ComplaintsforNicolet National Bank

• Initial Complaint

  06/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My mother and I have a shared banking account to use for expenses for her home that suffered a fire in March 2023. I bank wired initial deposit payment to begin work for her home (located in **********, **.) and those funds went to ***** ********** that the contractor identified on/around April 29th, 2023. On May 11th, 2023, we received an email requesting an additional $6000.00 for materials needed, but the funds were to be wired to Nicolet National Bank with a POC by the name of ******************************. It was stated via email correspondence that the contractor's financial institution account has been experiencing issues was the reason for the change. We made the wire transfer as requested. On May 17th, 2023, another email was sent from contractor requesting additional $3500.00. At this point, my husband (*******************************) reached out to the contractor via cellphone and learned that he NEVER requested the additional $3500.00, nor the $6000.00 that was requested on 5/11/23. With the assistance from my husband, we immediately submitted and initiated a wire transfer fraud with our bank USAA. They requested we submit any and all email correspondence to help with the investigation which would take anywhere from **** days. The final documents we provided were completed on 5/18/2023. On 5/31/2023, we received a final report from our bank USAA stating on May 17th 2023, they submitted a recall request with ****** National Bank (listing the **** ******************************) and we received only $588.00. It seems to me that if the receiving bank did not acknowledge any wrongdoing, then why the less than satisfactory amount of $588.00 was refunded and not our entire $6000.00? It seems that Nicolet National Bank is withholding our remaining $5412.00 and this POC (******************************) is part of the email and wire fraud scam.**We have email screenshots of these requests.Please help as I feel someone is getting away with this wire scam.

  

  Business response

  06/06/2023

  On May 17, 2023, Nicolet Bank became aware of a potential fraud situation when a service message was received from USAA bank. The Fraud Investigation team was notified, and the account was restricted on the same day.  Our branch manager contacted our customer and explained to the customer that she had fallen victim to a scam. Customer denied this was a scam.  Customer stated wires and Cashapp transactions were for buying and selling of sap and maple syrup. Incoming wires were for sale of maple syrup. Cashapp, according to our customer, was for payment for sap purchases from close family members. Information was shared with the Security team to investigate. Customer was informed her account would be closed due to the scam activity. Please note that BBB complaint is centered on home repair for property in Georgia.
  
  The funds received from the complainant were withdrawn by our customer on the same day they were received, May 11, 2023.  When we received the service message from USAA on May 17, 2023, requesting for the complainants funds to be returned, we,in good faith, wired all remaining funds in our customers account to the complainant.  There are no funds left in the account.  Our customer, whom we believe is a victim of a scam despite her denials, has sent the money on to the scammers and does not have any of the funds. We do not have any information on the identity of the scammers who hold the funds currently.
  

  Customer response

  06/06/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  The recipient states that she receives wire transfers/CashApp payment for the sale of syrup.  We do not know the recipient, nor was the $6000 wired for any form of syrup/sap purchase.  It was wired under the guise for building supplies to repair my mothers home (in Georgia).  I find it odd that once funds were transferred, they were immediately withdrawn the same day and provided to the another party (suspected scammer/scammers).  I have provided an additional email request that arrived on 17 May 2023 requesting additional funds to be submitted to ******* account. It was upon this knowledge that something did not make sense and ultimately learned that a wire fraud occurred.  

  Why were the funds withdrawn and given to someone else that no one has any name or identifiable information of the recipients of the $6000.00 on the same day of receipt?

  Can the bank hold the account holder responsible for remaining balance of wire transfer ($5412.00) that she may receive until full balance is satisfied?
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************

  

  Business response

  06/14/2023

  Based on Ms. ********** complaint, she hired a construction contractor to repair fire damage at a residence located in *******.  ********************** admits to successfully wiring money to her contractors legitimate bank account at ***** Fargo Bank.  Nicolet assumes that the contractor does business in Georgia,and that the initial wire transfer was made to a ***** Fargo branch located in Georgia.   
  
  Unfortunately,it appears that a third-party intercepted e-mails between ********************** and her construction contractor.   That third-party sent an e-mail to ********************* (disguised as her contractor) and directed ********************** to wire additional money to a new account this one held at Nicolet National Bank under the name of ******************************  ********************** does not claim that she took any steps to verify that the new wire instructions were legitimate, even though she should have questioned why the new account was titled in a third-partys name and held at a bank in ********* (which has no branches in Georgia).  Instead, ********************** followed the wire instructions and gave her bank direction to wire $6,000 into the account.      
  
