I can definately relate to how Bank of America treats their long term customers. They recently hit my account with 7 overdrafts ($245) because a check cleared earlier than expected. I don't mind paying for my mistakes, but $245? I had to open up an account with another bank just so I could pay our day care provider and buy groceries.

It's a common practice among banks to pay in order from highest amount to lowest amount. In my case, the first check taken overdrew me, and all the small debits (less than $10, each) were each counted as individual (and expensive overdrafts).

I've learned my lesson - limit banking. Pay cash.

B of A fell down on this one. There is no reason when she called about the fraud and had her account number, PIN number, SS# and Mother's maiden name that they could not have frozen that account so no deposits or withdrawls could happen until this was cleared up. She should have gone up the ranks with the customer service reps on the phone until she got a manager.

Glad I am not a Bank of America customer! Wow!!

I'm puzzled why she (and the bank should have suggested it) didn't stop all activity on the first account and open a different one immediately. That's what we did and Bank of America went through the entire thing with us. They could even put a stop to all activity except for two checks we knew were pending.

Not surprised, the biggest banks (like Bank of America) don't care about their regular customers or their regular accounts. I ran into trouble with a BOA a few years ago and switched to a regional bank and have never had a problem since. The smaller banks offer the same types of services (on-line banking, free checking, etc.) and they offer actual customer service.

I was not surprised at all to see that this was Bank of America. I've had enough trouble with them in the past that I'll stuff my money in a mattress before I'll trust Bank of America with a penny as it is, but this story just seals it.

As I sit here reading her story, my blood just boils. We just went through the same experience with BOA, who has to be the worst example of big business gone terribly wrong. It didn't take us 6 weeks, but it took about 6 hours of calling, holding, pleading, screaming and threatening before anyone would listen to me that the charges were unauthorized and needed to be refunded. I don't know which is worse, computers that don't have brains and can't use common sense, or actual human beings who are so stupid from depending on computers that they don't have any common sense either.

My husband's debit card number (not the actual card) were stolen December 4th last year. We realized there was a problem on December 5th when we checked our account balance and saw the overdraft. We reported the problem immediately to Bank of America. At that point, the thief had already spent nearly $2000. Despite assurances from Bank of America that a "hold" had been placed on the card, the thief was able to spend nearly $1000 more against the account right up through the end of January. Bank of America did issue a temporary credit for the initial claim but would not issue a temporary credit for any of the subsequent charges. They later reversed that credit when they claimed they did not receive the affidavit paperwork. On two separate occasions, Bank of America claimed not to have received documentation that we mailed to their address.
I had overdraft protection on the account, so all the overdrafts and fees bounced to my credit card. Then, Bank of America charged a late fee to the credit card because my minimum payment had not been enough to cover all the new charges which included $2000 in fraud and $120 in overdraft transfer fees. I also attempted to close this account when the fraudulent charges were still occurring in January and was told the same thing: that the account could not be closed. We did stop depositing money into the account, however, and we did suspend the overdraft protection. Even so, it was March before the checking account fraud was finally resolved and it took 4 weeks and at least 5 more phone calls to Bank of America before the fees & associated interest were removed from my credit card.

I think that the bank wanted the fees for the profits for the shareholders rather than to get their customer out of her nightmare. I would have shut down the account and moved it to another bank immediately.

Having worked in a Reg E disputes department at a different financial institution, I can understand the frustration Rachel went through, but it is very rare for this kind of fraud to happen. It is a long process, but in the end, all of her money was refunded, which is the ultimate goal. It is good that her bank offered online banking so she caught this quickly in order to get the process started, imagine if she didnt find out until her statement was mailed to her!

Bank of America: Shame on you! How could you let this continue without closing that woman's account? Had you done so, she wouldn't have lost all her money and you bungling fools would have caught the person in the act. The place where this person shopped would have noticed that the checks were stolen through an alert.

Bank of America is just about the worst bank in the country. They gobble up smaller banks, eliminate customer service, routinely screw up simple requests. Someone I know once showed me a fax he received from Bank Of America. He'd asked them to fax a bank statement to him. What he received was 14 pages of names, address and social security numbers. If he'd been an identity theif, he'd be a billionaire. Lesson? Stay away from Bank of America if you want to keep your money.

