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- mwsherman, on 10/11/2007, -3/+168"In all, she lost $68,733.77 in the apparent identity-theft scam, according to her lawyer.
She filed a police report. She filed an affidavit of fraud. She protested to the bank to no avail. Then a series of tragedies - the death of her mother and brother, and her own visits to the hospital for heart failure and pulmonary embolism - distracted her.
Soon after she got back from a three-day hospital stay last month, Carlo found a court summons under her door. Bank of America was suing her."
Oh man, how come the Consumerist isn't all over this? This would be a magically delicious way to really make BoA look like fascists. - AmateurX, on 10/11/2007, -4/+108They are:
http://consumerist.com/consumer/fraud/bank-of-america-sues-id-theft-victim-for-2331204-262119.php
http://digg.com/offbeat_news/Bank_Of_America_Sues_ID_Theft_Victim_For_23_312_04 - AriaStar, on 10/11/2007, -2/+62AS a victim of ID theft myself, I can tell you from personal experience that the world isn't nice to us. Banks and credit card companies are supposed to back us, but I guess they're getting tired of it. In addition to what we don't get back from banks and credit card companies, it's hell getting credit cleaned up, annoying paying more in interest to buy a car, and aggravating to try moving only to be turned down because your credit score is too low. (Yeah, my ID was completely stolen, not just a safe deposit box or a few charges on a credit card.)
This woman is in for a roller coaster ride from hell. Whatever she won't end up having to pay to Bank of America will be eaten by the attorneys. The government needs to do more to stop ID theft from being able to happen. Not requiring a social security number as a form of ID would help, for one.
Though I'm not quite sure how she's able to get disability with that much in savings. When I was in and out of the hospital for four years after being hit by a car, I had to show my assets to be below a certain amount to even be considered. - slsanity, on 10/11/2007, -1/+55I worked for BoA for about 6 months in a telephone customer service department. BoA's system uses your account activity, daily average balances, number of overdrafts per year, ect. to create a number called your "matrix allowance". This number is the amount of money BoA will allow the account to slip into the negative until it stops authorizing withdrawal transactions. The reason they told us it existed was to allow customers to complete transactions before a deposit. Basically so you can go shopping for more than was in the account, then run to the bank and make your deposit. So long as the deposit was before the cut-off time (different per-state, sometimes even per-town) the deposit would be credited before the debit during nightly processing and no overdraft would occur. The weird part about the whole system was some customers would have matrix allowances in the tens of thousands of dollars, and sometimes matrix allowances would stay above $0 even after the account went though nightly processing as a negative balance. Also I noticed the system "awarded" higher matrix allowances to people who would overdraft and pay the fees, as opposed to people who never overdrafted. Also during nightly processing, after deposits are credited the system will deduct debits in a highest to lowest fashion.
So lets say you had $1,000 in the bank, and did 6 transactions. One for $1,000, the other 5 for $1. The order you actually did the transactions means nothing. The $1,000 would be deducted first, followed by the 5 $1 transactions, and you would be nailed for 5 overdraft fees. The reason, they explained to us, they did this was so the bank would pay more "important" transactions first. This way your electric bill got paid before your candy bar at the local 7-11. This didn't make any sense to me because debit transactions are approved at the time of the sale, and can't be rejected after the fact. - stopple, on 10/11/2007, -2/+41There is wack, there is superwack, and then there is the realm of bankers.
- signal15, on 10/11/2007, -2/+39BoA is horrible. I had a credit card with them for several years at 3.9% interest. I bought another house. A couple of months later, they raise my rate on my existing balance to 24.9%, and make my limit lower than what I have on the card in order to charge me "overlimit" fees. When I call to find out why, they tell me that they do periodic reviews of their customers, and if their debt/income ratio gets worse, then they raise the rate and lower the limit accordingly. I've always made my payments on time too.
So even though I didn't make any payments late, it still hurt my credit score because I was overlimit on the card, and my total available credit to amount used was a much lower ratio. They would happily charge people 200% interest if it was legal.