  Once the wire transfer posted to the account at ********************, Nicolet is obligated to make the funds available to the account owner.  For example, the Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 C.F.R. 229) requires that funds deposited into an account by wire transfer promptly be made available for withdrawal by the account holder.  In this case, when the owner of the account requested withdrawal of the funds from the account soon after the wire transfer posted,Nicolet had an obligation to make the funds available to the account owner.  We also note that, at the time the account owner withdrew the funds that had been deposited by **********************, Nicolet did not have any reason to suspect that ********************** wired the money into the wrong account. Both the account number and the account owners name matched those identified by ********************** on her wire transfer instructions. 
  
  It was not until May 17, 2023 six days after the wire transfer was made into the account and withdrawn by the account owner -- that ******************** was first contacted by USAA Bank identifying the $6,000 deposit as a potential fraudulent wire transfer.  USAA Bank requested that Nicolet cooperate in recovering funds that remained in the account on that date, which Nicolet immediately did by restricting activity on the account.  Unfortunately, at the time Nicolet received the notice from USAA Bank, only $588.00 remained in the account. ******************** returned that balance to USAA Bank on May 26, 2023, and closed the account due to the allegation of fraud.     
  
  Nicolet empathizes with those who fall victim to deposit schemes.  However,Nicolet is not responsible Ms. ********** financial loss in this case because Nicolets sole involvement was receiving a wire transfer that was legitimately sent to a Nicolet account holder.  ********************** does not dispute that she supplied Nicolet with the account number and knew the owner was someone other than her contractor when she sent the wire.  Nicolet also acted in good faith in cooperating with USAA Bank as soon as it received an allegation of fraud.  ********************** is not without a remedy she is able to seek payment directly from the account owner who accepted her deposit and withdrew the funds. 
  

  

  Business response

  06/14/2023

  Based on Ms. ********** complaint, she hired a construction contractor to repair fire damage at a residence located in *******.  ********************** admits to successfully wiring money to her contractors legitimate bank account at ***** Fargo Bank.  Nicolet assumes that the contractor does business in Georgia,and that the initial wire transfer was made to a ***** Fargo branch located in Georgia.   
  
  Unfortunately,it appears that a third-party intercepted e-mails between ********************** and her construction contractor.   That third-party sent an e-mail to ********************* (disguised as her contractor) and directed ********************** to wire additional money to a new account this one held at Nicolet National Bank under the name of ******************************  ********************** does not claim that she took any steps to verify that the new wire instructions were legitimate, even though she should have questioned why the new account was titled in a third-partys name and held at a bank in ********* (which has no branches in Georgia).  Instead, ********************** followed the wire instructions and gave her bank direction to wire $6,000 into the account.      
  
  Once the wire transfer posted to the account at ********************, Nicolet is obligated to make the funds available to the account owner.  For example, the Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 C.F.R. 229) requires that funds deposited into an account by wire transfer promptly be made available for withdrawal by the account holder.  In this case, when the owner of the account requested withdrawal of the funds from the account soon after the wire transfer posted,Nicolet had an obligation to make the funds available to the account owner.  We also note that, at the time the account owner withdrew the funds that had been deposited by **********************, Nicolet did not have any reason to suspect that ********************** wired the money into the wrong account. Both the account number and the account owners name matched those identified by ********************** on her wire transfer instructions. 
  
  It was not until May 17, 2023 six days after the wire transfer was made into the account and withdrawn by the account owner -- that ******************** was first contacted by USAA Bank identifying the $6,000 deposit as a potential fraudulent wire transfer.  USAA Bank requested that Nicolet cooperate in recovering funds that remained in the account on that date, which Nicolet immediately did by restricting activity on the account.  Unfortunately, at the time Nicolet received the notice from USAA Bank, only $588.00 remained in the account. ******************** returned that balance to USAA Bank on May 26, 2023, and closed the account due to the allegation of fraud.     
  
  Nicolet empathizes with those who fall victim to deposit schemes.  However,Nicolet is not responsible for Ms. ********** financial loss in this case because Nicolets sole involvement was receiving a wire transfer that was legitimately sent to a Nicolet account holder.  ********************** does not dispute that she supplied Nicolet with the account number and knew the owner was someone other than her contractor when she sent the wire.  Nicolet also acted in good faith in cooperating with USAA Bank as soon as it received an allegation of fraud.  ********************** is not without a remedy she is able to seek payment directly from the account owner who accepted her deposit and withdrew the funds.  