Whoa! Thanks for the warning. I was considering moving my business accounts to BoA but this is the second story of senseless, unending overdraft fees I've encountered (happened to my son, as well.)

I'm an early-adopter and have been using electronic banking for over fifteen years, but now I'm scared. The banking industry and credit card companies are becoming un-trustworthy.

Uhhhhh...seems I will be taking all money out of my checking accounts and be depositing it on my credit union. My CU has no checking account and I must call them and they ask me code words only I know.Leave only enough in bank checking to cover necessary bills!! Scary!! Any clerk anywhere can simply write down a routing # and make bogus checks? ASTOUNDING!!!

More examples of greedy corporate theives sucking the money and life from the unsuspecting public...I say make corporations go back to non profit organizations like they were before some sellouts allowed them to be for profits...

This is when you need LAWYERS. I would bring a class action suit against Bank of America and suck all their profits from them for the next 20 years. The Banks and Credit Card companies could prevent 95% of the fraud upfront through common sense - checking names, addresses, etc; but are too lazy. Since the pain and mental anguish is paid for by the victim - they do not really care. They should have immediately put a hold on the account so no check could have cleared electronically - but were too lazy or incompetent. Joe Larry DeLacruz - how much you want to bet he is an illegal alien - another cost of our open borders policy?

It gets worse than the banks being stubborn about identity theft.

My father was a victim of identity theft, which cost him the tune of almost $100,000. He'd close one credit card to stop the flow of money, and the culprit would PHONE the same company, pretending to be my father, and claim that he was only kidding, and to actually UPGRADE the account.

This happened for a span of 3-4 months. My father is still having to fight creditors because of this nightmare. The FBI know who did it, but they are unwilling to proceed in the case because they claim they don't have the manpower, and $100,000 is too low for their efforts.

Pathetic

Some of his story is here: http://retirednoway.blogspot.com/ He hasn't updated it in a while. I need to get on his case about that.

I feel for you, this is horrible and happens too often! I went through the same ordeal with Wells Fargo and it was a nightmare. All they were concerned with was automatically deducting fees, it was devastating.

The poor gal fell for the biggest roost in banking ..the debit card !! I feel sorry for her and I also beleive the bank is the primary culprit to her problem, after the thief of course. The bank could have put a "hold" on her account and opened a new account for her to end the nightmare ! Then it's just a matter of her re-directing direct deposits and direct payments.

However, that does not solve the primary issue of the debit card .. it is the most dangerous piece of plastic anybody can carry ! .. I have worked in banking for 20 years and know only to well how the debit card is an "open door" directly to your checking account and your money.

Why would anybody use a debit card when a credit card does the same thing and is protected by federal usery laws ..plus..thier is no access to your checking accouont !!

I feel for you, this is horrible and happens too often! I went through the same ordeal with Wells Fargo and it was a nightmare. All they were concerned with was automatically deducting fees, it was devastating.

modern corporate america at it's best...note how far we have advanced in customer service in the last 30 years...yeah us.

Im not suprised. Snails work faster than BofA. I hope Ms. Poor receives every dime collected by BofA for overdraft fees.

It's absurd that we the consumer are not taking a more active role regarding the accountability of institutions like Banks. Back in the good old days
Banks were responsible and liable for cashing checks that name address ABA and account number did not match and most important (Signature).Today the Institutions are given a License to steal from Depositors and others. The system must go back to its roots. Monies were Federally Insured and Depositors had to be reimbursed within 7 business days. What is going on?????????? Who are the thieves here???????

Wake up and smell the profit that the banks garner by playing both ends against the middle!!

PS-Changing banks won't make any difference - they're all the same........

In my opinion BofA should be ashamed of itself. As consumers we need to realize that the profits of banking corporations are more often important than their lowly customers. One must question the judgment of an institution that will allow compromised accounts to continue victimizing its customers. As far as I'm concerned that's just stupid. Now I know why I'm a credit union member!

