Charlotte Perkins called Huntington Bank the moment a suspicious call warned her someone was trying to drain her account. The next day, $98,000 was gone anyway from the business account she uses to run her Cleveland security guard company, and more than a year later she is still waiting to get it back.
Perkins told News 5 Cleveland that a caller impersonating Huntington warned her someone was trying to withdraw money from her account, so she called the bank herself before any funds moved. She said Huntington told her the accounts were fine and that no money had been withdrawn. By the next day, the $98,000 was gone, routed to an account with Santander in Florida, according to Perkins. She said she was devastated when she learned the money had disappeared.
When she pressed Huntington for answers, Perkins said the bank told her the loss was not its fault, and that Santander told her to contact the company directly. She said she considers herself a victim three times over — of whoever took the money, of Santander and of Huntington itself. Cleveland Police have confirmed to the same station that they are “actively investigating” her case, more than a year after it happened.
A Second Cleveland-Area Victim Speaks Out
Perkins is not the only Huntington customer describing sudden, unexplained losses. Christina Derrow, of Navarre, told the station that in late June she checked her personal savings account and found about $6,700 missing, money she said had been sent to a Cash App account under the name Alejandro. Derrow, who receives Social Security, said she did not know anyone named Alejandro and did not even know what Cash App was.
Huntington reportedly told Derrow that she had approved the transfer, but she insisted she never authorized anything. The bank ultimately refunded her $6,700, according to the same News 5 reporting. Derrow described the ordeal as causing significant emotional distress, telling the outlet she found herself waking up at 1, 2 and 3 in the morning because of what happened.
More Customers, More Complaints
News 5 investigators reported that additional Huntington customers said they were victims of significant fraud, with money in these cases routed to outside financial services including Santander, Cash App and Robinhood. In a related report, Carol Stelnicki said she tried to move $12,000 from Huntington to Chase, only to watch it get rerouted through Robinhood instead; Huntington eventually refunded that money too. Robinhood told the station its own investigation found the transfer was not initiated by or through its platform, and that the originating bank was best positioned to investigate the misdirected funds.
That same report described Glenda Smith, an 82-year-old Streetsboro resident, who found unauthorized Huntington card charges tied to Netflix, TikTok and PlayStation appearing on her account. Huntington refunded all but one of those charges after the station got involved. Huntington's own online banking guarantee states the bank will replace unauthorized transactions when notified in a timely manner, though the details of eligibility and deadlines under that policy were not fully spelled out in materials reviewed for this story.
Bank Response Still Pending
Huntington did contact Perkins after News 5 got involved in her case, though she said she is still waiting for her money to be returned. A representative for the bank told the station he was working on its interview request, but no formal comment from Huntington has been detailed publicly regarding Perkins' case.
Consumers who believe they have been the victim of unauthorized bank transactions can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which also maintains a searchable database of financial product and service complaints. For now, Perkins' case remains open with Cleveland police, and the origins of the $98,000 that left her account remain unresolved.
