An unhoused woman claims that she was scammed out of thousands of dollars by a fake apartment listing on Facebook, saying that she is unable to dispute the charges with Chime, the online banking platform that she used for the transaction.
On Sept. 19, TikToker Steph (@sillysteph01) says that she “showed up” at the apartment that she had rented through a Facebook marketplace ad, only to discover that she had been “scammed” by the person who posted the listing.
“I’ve been living in my car for over a year trying to save all this money, and I just sent it all to this person,” Steph says in the clip. “I’m at the address, and they blocked me and took all my money that I’ve saved for months.”
Steph claims that she called the police, but they told her that it could take “over a year before anything gets done” after filing a police report.
@sillysteph01 ♬ original sound – steph :)
The original video has reached over 140,000 views as of Oct. 18, with commenters urging her to dispute the charge with her bank. In an update video posted on Sept. 20, Steph says that the woman told her she “had to send the money first because she was going to ‘print off receipts and papers before coming.’”
The caption reads, “She even sent a lease to my email that looked official (shown in vid before this) she said she was on the way to give me the keys and sign all at once. I thought this was normal, and I definitely will NEVER make this mistake again.”
@sillysteph01 she told me I had to send the money first because she was going to “print off receipts and papers before coming” she even sent a lease to my email that looked official (shown in vid before this) she said she was on the way to give me the keys and sign all at once. I thought this was normal and I definitely will NEVER make this mistake again. I am in shock still and I’m just praying every moment that me and Millie will get through this #scammed #livinginmycar #worstdayever #dayinthelife #fyp #viral #sillysteph01 ♬ original sound – steph :)
In a second update video posted on Oct. 12, Steph clarifies that she “disputed the transaction immediately” while she waited for the police to arrive the day she was scammed. However, she shows an email from the Chime Dispute Team on Sept. 20 that says that her case was dismissed and the company “considers the matter closed.”
“It was $2,250 that I lost. I just really hope that they needed it more than I did,” Steph says in the video.
@sillysteph01 thank you for the prayers, I don’t know if I was meant for a home this winter. #homeless #livinginmycar #sillysteph01 ♬ original sound – steph :)
In a comment from the official Chime TikTok account (@chime), the company writes, “We take these types of things seriously. We’re looking into this and just reached out to you via email!” However, many commenters blasted the company for its comment.
“I feel like they (chime) commented that just to make it seem like they cared. I hope your situation gets better,” one commenter wrote.
“Do not bank with chime. they will not insure your money. you are not alone. i’m so so so sorry,” another said.
Steph shared her most recent update video on Oct. 16 in response to Chime’s comment. Her caption reads, “I guess it doesn’t matter what the opinion of thousands of your customers is? Hundreds of comments saying the same has happened to them. I’ve offered screenshotted messages, written statements, police reports, and nothing is good enough. I trusted this “bank” with my money but now I agree with the other thousands of people that say DO NOT USE CHIME!”
@sillysteph01 Replying to @chime I guess it doesn’t matter what the opinion of thousands of your customers is? Hundreds of comments saying the same has happened to them. I’ve offered screen shotted messages, written statements, police reports, and nothing is good enough. I trusted this “bank” with my money but now I agree with the other thousands of people that say DO NOT USE CHIME! #homeless #livinginmycar #sillysteph01 #viral #chime #chimedoesnothaveyourback ♬ original sound – steph :)
The Daily Dot reached out to Chime and Facebook via email and to Steph via Instagram direct message.