What a terrible experience, surreal to the point of insanity. Banks and processing companies won't make changes until they become financially responsible for not acting in timely, reasonable and appropriate manner. Big corporations like BoA constantly squeeze and squeeze their budgets to cut service to the absolute bone. All in the name of "shareholder value" of course. Customer service reps are swamped and pressured to keep profits up, if they even work for the company. Sometimes the service call centers are outsourced and those are even less responsible to the customer. It's all gotten completely out of hand. There has to be balance between corporate profits and responsibility to the customer, especially pertaining to financial matters in this age of easy identity theft. I don't believe banks and charge processors will voluntarily make the necessary changes. But neither do I believe our current government, which can't even agree to cut funding for an unpopular and wasted war, will be able to field any relief. It's all quite insane.

I can fully relate to this young lady's problem. I live in Panama but still do most of my banking in the United States. My debit card was cloned someplace here. The next thing I knew my account was in overdraft.I called the bank as soon as it was discovered. They canceled the card. That stopped the hemorrhage of money in the form of withdrawals and fees. But, I did have to prove that the charges on the card were not mine. Fortunately the bank I deal with is very personable and gave me all the help needed to do so. The final proof was when the bank sent a paper copy of my transactions to my friend in the USA. he and I started going over it and comparing it to my online statement. What we found was surprising. On the very same day I paid my phone bill at the local telephone office my card was used at El Higueron. Well since I live in a Spanish speaking country it was not readily apparent by my bank statement that the card was used anyplace else. Then as my friend read down the list of charges one time he mentioned the city that El Higueron is located which was Malaga ES. As soon as he said the ES it hit me. ES is abbreviated for Espana or SPAIN. I immediately notified the bank that I had never been in Spain and since there was only one card on the account and I had it there was no way I could be in PANAMA and SPAIN at the same time. All I had to do then was fill out an affidavit and fax it to the bank. The refunded everything and issued me a new card. It only took a little over five months to bring it to conclusion however. REMEMBER: Never let your debit card out of your sight at restaurants or any other business while traveling abroad. The ID thieves are out there waiting for you.

Why didn't she immediately close the account and open a new one elsewhere?

I'm astonished that Bank of America doesn't lock all account transactions once a member reports fraudulent activity! That's absurd! Any bank I've ever dealt with would offer to immediately lock out any future transactions if an investigation were started. I'm glad I'm not a member of BOA.

Someone please tell me why this young woman didn't getup on her hind legs and yell "major lawsuit" at the top of her lungs? And why, when she said her account had been comprormised, did Bank of America not automatically flag and freeze her account? And why did she not go to her employer and stop the direct deposit immediately? Because she's NICE and sits back and waits for people to do what she asked them to do, instead of getting pissed off and going after the bank, which is at fault here, like she should have done.
My purse was stolen, with everything in it, including my ddriver's license and my checkbook. I called my bank (Chase) immediately and told them, and even thought it was after banking hours, both my checking and savings accounts were flagged and frozen immediately and new accounts were opened for me. I didn't get lame excuses, quibbling, or bank fees. I got service.
Every time I see something like this, it's BofA or some other badly run bank. If this were my account, I would be snarling "lawsuit" every time I talked to someone and I would definitely not do the talking on the phone. Also, I would be in an attorney's office, at a big, expensive law firm, making plans to sue the pants off Bank of America.
People, don't assume ANYTHING. Don't sit around waiting for customer service to do its job, SHOW UP in PERSON and WATCH them do it. Get pieces of paper that say THEY DID THE JOB PROPERLY. And use some common sense. If your account has been compromised and you have proof (print out the transactions), file a police report, get a lawyer, yell at the bank management (it's their fault, you know), but DON'T SIT BACK AND WAIT FOR THINGS TO HAPPEN FOR YOU. And DON'T BE NICE!!@!! It's your money, isn't it?

Sadly, this happens all the time. My brother just recently had his debit card cloned. He caught the issue almost immediately and thankfully the thief tried to charge more at Walmart (WHY is it always Walmart? Everyone I know who has had something like this happen to them has had it happen at Walmart!) than he had in his account so the thief got NSF. My brother was lucky enough to be able to close his account and open a new one with little issues. This article clearly shows a loophole. If you have been a victim of fraud you should be allowed to open another account and move your funds there and CLOSE the fraudulent account!

