Trio of Chase Bank Scam-Related Successes for TLW Solicitors Clients

Mr A, a customer of JP Morgan, trading as Chase, decided to look for investment opportunities that would allow him to retire early and enjoy his later life.

In early 2023, Mr A came across a company called NuxTrade online and enquired about potential investment opportunities. He was advised that he could enter NuxTrade’s business investment scheme, which came with an initial fee, after which he would be allocated an ‘investment broker’. He was also told that an account would be set up in his name on the NuxTrade app to invest his money into cryptocurrency and that in six months, he would be able to double his money and eventually generate enough income to retire early.

Mr A’s ‘investment broker’, provided him with login details to NuxTrade’s app and online investment platform and told him to start buying and selling cryptocurrency.

Unfortunately, everything Mr A had been told and everything he saw on the NuxTrade app and platform was fabricated to make it look like he was seeing impressive returns when, in fact, the money was being sent directly to scammers.

TLW Solicitors raised a complaint with Chase, arguing that it should have been clear to the bank that a scam was being perpetrated on one of its accounts. Mr A was refunded the sum of £35,000.

In February 2023, Mr Y saw an advert on Facebook appearing to show Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis recommending an investment opportunity, so he clicked on the advert to learn more. In previous blogs, we have covered the prevalence of scammers using the likenesses of celebrities and public figures to add legitimacy to their schemes despite having no link to them whatsoever, as in this case.

After interacting with the advert, Mr Y was contacted with further details of the investment ‘opportunity’ and related trading platform; again, this was NuxTrade. Mr Y communicated with the person who turned out to be a scammer exclusively via WhatsApp.

Initially, Mr Y tested the ‘investment’ by transferring a smaller amount from another bank account into the platform and was convinced enough by the returns he saw to continue investing. Once he was comfortable with investing, Mr Y was instructed to open accounts with Chase and Coinbase. He was not experienced enough with financial matters, particularly cryptocurrency, to know that this is a common scam tactic, and the red flags were not clear to him. What Mr Y was actually seeing was a faked trading platform and the ‘investments’ had never been made.

Mr Y was then told that the funds he had from a recently closed account would make better returns in the investment platform than in a traditional bank account and that he would see returns of over 10% if he transferred the funds into the platform. To do this, he was instructed to transfer the funds, from the newly opened Chase account into crypto payment processor XS Shop OU. He was also told that he could withdraw his profits at any time. The scammer then transferred the funds onto the fake ‘trading platform’.

Ultimately, Mr Y’s funds were transferred directly into the hands of the scammer; he never received any returns and was never able to withdraw any funds. The platform was eventually closed, and Mr Y’s money was lost.

Mr Y instructed TLW Solicitors to look into his case with Chase, which should have, again, spotted the typical red flags of a scam and stopped it before Mr Y lost any money. Mr Y received £10,000 compensation from Chase.

Like Mr Y, Miss E was taken in by a Facebook advertisement claiming to be from Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis. This time, the ad endorsed an opportunity with the platform Bullexo, and she registered her interest.

She was quickly contacted by a Bullexo ‘agent’ who suggested she invest in currencies and provided her with ‘training’. She was instructed to download remote monitoring software, ‘Any Desk’ so that the agent would ‘have access to her phone’ to assist her with trades. Miss E was not an experienced investor, so she was unaware that this is a common tactic used by scammers so they can control victims’ devices and gain access to their accounts.

Like Mr A, Miss E was told that, with the returns she was promised, she would be able to pay off her mortgage and purchase a new car in a matter of months. She was told about other successful investors who had gone down the same route and had seen significant returns, so she began to make some small-level investments.

The ‘agent’ then got back in touch with Miss E and told her that she had made around £3,000 from her initial investments – in reality, this was untrue – and that if she invested more, she could start to receive ‘bonuses’ which were only available to ‘special clients’.

The agent suggested an investment sum in excess of £100,000, which Miss E did not have, so instructed her to take out bank loans. This is another common tactic used by scammers that Miss E was unaware of; the scammer told her this was something ‘everyone did’ and she would achieve sufficient returns to cover the loans within six months.

Miss E received a small ‘withdrawal’ payment, but the agent then advised her that she would have to pay an additional £27,000 to avoid ‘commission losses’ accruing on her account and that her funds would not be released until this was paid.

After realising she was being scammed, she came to TLW Solicitors for help, and the specialist scam team secured £30,000 compensation for Miss E from Chase.

If you have invested and lost money due to a cryptocurrency scam, you should first report it to your bank, the police and Action Fraud, the police’s national fraud reporting service.

These types of scams involve a kind of cybercrime called Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, where victims are convinced to send money to a scammer’s account for what they believe to be legitimate purposes, e.g. investing in cryptocurrency. The scammer often moves the money onto another account before the victim realises what has happened.

Banks in the UK have a duty of care to provide safeguards and procedures to prevent fraud from happening in the first place, including:

• Asking additional security questions
• Monitoring accounts for unusual activity
• Blocking or delaying suspicious transactions

In some cases, a complaint to the bank is sufficient to secure a refund. However, if your bank refuses to award compensation following its investigation of a cryptocurrency APP scam, and you believe it has not upheld its duties, you can have your case investigated by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). FOS is a government-backed, independent body that investigates and resolves disputes between financial institutions, such as banks, and their customers.

Sarah Spruce, Legal Director and Head of the Professional Negligence team at TLW Solicitors said:

“We’re delighted to have helped all three clients secure compensation following their crypto scam ordeals. Their stories show that these types of scams have common features, but each has its own quirks, and anyone considering investing in cryptocurrencies should take extreme care before proceeding.

Banks like Chase should also be keeping themselves up to date with common scam tactics to ensure they are best placed to protect their customers.

If you or anyone you know find yourself in a situation like these scam victims, don’t feel embarrassed or ashamed, get in touch with my specialist team who can help. We can assess your case and make a complaint either directly with your bank or, if they refuse to refund, take your case to FOS.”