BoA is a bunch of ***** crooks, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were out of business in a couple of years. I will never do business with them again, and I hope they go down in flames with prison terms for all of the execs. - CraigJ, on 10/11/2007, -0/+31I've been screwed by BofA before. They made a mistake on my account in 1987 and have been trying to get money out of me for 20 years. The original mistake was $250, last time they contacted me they wanted close to $2000. Luckily it is past the 7-year mark and doesn't appear on my credit report any more, so when the collection agency calls (a new one every year it seems) I can cheerfully tell the to ***** off and I would love a summons to see them in court. They have tried to reset the date on this 2 times by selling the debt to a new collection agency, so I have to watch my report. I hate these *****. They screw up, and expect you to pay for it. I hope she beats them in court and collects lawyer fees and gets punitive damages. It is their *****-up broken system that allowed this to happen in the first place.
- jer2eydevil88, on 10/11/2007, -1/+31If you google bank of america you find lots of other complaints from customers who were defrauded from their savings and BOA left them screwed over. I think all banks are pretty awful and that Credit Unions are the best way to handle finances but BOA is easily the worst IMO.
- slsanity, on 10/11/2007, -1/+30I can try to answer some of these, but it's really situational:
"How did the thieves charge TV shopping purchases to a savings account? If it was stolen debit card, why did it take her so long to resolve? Why didn't she ask for a new debit card ASAP?"
BoA has a "feature" called overdraft-protection, which will automatically pull money from a linked saving account or credit card if the account would otherwise go negative. This has to be setup by the customer.
"Exactly how did a seven-year CD "vanish"? Do you guys know what's required to close out a CD prior to maturity? It takes a bank visit -- and also an IRS form to walk out with more than $10,000. And a stolen debit card isn't enough ID to complete that transaction."
I've seen CDs closed right over the phone, with the money deposited directly into another account. The tax forms are mailed. - GQCarrick, on 10/11/2007, -0/+28That is terrible. My parents are going through something similar. Someone, we don't know who, claimed my parents on their taxes as dependents. So my parents can't get their return until they file TONS of paperwork. Then once they do get their return, the person who did it, gets a slap on the wrist by the government AND gets to keep the money and told not to do it again. The only way this person will see jail time is if my parents file a lawsuit against them, whoever they are. How terrible is that? My parents are super safe and shred everything, never give out their SS# or anything, but because the Veteran's Administration lost a laptop, one time, they have to go through crap like this. I feel for the lady, that is absolutely terrible to go through.
- sjbdallas, on 10/11/2007, -0/+24Because the bank is the one whose services are being leveraged to steal someone's money.
Banks could put tools in place to practically eliminate identity theft but they dont' because it's cost prohibitive. BofA in particular is already relying on fees to make their profits (see stories regarding their last quarter statements) so they are not about to invest in anything. - trer, on 10/11/2007, -2/+25Your money is safer in a big sack under your bed than it is at Bank of America.
- colinbg, on 10/11/2007, -3/+23Banks should be responsible for all ID theft period, if this were the case, ID theft would vanish if FDIC did not reimburse the banks for the lost money. Banks know how to manage money, they would stop ID theft if they were the ones responsible.
- knobtwiddler, on 10/11/2007, -2/+22nobody should be using bank of america anyway. they give accounts and loans to illegals immigrants with no ID... with no way to collect fraudulent loans and money laundering, citizens end up paying for it.
- Ramble, on 10/11/2007, -2/+22Because the theives stole the money from the bank, and they didn't even enquire about it?
- bmartin, on 10/11/2007, -2/+21I got rid of my BoA account when they started charging me $5.95/mo for a maintenance fee on my checking account because I *wasn't* depositing my paycheck into it. If that isn't screwed up, I don't know what is.
What they do is simply wrong. I use HSBC; I can do everything online and the security is great (although the login is annoying, it's very secure, even against a key logger). There's no limit on transfers or any of that other garbage you get w/ BoA. If you don't like HSBC, use something else... just don't stick with BoA. They're scum. - blaneg, on 10/11/2007, -2/+20Because banks choose to ignore suspicious activity. Safeguards need to be put into place that will automatically throw on the breaks when excessive spending occurs.
- SecondGuesser, on 10/11/2007, -7/+25Something's fishy.
How did the thieves charge TV shopping purchases to a savings account? If it was stolen debit card, why did it take her so long to resolve? Why didn't she ask for a new debit card ASAP?
Exactly how did a seven-year CD "vanish"? Do you guys know what's required to close out a CD prior to maturity? It takes a bank visit -- and also an IRS form to walk out with more than $10,000. And a stolen debit card isn't enough ID to complete that transaction.
I've worked all over banking and fraud departments, and her story just isn't adding up. I don't buy it. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17Actually, no one's asking them to help her put her life together. We'd be really pleased if they'd stop suing her for someone else's crime, though. That'd be something.