Years back, Banks carried certain liabilities and responsibilities regarding the Deposits entrusted to them by the People. In a case like Poor Many things would have happened. 1. A check could not be cashed, if the printed name, address, account number ABA did not match. The Banks funds are federally insured and the Bank would have reimbursed Ms. Poor within 7 working days and fees would have been waived. They would investigate until they found Who was liable?
The thieves (it appears)to be the Institutions being licensed to steal by running operations like this one. More like the Mafia from the 40' and 50's . We are living in a system that has become upside down. It needs to be fixed. It is not easy but it can be done. We the Consumer have more power than we think. We only need to organize lobbying efforts with minute contributions to become represented in our government since our current body is hardly looking out for our interests. (It appears)I forget exactly the millions of US Citizens but lets say 93% of the US population coould decide to Organize to pass laws to PROTECT THE 93%. AND NOT LAWS THAT BENEFIT 7% OF THE POPULATION. It appears to me that if 93% of the population organizes under one roof, the thievery will end. We could hire the best lobbysts and best attorneys to represent the Majority. What a trip

Sorry to hear of Ms. Poor's problem. Having been a victim of ID theft (twice) we worked through our bank (also Bank of America) and received nothing but positive and professional responses from them. In the first case we actually received a call from bank security advising us of fraudulent charges. The charges were stopped immediately. The second case was that of a debit card # stolen from the web. Unlike Ms. Poor's situation, our card # could have been stolen anywhere in the world. It appears that her fraudulent charges were done at a local level, and if she follows local laws they should be able to find the violator through amounts on the charges and the local Wal-Mart security cameras. Her fraudulent check may show the time, and then the security camera should be able to be reviewed. (Been there done that!) In my case everything was credited back 3 months. Point being, local problems are likely to be resolved fully with the arrest of the individual, while mine was purely an internet activity and could have been done by anyone in the World. Chances of finding this individual will be slim. My experiences with Bank of America are obviously different stories with much better outcomes.

I've been there, too. It was with another big bank. In my opinion, bank fees need to be regulated by the Federal government, and one of the big provisions should be that all bank fees should take 1 day longer to take effect than the maximum amount of time it can take the bank to process a deposit. Check clearing periods are complete nonsense with today's technology. They're designed simply to exploit poorer customers by increasing the chances of overdraft fees.

It's common sense why B of A doesn't respond as to why this happened and it has nothing to do with "protecting" the privacy of a customer. They don't have a reasonable explanation. I would also suggest that B of A believes if they make it hard enough, then the customer will give up and pay the exhorbitant fees.

Wells Fargo submitted the same check 6 times in two days to B of A and it was cleared six times causing my account to be overdrawn while I was out of the country! When I returned home I was livid. When I confronted the branch manager with the proof of their error, she blithely replied, "it happens all the time." I no longer do business with B of A

What do you expect from a bank that encourages illegal aliens to apply for and receive a credit card from them. Can't everybody see what this will do to those of us who maintain our credit. It is entirely possible that we will be paying for the misuse and abuse of others not even legally in the country.

Wells Fargo submitted the same check 6 times in two days to B of A and it was cleared six times causing my account to be overdrawn while I was out of the country! When I returned home I was livid. When I confronted the branch manager with the proof of their error, she blithely replied, "it happens all the time." I no longer do business with B of A

Bank of America is a rip off , we need the attorneys to close this sorry bank and its greed! What a shame with the name of America, a rip off everyone get there money out of this bank , read all the editorals on and on the bank is a greedy way of pushing all people further in debt. Get rid of them

Wow, this is de javu. I had the same experience with B of A. I signed up for a Consumer Credit Service that was bogus and they were taking my money and not paying my bills. When I went to B of A, they wouldn't stop the company unless I paid a fee to put a stop payment on a particular amount. They said that they couldn't put a hold on any particular person, only amounts. I thought this was bogus and closed my acount that very same day. Two months later I found out that B of A had put a hold on my SSN because of fee's. When I closed the acount it has a $0 balance, however it seemed that the company that was stealing from me tried to get two payments from my closed B of A account. The acount should have been closed and was, however, B of A has a policy that charges you a fee if a electronic payment tries to go through and doesn't, even if the acoutn is closed. Than on top of that B of A charged me a fee for not having funds in my closed acount to pay the fee's that they charged me for the bad company. It ended up being $235 dollars worth of fee's before I threatened to sue. B of A stopped charging me fees on a closed account, however, they refused to admit fault for the fee's already levied against me. To clear my credit and get the bank hold of my SSN, I gave in a paid. It was easier to pay the $235 and just learn a lesson. Bank of America Sucks !!

