So I just liquidated one of my most successful single investments in my life to my Citibank account which was both the originator and recipient of the funding for this foreign investment. I sent a nice chunk to Texas Capital Bank (formerly Bank Direct) via ACH and attempted to take advantage of their great CD interest rate. When I found that it was not completely automated as say at Citibank, I decided to transfer all funds to my Schwab account to use in my brokerage account there (lets say tax advantaged ETFs in 0-3 month US treasuries vs. normal CDs was actually more logical).
My transfer was blocked by TCB and my calls to TCB were finally considered scammer as I failed their 20 questions routine regarding my 25 year + car ownership details and names of very extended family members which I have rarely seen and met. This agent BTW is known as Rosa.
I was actually viciously accused of being a scammer by her despite me asking about what to do and keeping my composure to NOT call her certain names.
Anyways, the moral of the story:
Always advance advise to any account you will be transferring funds after a significant financial coup be it via inheritance, investment proceeds, lottery, etc. and don’t trust the small guys despite how good they make themselves out to be. Once I recoup MY money from TCB, I will close that and other small accounts and stick to the big accounts that have never screwed me.
Huh, you put some money in a citi account that was then invested and very successful and then the investment return proceeds were sent back into the citi account. No problem so far
Then a portion of the investment proceeds were transferred to TCB which they accepted the money but then hijacked it and claimed you are a scammer for transferring them money?
Seems odd they would become suspicious just transferring them money in an account you have had for some time. I would think they would be more likely to be suspicious when withdrawing versus depositing.
Was there anything else they said that explained why they think it is fraud?
Yes, like I said, once I discovered TCB’s CD opening process was not 100% online automated like at Citibank and giving more thought to federal tax, I then decided to move that significant amount and what little was already n the account (about $236 dollars) to my Schwab bank account to then be used in my Schwab brokerage account for an ETF in 0-3 month US T-Bills.
So it was the withdraw out of TCB that killed me (froze the account).
According to AI Internet queries, I guess the “investigation” by the bank takes up to 30 days. I am also now wiser about how small the amounts are for ACH transfers between YOUR OWN ACCOUNTS that may trigger a bank’s suspicion (especially it outside the norm for the account). I am just flustered over the 20 question game and the tyrannical attitude of the supposed top dog (perra woulb be a better description) at TCB’s fraud department and then outright being called a scammer and that the conversation has ended and to never call back from my mobile number I use for two factor authorization which I use for all my accounts. I left a message at TCB’s LinkedIn account and even discovered the top doggie of their fraud department has a profile on LinkedIn. She may be barely older than the 25 year question she asked me. Hope she had a pleasant weekend.
Did file a complaint with CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) and they sent the complaint to the bank for a response but not too confident that it will move the elephant any faster. And I am considering opening a Facebook account just to post on their Facebook page.
And I know Discourse stuff gets indexed so…what little hope I have, at least it might slightly dispel the marketing image of the best regional bank and superb customer service and great CD rates if you dare send them money.
Sad to hear. Strange TCB would react like that. Without knowing other details I can only imagine it was based on the size of the amount withdrawn while they ignore the deposit (mindless AI), in which case a congrats is due on your profitable investment. Hopefully you can wrest your funds away from TCB.
Schwab ETFs Re probably a better bet than just savings/cd yields at this time. Ally is paying 3.5% on a savings and wealthfront may be paying close to 4.5% but not sure how much I trust them with alot alot of money. Ally has never done anything to make me complain though and buffet has a sizeable stake in ally, still not a big 5 bank. That being said only done five figure transfers in and out of ally
Submitted a complaint to FDIC (other US banks are regulated by the OCC) and organizing my info for a call to the Texas banking authority as TCB is state chartered.
So step one is always find under which oversight agencies federal and state who are responsible for the bank in question and submit complaints.
Making assumptions here…I bet if I had originally called from the account opening landline in CA and not had different IPs (US, Chile and US VPN) on the record for my online bank logins, there would have been no 20 questions and everything would be hunky-dory.
So heads up to US and probably also Canadian, UK and EU expats that you need be careful when dealing with banks back in the original home country especially with amounts that may be outside the norm of your account.
But it is strange that Citibank has never had an issue with my Chile, US, VPN, other logins and the nice chunks I move around via ACH over the more than 2 decades I’ve been an expat as the research I’ve done since the TCB funds freeze has also revealed horror stories with Citi.
On the 9th, as an experiment I attempted to do a debit ACH transfer from my Citibank account for the same amount as the original ACH transfer. As I expected, the transaction was throughly rejected by the 11th.
On the 13th, I also placed a complaint with the Texas Department of Banking and then moved on to other projects as I felt there was nothing else I can do but wait.
The next week I was surprised to find the chunk of money had been fully credited to my Citibank account on the 13th by an ACH transfer which according to the details was a reversal of the original ACH transfer from the 29th of May. I could not believe it and decided to see if it remained unmolested in the account through the next business week.
That Friday, TCB responded to the CFPB complaint. In the letter they said they decided to ACH credit the transfer that started the problem and close the account and send a check of the small balance remaining with any interest to the mailing address on record. They did lie again about the telephone number issue claiming I did not call from the landline account opening number with me insisting on another number which they failed to acknowledge was the two factor authentication mobile number of the account.
So supposedly a done deal.
Thanks for reading.
Lessons:
Before moving any chunks of money between accounts, always inform the recipient bank or financial institution before it’s sent.
If your account gets frozen, begin fighting it that same day. CFPB, FDIC/COC or correct federal agency of that FSB/credit union/etc. and the state banking authority if state chartered.
If you are caught in a similar situation and they want you to call from say the account opening landline and you have someone there to make the call, call that person on a mobile, put you on speakerphone and then have them call the indicated fraud office number from the landline, put it on speakerphone and talk like you are there.