Oh, and maybe own up to the fact that they didn't safeguard the finances left in their keeping. That'd be a bonus, though. - Kenzan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+16Here's what I love about banks:
You give them your money, they use it combined with others to make high interest yield, short term loans to other banks, then they have the gall to give you a measly 3 to 5% if you are lucky. But then they make this money back by charging you outrageous fees to do things with YOUR MONEY!!
Grrrr. - DivisibleByZero, on 10/11/2007, -0/+15TFA says the money was withdrawn in a matter of days. She's probably not paranoid enough to check her bank statement on an hourly basis. Old people like that generally wait for the monthly snail-mail to come in.
" She filed a police report. She filed an affidavit of fraud. She protested to the bank to no avail. Then a series of tragedies - the death of her mother and brother, and her own visits to the hospital for heart failure and pulmonary embolism - distracted her.
Soon after she got back from a three-day hospital stay last month, Carlo found a court summons under her door. Bank of America was suing her. "
She filed police reports and attempted to contact the bank before they sued her. - LucidOne, on 10/11/2007, -1/+16I know what your are saying! I went into B of A and opened a savings account with $150. It was meant to be an emergency fund in case of unexpected car trouble, vet bills, etc. I was given a receipt by the teller showing my account number and balance of $150. Months passed and I never received a statement from the bank but since it was a savings account I didn't think much about it. One day out of the blue I received a statement in the mail showing a negative balance and asking for a $15 payment! I thought it must have been a mistake and immediately called the bank. Their response just stunned me! They stated that their minimum allowed balance for a SAVINGS account was $300 and they had been charging my account $15 every month WITHOUT TELLING ME until all the money was gone! They had continued to charge my account and now there was a negative balance! When I asked why the teller would open a savings account for a customer with only $150 and NOT inform them that they would be charged a monthly fee or why they had NEVER sent a statement showing what they were charging me until ALL THE MONEY WAS GONE, guess what, they didn't have an answer! And yes they kept my $150!
BANK OF AMERICA SUCKS! - Khabi, on 10/11/2007, -0/+15Digg Comment checklist:
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[x] Generalized statement
[x] 'Clever' change of a (companies / persons) name
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You almost got them all in that one post! Good job! - nwvanport, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13"Overdraft Protection..." the most ridiculous fraud the banks ever created
- numb, on 10/11/2007, -2/+14Ditto what ariastar said. I've been through hell and back just trying to get someone else's crimes off my record--to no avail. Not only do the banks not care, the government doesn't give a rat's ass about it either. I've written quite a bit about the experience on http://g27.org ... but it's still an ongoing story, because in the end I really haven't gotten anywhere. There's a real problem here that people need to know about!
- maskidat, on 10/11/2007, -5/+17Let's hope that if she keeps sifting through the soulless morass in Bankworld, she might find one human with a bit of compassion and understanding. Good luck to her!
- hagbard72, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10For seventy grand they bought seven hundred grand worth of bad publicity. Good goin'.
- rnwen2750, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11I think hdtvdust is trolling again.
- alarion, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10I have had one account with BoA - it was a savings account I was attempting to open with my ex-wife (we had just gotten married at that time) to deposit the money we received from family/friends from our wedding.
The wouldn't allow us to open a joint account because of her credit. For a savings account. Who the ***** checks credit for a *savings* account? Checking? Sure, check it if you like. But not savings. I actually did open a savings account with them, but closed it not long after. I refuse to ever open any account with BoA again. - smokatronic, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10Mainly because you lend them your money and make them rich. In exchange, they provide a "safe" place for your funds and a really small amount of interest. What, you thought they were just sitting on your money as a personal favor to you, and not using it to, say... invest or anything?
- WanderLink, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11I'm glad I don't use Bank of America.
- manifestdata, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10@hdtvdust
Is that what you got from this article? If it is, I think you need to stop skipping middle school and retake literature. - drafhk, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9***** punitive damages. File a counter-suit and sue them for millions.
- DAE51D, on 10/11/2007, -2/+10***** BANK OF AMERICA.
I hate those ass-clowns. They're the sketchiest, worst bank I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with.