I feel for Rachael. I had a similar experience with Bank of America only my account was overdrawn by over $1,200 on the first day I spotted it. I immediately went to the Bank assuming it was simply a routing error [payments hitting my account included a large Cingular Cell Phone bill, $500+, and a mortgage payment, $1,200+] Both easily traced back to the individuals who benefited from the payments. They also refused to freeze or close the account [because it had a negative balance]; however, I refused to put additional funds in to bring the balance to "zero" as I could see exactly where that would lead. The second day anothere $2,000+ had hit my account. I parked myself in the Bank Managers chair and told her to be prepared to see me every day until the account was closed and the issue was resolved. It was not until I claimed the managers guest chair for the fourth day the matter was finaly resolved (she said they had frozen the account). It was another week before my money was returned [the balance in that account was only about $540 prior to the incident].
I was fortunate in that the theft happend after all of my electronic transfers had taken place [mortgage, car payments, insurance etc] and I was able to transfer those payments to another account before the next cycle. Additionally I had [have] money in other accounts and was in no danger of not being able to pay my bills or put food on the table. I do not bank with Bank of America anymore and now keep a seperate account for the payment of automatic transfers [no checks or bank cards used]. One thing you failed to point out is that Bank of America will not pursue criminal charges against the individuals who commit these crimes [that supposedly is up to the individual] and the police consider this a very low prioriy I got a case number and tried to follow up but it never went anywhere [well you got your money back so no harm done]. I might add that I was able to track down in each case the individual's who benefited from the thefts [and even called the mortgage holder] and the companies involved [Cincular, Mortage Company] would not pursue criminal charges either. In other words there is almost a zero chance of being prosecuted for this crime and therefore this type of crime is bound to multiply.

I had this happen to me with AmSouth. Backs don't care. with every overdraft they are making more money. No I have a savings accout and only pay cash.

I will say this until I am blue in the face, B of A is the WORST bank on this planet. Once upon a time I had an account with them when they were based out of California (i'm talking about 15 years ago) but when they merged with NCNB and adopted their nickel and dime policies, that's when the decline began.

Regarding the story, does the customer have any legal recourse?

A lot of trouble can be avoided if: (1) NEVER use a debit card (they frequently come unsolicited from the bank...destroy it immediately); (2) ALWAYS go to the bank in person for your deposits and check cashing...and even if your bank says you can get cash from your account without writing a check...write that check!; and (3) NEVER use an ATM under ANY circumstances! Plan ahead.

I feel for Rachael. I had a similar experience with Bank of America only my account was overdrawn by over $1,200 on the first day I spotted it. I immediately went to the Bank assuming it was simply a routing error [payments hitting my account included a large Cingular Cell Phone bill, $500+, and a mortgage payment, $1,200+] Both easily traced back to the individuals who benefited from the payments. They also refused to freeze or close the account [because it had a negative balance]; however, I refused to put additional funds in to bring the balance to "zero" as I could see exactly where that would lead. The second day anothere $2,000+ had hit my account. I parked myself in the Bank Managers chair and told her to be prepared to see me every day until the account was closed and the issue was resolved. It was not until I claimed the managers guest chair for the fourth day the matter was finaly resolved (she said they had frozen the account). It was another week before my money was returned [the balance in that account was only about $540 prior to the incident].
I was fortunate in that the theft happend after all of my electronic transfers had taken place [mortgage, car payments, insurance etc] and I was able to transfer those payments to another account before the next cycle. Additionally I had [have] money in other accounts and was in no danger of not being able to pay my bills or put food on the table. I do not bank with Bank of America anymore and now keep a seperate account for the payment of automatic transfers [no checks or bank cards used]. One thing you failed to point out is that Bank of America will not pursue criminal charges against the individuals who commit these crimes [that supposedly is up to the individual] and the police consider this a very low prioriy I got a case number and tried to follow up but it never went anywhere [well you got your money back so no harm done]. I might add that I was able to track down in each case the individual's who benefited from the thefts [and even called the mortgage holder] and the companies involved [Cincular, Mortage Company] would not pursue criminal charges either. In other words there is almost a zero chance of being prosecuted for this crime and therefore this type of crime is bound to multiply.

