My bank denied my fraud claim. What now?

Find the reason. The usual ones:

• "Authorized": the bank says you made or approved the payment. That's the big one, below.
• "No error found": the bank looked and found nothing wrong on its side.
• "Reported too late": it says you missed a deadline.

Then look at how the money left: a debit card, a credit card, a transfer from your account, Zelle or another payment app, or a wire. Each has its own rules, and the letter rarely says which it applied. Credit card disputes have their own, often stronger, protections.

Did the bank give you a temporary credit while it looked into it? A denial can take it back. Check your balance so other payments don't bounce.

For a debit card, Zelle or other electronic transfer someone else made without your permission, federal rules generally put the loss on the bank, not on you, if you report in time. That usually includes a common case: someone tricked you into sharing a code or your login, then moved the money themselves. Being careless doesn’t change that under the federal rules.

When you pressed send yourself, even because someone lied to you, most banks call it authorized, and the federal rules protect you less. Where that line sits is still being argued, by regulators and in court, so it's worth pushing on. And if you sent money by Zelle to someone posing as your bank or a government agency, ask whether Zelle’s refund for impostor scams applies.

For a debit card, Zelle or other electronic transfer (not a wire), you can ask the bank for the documents it relied on to deny your claim, and it must send them. Ask in writing:

What comes back often shows how thin the decision was: a single note, or a check that the login came from your phone.

Write back, short and dated:

• What happened, in order, with dates and amounts.
• Who made the payment. If someone else did, or got your code, login or device to do it, say how. If you made it yourself, say what you were told.
• The warning signs the bank had: a new payee, an amount far above your normal, an older customer, a call where you said someone was waiting for the money.
• What you're asking for: the money back, and an answer in writing.

Keep a copy of everything. A phone call leaves no record you control.

1. A complaint to the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov. The bank is expected to respond, usually within 15 days, and the answer often comes from a different team than the one that denied you.
2. The bank's regulator: the OCC for national banks, the NCUA for credit unions, or your state's banking department.
3. Your state attorney general's consumer office.

If you haven't yet, report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov, and keep the report numbers with your appeal.

After a denial, expect offers to get your money back for a fee. Many are a second scam. A real firm names its lawyer, and you can look that lawyer up.

For an unauthorized electronic transfer, you generally have 60 days from the statement that first shows it. A late report doesn't always end the claim, but it can limit it. If something like a hospital stay or a long trip kept you from reporting, tell the bank: the federal rules say it should give you more time.

Read your account agreement for an arbitration clause. It can decide where a claim against the bank is heard, and some set short time limits of their own, so put things in writing now.

Say your age in the appeal. Many banks train staff to spot scams against older customers, and many states let a bank hold a payment it suspects is a scam. If yours had warning signs and didn’t pause, put that in your letter.

Some states also have elder financial abuse laws with remedies of their own. Whether one fits depends on your state and the facts, so it’s worth a lawyer’s look. The National Elder Fraud Hotline, 833-372-8311, can help with the reports.

A denial letter is the bank's first answer, not a final one. Banks sometimes change their decision after a documented appeal, a regulator complaint, or a lawyer's letter that points to the rules that apply.

Larkspire Law's "Should your bank pay?" checks the payment, asks the bank to repay, and takes it further if needed. It's coming soon. Until then, the free assessment looks at the payment and tells you in writing whether there's a path. If there is, the fee is set in writing before any work starts. Depending on the case, it's one flat fee, or nothing upfront and a share only of what the bank repays. Reading months of statements against the bank's own rules used to take a person days. Software now does much of that reading and a lawyer checks it, which is part of why we can offer both.

If a claim has to go to arbitration or court, we bring it with co-counsel, for a share only if money comes back. Beyond the fee you agreed to, nothing comes out of your pocket.