I once sold a mixing console (Mackie D8B) for $14,000 on ebay. Long story short, I was given a counterfiet certified check from the freight company on his behalf, which I deposited in BofA. It sat there for like 2 weeks. I even kept it in my savings account, separate from my checking, until it cleared. Then I went on vacation, and while I was there, I got a call from BofA saying that the check bounced, they were freezing my account, and cancelling me as a customer and I could never join with them again!!!! I was stuck in New Orleans with the $60 cash in my pocket and had 4 days left there. I had been banking with them for nearly 15 years at that point.
So they blamed the victim. I had no idea the check was counterfiet!!!
BTW, the police caught the guy and put him in federal prison, as I was obviously not the only person he scammed. But I never got my money or my board back. - M4tt3r, on 10/11/2007, -4/+11-meant as a reply to ^mwsherman
"In all, she lost $68,733.77 in the apparent identity-theft scam, according to her lawyer."
And that's [without] lawyer fees. Poor women, (no pun intended) I can't imagine losing $68,000 in life savings. That's pretty much taking years away from her life that she'll never get back. Physically and emotionally.
/unless pro-bono, which I hope it is, because she doesn't need more stress. - bimtott, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7Make sure you check out where you are putting your money. Just because you are seeing more and more credit card companies and banks advertise their "fraud amnesty" policies doesn't make it the standard across the industry. Luckily, she has the law on her side, even if B of A pretends that this lawsuit is justified.
- ManHammer, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9BofA is a horrible company. Pull your money out and boycott it now.
- fani, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7I am a current BoA customer (from Fleet takeover) and I'm appalled how poor their service is.
01. I hate their ridiculous phone answering system. PLEASE get me a human being instead of the stupid robotic voice.
02. My ATM card got stolen. I called them up to cancel it. They said it'll be taken care of. A week later, it was still not cancelled
and I had a $70 fraud on it. After I complained I had to go to the center to explain before they refunded the money. I had to
file a claim and fax them several statements. Ridiculous. Amex handles fraud much better
All in all, their only saving grace is their online banking. That works decently. ( save for those goddamn offers each time you logout. They even sell your address and i keep getting spam offers from BoA. I called them re. it, but they claim there's no way to stop it )
I'm seriously considering switching to Wachovia or JPMorganChase - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7if u ever watched the news you would know
- CoolWind, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Lessons learned from this thread:
1. Don't authorize overdraft protection on your checking account because it puts your savings account in jeopardy.
2. Don't use B of A for checking or credit cards, because they are sneaky and they will not stand behind you. - cawpin, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7Chase ***** blows. I was a Bank One customer before they got bought. BO wasn't the BEST but they weren't nearly as bad as Chase. I just had to go INTO the ***** bank on Friday because the "Deposit" button wasn't on the touch screen of the drive thru ATM. I have direct deposit but had a reimbursement check from work that I had to put in. I had the damned envelope all ready to go, put in my card, punch in my PIN and....WTF, no deposit? So I go in and tell them what's up and they say, "Oh, we don't handle the ATMs outside, we only handle the ones inside the building." WTF!?!?!!?!? You don't handle YOUR ATMs attached to YOUR building? They are getting worse by the month.
- CraigJ, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Agreed. Hey - go ahead and write that check, we'll gladly charge you $37.50 for the privilege.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -3/+9i guess she wasnt a illegal mexican
- AdageAcorn, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6I know I would never have a Bank of America account after what happened to a friend of mine. She had an account with them while she was going to school and once when she deposited a several thousand dollar student loan check. The bank lost it and she would have never gotten credit for the money if she hadn't written "For Deposit Only" with the bank account number under her signature.
I do feel for this woman in the story and I sincerely hope that she gets every penny of her money back... plus interest, plus damages. - Otto, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5>>>"Why should the bank be the one to help you put your life back together?"
Well, because it's the freakin' law would be a start.
If somebody empties out your bank accounts, and it's not you, then the bank is liable for all but up to $500 of it. They owe her that money back. Period. - Sendss, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Who would have thought that a part owner of the federal reserve would be so cold?
- Wootery, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7"And I am a Bank of America customer, and would not change them for the world."
A fanboy for a bank? wtf? - erichexagon, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6Bank of America is to banking as McDonald's is to nutrition
- Kenzan, on 10/11/2007, -3/+8This has been pretty much par for the course for BofA for at least 20 years.
Wells Frago isn't far behind. - sjbdallas, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7Really? You don't think computer chips can be copied? Besides, the technology exists for us to use our fingerprints for everything and that doesn't require an implant.
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