JPMorgan’s Chase Bank Announces Ban on Crypto Transactions, Citing Increase in Scams Targeting Customers: Report

Financial giant JPMorgan’s Chase Bank in the UK is reportedly banning transactions to crypto platforms, referring to an uptick in scams targeting its customers.

According to a new report from Reuters, the crypto ban at Chase will go into effect on October 16.

Says a Chase spokesperson,

“We’ve seen an increase in the number of crypto scams targeting UK consumers, so we have taken the decision to prevent the purchase of crypto assets on a Chase debit card or by transferring money to a crypto site from a Chase account.”

Customers were notified of the planned changes by email on Tuesday morning.

In an email to clients seen by CNBC, the bank said,

“Customers will receive a declined transaction notification if they do attempt to make a crypto-related transaction… This has been done to protect our customers and keep their money safe.”

Earlier this month, Chase said a customer who lost $24,000 in a sophisticated scam was out of luck – even though the funds were sent directly to a Chase bank account used by the scammer.

New Jersey resident Todd Kirby received a text message from Chase asking if he’d just authorized a $4,000 transfer. He said no and received a call from the same number on the back of his Chase debit card. A fake representative convinced him to transfer his entire balance to another Chase account set up by the scammer.

When he realized he may have been duped, he notified the bank, filed a claim to get his money back, and notified the police. Three business days later, Chase rejected the claim. He filed two additional claims that were also rejected and says the bank has a responsibility to reimburse his account.

He argues that the scammers were able to impersonate Chase perfectly and that he couldn’t have known it was a scam. He asks why Chase won’t protect him from this type of fraud.

Chase says it made “reasonable efforts” to recover Kirby’s funds.

Chase is pointing people to a page on its website with tips on how to avoid scams.

“We urge all consumers to ignore phone, text or internet requests for money or access to their computer or bank accounts. Legitimate companies won’t make these requests, but scammers will.”

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