Class action alleges Chase Bank refuses Zelle fraud reimbursements

Zelle fraud class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Melinda Glavin filed a class action lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase Bank and Zellepay.com. 
• Why: Glavin claims Chase fails to adequately protect and reimburse its customers from and after instances of Zelle fraud. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania federal court. 
• What are my options: You can send money and pay bills with MoneyGram. 

JPMorgan Chase fails to adequately protect and reimburse its customers from fraud originating from the digital payments network Zelle, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Melinda Glavin claims Chase, which partially owns Zelle, refused to reimburse her for an allegedly fraudulent $6,500 transaction after determining that the payment in question had come from her phone.

Glavin argues she was debited through her Zelle application — which was linked to her Chase account — without her permission, and that the incident was another case of Zelle fraud she says Chase is failing to address. 

“Defendants have not taken adequate steps to protect consumers from Zelle fraud, which often results in substantial losses to individual consumers and customers of Chase,” the Zelle class action states. 

Glavin wants to represent a nationwide class and Pennsylvania subclass of Chase customers who have had their accounts debited via an unauthorized transaction from Zelle, and who was not permanently credited by Chase in full within 45 days of filing a dispute. 

Chase ‘doing virtually nothing’ to stop instances of Zelle fraud, says class action

Glavin claims Zelle is “a favorite among fraudsters, thieves, and hackers,” thanks to the immediacy of its services and the fact there is “no way for a user to retract a payment.” 

The issue, Glavin argues, led a trio of US Senators to write a letter to Zelle’s bank owners, calling them out for “failing to do enough to prevent fraud on their peer-to-peer system.” 

“Banks, however, including Chase, are aware of the widespread fraud on Zelle but are doing virtually nothing to stop it and little to nothing to help consumers get their money back,” the Chase class action states. 

Glavin claims Chase is guilty of negligence and of violating the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. She is demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory and injunctive relief along with an award of actual and treble damages for herself and all class members. 

A similar class action lawsuit was filed against Bank of America earlier this year by a consumer arguing the bank allowed unauthorized withdrawals from customers accounts that originated from Zelle. 

Have you been a victim of Zelle fraud? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by James C. Shah and Alec J. Berin of Miller Shah LLP, and Robert C. Schubert, Amber L. Schubert, and Lila M. Garlinghouse of Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP. 

The Zelle fraud class action lawsuit is Glavin, et al. v. JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, et al., Case No. 2:23-cv-01708, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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