money because it had already been cashed out. The bank also confirmed the Hills never called Chase during the time the transfers were made, saying the couple spent hours on the phone with scammers posing as bank representatives instead.
Fultz said the bank should have stopped at least the second wire transfer, noting the Hills had never sent a wire before and that they flagged their account for fraud.
“They should have at least stopped the second wire from going through,” he said. “There are red flags that financial institutions should do better jobs of catching.”
Chase disputes that point, telling the I-TEAM that most customers rarely send wire transfers and that unusual activity does trigger reviews. The bank says the first wire was stopped for verification and only processed after those checks were completed.
According to Chase, the imposter was able to complete the transfers because they had the correct account details and one-time passcodes, information the bank believes the scammer likely obtained while speaking with the Hills.
Fultz say the case highlights a growing gap in protections as scammers are now able to spoof legitimate phone numbers and convincingly impersonate bank customers.
“It can happen to anybody,” Fultz said. “Your information’s out there. You have to be very careful when you get phone calls from a financial institution or who you think is a financial institution. Always slow down and verify things.”
For the Hills, the recordings confirmed what they’ve said from the start; they never authorized the wire transfers.
“I just think it’s unrealistic that without you, I wouldn’t have gotten any attention,” Tom Hill said, crediting the I-TEAM’s investigation for bringing new scrutiny to the case.
Chase urges customers to remember that banks will not call to ask for account verification information and recommends hanging up and calling the number on the back of a debit or credit card if there’s any concern about fraud.