sorry to hear about this lady being bilked by a jerk and her bank. When I move , I was thinking of opening an acct with B of A, but wont now . I'll stay with a small local bank where customer svc is still alive and well

I had a good experience with BOA. An 18.76 charge from a pizza parlour wound up on my account - no where close to my house- they credited it immediately with the stipulation it would be taken back if it was a valid charge. They followed up with the paperwork in a timely fashion. My debit card was cancelled and a new one arrived a few days later. Maybe it was because it was such a small amount?

another issue to consider is that BOA had a major new platform/software deployment of their credit/debit card processing and it went horribly wrong.

when BOA realized the deployment went bad, they unfortunately did NOT have a "rollback" procedure planned, so they could not rollback the software deployment.

i cannot even begin to tell you of the vunderabilities this failed software deployment left their customers. any BOA customer with a credit/debit card and a checking or savings account with BOA has been hit.

BOA has refused to release this information, only those of us who develop systems know of this current problem as many have had to fix the systems because the payment processing module released a lot of unsecured data into the mainstream.

I recently received notification from PayPal that a suspicious purchase of $1979 had been charged against my acct. My first funding source for that acct. is my checking acct. and my secondary source is my credit card. I confirmed that it was a fraudulent purchase and immediately contacted my bank and credit card co. The fradulent charge did hit my account but was denied because I didn't have that amount in my account, BUT I was charged a $31 NSF. Fortunately, the bank reversed the charge after another phone call, but I can see how fast something like this can spiral our of control. If I had not received the notification from PayPal I would have been in the same situation as Ms. Poor. Lesson learned...you can't be too vigilant about monitoring your accounts and personal information.

I am totally sympathetic to every individual who have been struck by identity thieves. About a year and a half ago, my account was drained for over two thousand dollars in two days through electronic debits. I was fortunate enough to have caught onto it. I called my bank (Net Bank) with whom I have been doing business over the internet with for over four years. They took care of the problem, cancelled my ATM Debit card immediately so that no new charges would come through and emailed an affidavit right away. I was told that a police report was not necessary but I went ahead and reported it to the police (for my own safety just in case the bank tried to place the blame on me as I am also a former law enforcement official).

My suggestion if this ever happens to anyone, cancel your debit cards if it is through electronic means and if it is through bogus checks, close the account. Report the matter to the police so that it is documented and if the identity thief tries to open up new accounts or buy a home under your name; you’re covered and monitor your credit reports for a minimum of three months.

Hmmm, Maybe Walmart and other retailers should look at thier practices concerning charges and checks. Some places don't even have you sign a sales slip if the purchase is under a certain amount. They just charge it. Walmart has this nifty deal that you just sign the check, they print it and take it from you, no checking the ID, No checking the info on the check. You'd think they'd be able to have an alert program, popping up an alert if the name on the check doesn't match the checking account number. Then of course we have the banks, they love their overdraft fees and impose them at every chance they can. M&T Bank is another one, We have had the same problems with them cashing checks that were due to come in before the direct deposit hits so they can make more in OD fees. And the beauty is, they will justify their actions to the death and never refund a dime when they are wrong.

I was hit with overdraft charges at BOA because of an identify theft but caught it almost immediately because I was planning a trip and went to withdraw from my account. Seven hundred bucks was gone.. I closed the account, after I withdrew the rest of the money. I got the run around for three days while on the trip then stopped calling until I got back. When I got back they claimed that I had $380.00 overdraft charges. I didn't argue with them when they said I had to pay, I work in the legal profession so I filed a petition against them. The matter was cleared up before the court date, and all my money was refunded with the courts filing fees.

A company that big should know that they should treat people right.

I had my account wiped out of about $3,000.00 my bank Amsouth had it fixed in hours.

Bank of America is too large and uncaring. Recently they were voted the second worst ofr customer service. Good luck trying to get anything done with them! Best to get an account with a small bank if you can still find one.

The same thing happened to me once on a roll BOA just dosent stop and dosent care .I was with them for 18 years b4 all this happened .i quit them like a bad habit and went with a credit union.Nowin the credit union, they all know me and when they ask how are you doing they mean it.If I never heard BOA name again it wouldnt hurt my feelings at all .They are a big Rip Off bank.