• Initial Complaint

  09/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This bank fraudulently withdrew money out of my account for a credit card that supposed to be closed last year, they continue to charge me interest and fees despite my multiple efforts to close this account.

  

  Business response

  09/29/2022

  Customer had a credit card secured with a cash deposit of $500.  He used the card last on January 11, 2022, for a purchase.  His February statement shows a balance of $543.00.  On May 23, 2022, the cash deposit was used to pay down the credit card as no payments have been received since December 12, 2022.  The cash deposit did not pay off the balance of the card thus it remained open and continued to accrue interest and late charges. 

  
  ******** made multiple attempts to resolve the delinquency,but the customer could not be reached and did not respond to any communications. We received a letter dated August 19, 2022, in which the customer requests the credit card be closed.  ******** again made multiple attempts to establish communication to clarify that the customer wanted us to pull funds from his checking and payoff and close his credit card.  We assumed that he didnt want do default on his obligation.

  
  On September 19, 2022, we received a follow up letter again asking that we close the credit card.  This letter also stated, I do not respond to emails nor will I make any phone calls pertaining to this matter.  We made the judgment call that he wanted us to use the funds in his checking to pay off the card and acted accordingly. The customer never requested that we refund fees or interest in connection with the credit card account. 

  
  Since receipt of this complaint, we have started the process to reopen the credit card, refund sufficient fees and interest sufficient to bring the credit card balance to 0 and refund the amount pulled from the checking account.  This is a multiple day process that we anticipate being completed on September 30, 2022. 

• Initial Complaint

  09/10/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have a checking account with them and I have been overdrawn but this most recent time that happened I had to go to the accountant who handles my *** to get money out and put it in the account. It never went through and they are giving me endless excuses now about it. I will be behind in all my bills now and not only that they gave me a username and it don't work. They refuse to work with me and help me out. My daughter now fears we will go homeless because of this and she doesn't want that to happen. But unless they are willing to be honest and work with me I may have to go elsewhere.

  

  Business response

  09/16/2022

  ***********************
  #********
   BBB complaint filed 9.10.22

  
  Account in question was opened 4.27.22,using the Nicolet online portal. Account has been overdrawn repeatedly with a total of $615 in fees charged-to date $315 of which have been waived. Several people in our ************ have spoken to customer and notes of conversations are in Salesforce. Most recent collection call ended with customer hanging up-no resolution. Customer has used Marinette branch night drop to make deposits to cover overdraft; quite often the amount deposited does not cover the existing overdraft. Funds drawn on either a checking at ******** National Bank or money order from same institution.

  
  According to online review of activity-customer was last online on *******. Customer is not locked out and there have been no invalid attempts, meaning there is nothing preventing her from full online account access. There are no deposits, other than an SSA payment received 9.14.22. There are no notes or restrictions on account that would prevent an EFT from posting.

  
  In her complaint, customer mentioned that funds were withdrawn from her **** to be sent electronically to NNB, to cover her overdraft. Has customer contacted accountant regarding EFT issuance? Customer spoke to the ************ on ******, to inquire whether deposit had been received-it had not-but she did not indicate that funds were from an IRA ************* only questioning if funds had been received.

  Customer response

  09/16/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [Please type your response here.]
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************

  

  Business response

  09/21/2022

  Nicolet National Bank has not received, nor has Nicolet National Bank rejected, any IRA ************ to the account in question.

  Customer response

  09/22/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [Please type your response here.]
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************

  THEY WERE NOTIFIED PRIOR TO ME HAVING MY *** SEND THE MONEY FROM MY *** AND NOW THEY ARE SAYING TO ME THAT THEY NEVER KNEW! BULL S*** EXCUSE ME THEN HOW THE **** DO YOU EXPLAIN THE **** THEY STILL SENT THE MONEY BACK AND NOW WHEN I DID RECEIVE THE CHECK THANKS TO THEM BILLS ARE LATE AND I AM SHORT ON FUNDS! SINCE THEY ARE THE **** WHO CHOSE TO SEND IT BACK! IF THEY WON'T WORK WITH ME I WILL PULL OUT MY MONEY AND LOOK FOR ANOTHER BANK! NOW I AM AFRIAD OF GOING HOMELESS AND MY DAUGHTER IS PANICKING OVER THIS AS WELL. I NOW HAVE TO NOTIFY THE *** THAT I DON'T HAVE THE CHECK BECAUSE IF I DON'T I WILL BE SHORT ON FUNDS

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