My daughter and I are both long term customers of Bank of America. Her debit card was due to expire and she never received a replacement. We both check our account balances every day (it pays to be a watchdog!)and she noticed that $500 was missing from her account. She immediately contacted Bank of America. They had sent her new debit card to an address where she had lived 2 years previously. They told her they would replace the money and send her new card to the correct address. Well, they replaced the money, but they sent the new card to the old address again! This time the theif spent almost $2,000 of my daughter's money. Once again the Bank of America had to replace her money. Everyone makes mistakes once in a while, but the same mistake twice in two weeks??? Plus, her bank statements always came to the correct address...how could they send her debit card to an address that was two years old? Someone at Bank of America needs to WAKE UP!!!

I pay cash for everything. I keep receipts just in case something ridiculous like this happens.
When I was 18, I opened up my first checking account, came with the debit card and yada yada yada. I thought it'd be much easier than pulling cash from my wallet. I was wrong. I soon found out that I couldn't bring my balance lower than $75, and if I did, they would charge me a $40 overdraft fee (FROM my checking account, leaving me with $35, which would make my balance again fall under the unsufficient fund BS, and the cycle would repeat).
I ended up with $120 in overdraft fees before I was even notified.
There's nothing you can do about it, except keep paying and paying. Banks are bogus.
If anyone's going to manage your money, make it numero uno; yourself. Because then, if anything screwy were to happen, you would already know it where the error came from.
From there, it's only a matter of balancing your checkbook. If you can't do that on your own, maybe it's time for some 3rd grade math study.

As I read all these comments I can relate to everyone. As a college student I cherish every penny in that account. I had once had a charge go thru and the bank charged me 300 in overdraft charges. After I tried to explain the situation to the person on the phone she just told me i needed to learn how to manage my money. they didnt allow me to close my account and I switched to citibank.

My advice to every college student is switch to citibank or anything but Bank of America

BofA is the worst bank ever. I closed my account years ago when they bounced 7 checks (and charged me a fee for each one) over a $1 error in my register. I wrote a series of checks that all combined equalled approximately $1 more than my bank balance. So rather than pay 6 of the checks and return the 7th one because the balance was $1 short, they processed them as if they were all one large check (their excuse was they can't be responsible for determining which ones to pay and which one to return) and then charged an overdraft fee for ALL seven of them. On top of it, their customer service is the worst in the business.

This story is often too repeated unneccessarliy. The banking industry needs a big overhaul. Banks have continued to thrive by using fees as the vehicle to land huge profits and cover costs. Banks do have the power to shut down an account immediately. All this BS about a negative balance is a lie, yes a big lie. The account should have been closed immediately once the bank knew the account holder's account had been compromised. Once again banks shy from risk and responsibility. If it were me, I would bring a suit against BOA. I use a lot of cash transactions for the purpose to avoid fraud. Finally I refuse to pay bank fees and support their mob like activities. I utilize a local credit union and have been very happy with them. How many bank representatives you know will come to your office to pick up a check to deposit for you on the same day. Then the next day you find the receipt was mailed to you and have it. How many bank representatives do you know will post your funds immediately and not have a two day or other BS day to await for funds. I walk into my credit union and am acknowledged by my name. It is called a relationship which obviously is non existant in the BOA organization. Shame on you BOA.

We once had a loan through B of A and I went down directly to the bank to make a payment (early), received my receipt and thought all was good. A few weeks later I started receiving harassing phone calls stating I was late. I went back to the bank, showed them my paperwork (shows the date, amount and account) and they told me they would have to investigate in which would take 30 days. During that "investigation" time I received daily phone calls stating I was late and late fees on my account. The investigation found out that somehow they applied it to someone elses account even though everything had my account number on it. It took them another 30 days to reverse the charges. With all the proof in their face, why could they not fix my account right there? Why take so long and why all the harassing phone calls? Needless to say we paid off that loan and will never use B of A again!

wait till an illegle alien gets your ss number.. It happened to me..took me a while to get that worked out and cost me alot of money, He got off scott free go figure..

The biggest problem in all of this, is the fact there is no real standard to security between the banking institutions. The 'check' card was the answer to this. If the card was a pure debit card that required a pin to be entered at all times this type of problem would not occur to this extent.
I'm originally from Canada and they don't have this problem. The debit cards that are issued by the banks are all pure debit, a pin must be entered for every transaction. In fact debit has become so popular and secure that most retailers in that country do not accept checks. It's cash, credit or debit only. If the banking system down here can manage to work together then this problem would go away. And the biggest problem to identiy theft is the use of the SSN for everything. If this number wan't asked by everyone wanting to verify your 'credit score' the amount of identiy theft would be reduced dramatically. Again in Canada and other countries around the world the banks and retailers are not allowed to ask for the SSN. The only two entities that are allowed to ask is the Federal Gov't and your employer. I believe that is the case in the US but the rule has never be enforced.

Does anyone find it ironic that her last name is Poor?

Bank of America...SHAME ON YOU

Is this the same Bank of America that wants to give credit cards to illegal aliens who have no social security numbers?

I completely understand this young woman's dilemma. I was a victim of a scam and the bank closed my accounts. I had to write letters to the Federal Reserve to light a fire under the bank official to return my owned funds and get the bank charges dismissed. My attorney threaten a major lawsuit and within 7 days, I had my money. Bank of American is famous for poor customer relations. I know a family member (former Bank of America customer), who found fraudalent charges in her checking account when she checked online. The bank claimed she made 6 deposits within a 2 day period. She told the bank security agent, she did not live in the town where the so-call deposits were made. Now we all know banks have security camera. Did Bank of America check to see if she had made the deposits? NO and the security camera show the person that did. Bank of America has yet to offer an apology. Needless to say, she closed her account with Bank of America and it took 45 days to get her money. By the way, once family members and friends found out the way Bank of America treated her after 18 years of being their customer, they closed their accounts with Bank of America and switched to a more customer-oriented financial institution.

She should have opened a new account and never again deposited money in an account that has been compromised.

THAT IS SO SORRY SAD, BUT HAVE I.D FRAURD GOING FOR 25 YEARS NOW FOR ME AND NOBODY WILL HELP YOU,I HAVE TURN IT IN TO ALL THE RIGHT PEOPLE, BUT IT HAPPEN IN DIFFERENT STATES AND IT'S KEEP GOING ON,TO THIS DAY

Historically BOA has always had bad service. My parents back in the 1960s had a business account that contained a very large amount of money (at that time), and more than once refused in person withdrawls, and "nickel and dimed" the account (every business owner knows that some banks charge fees for every imaginable situation, whether genuine or not, and purposely delays solving the issue, hoping to wear down the account holder, to maximize profit)...and this was before identity theft. Nobody in our extended family has been with BOA since, for good reason.

Your congressman knows this is happening. Is he/she doing anything about it? Are we?

WHAT A BLACK EYE FOR BANK OF AMERICA...IF I WERE A CUSTOMER OF THEIRS I WOULD BE PULLING MY ACCOUNTS.
THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE STINKS!!!!!!!!!!

I work in Baking and disagree with a lot of the processes that are done. I hate banking and can't wait to get out and I don't like how banks charge so much money to their clients, which they don't have to but it takes millions of dollars to get your co. name on Wallstreet and in the market so you can make more money and obtain a name for yourself-stupid and greedy.

This is one of those stories that make you go huh?

Bank of America should be indicted due to this. They promote a fee based product that reduces ID Theft and it only makes sence that by allowing victims to be victimized to the max, as the case above, it will increase sales of that product.

I have had similar problems with Bank of America. I finally had enough and closed my remaining saving's account with them. They said, "No problem." My account was closed. Unfortunatley, the interest that accrued (after closing) had no where to go. It was deposited back into my "closed" savings account where it began "going negative" as my (closed) account was under the limit (with only 11 cents from the interest deposit in it). By the time I caught the error, BOA wanted to charge me $5.99 in fees--unbelievable. Clark Howard is right on the mark; take your money out of this bank and run!

Ms. Poor did try to close the account, it was in the original article. And she did try to move money, the big mistake that I see she made was to not open another account immediately to put her new deposits into.

About four years ago BoA refused to close an account for my business. After draining almost $2000 in fees simply for having "Low Funds" we finally got our company lawyer to go and close the account. When he asked why they had refused to close the account the branch manager said, "while the two people proved they are the current business owners they were not the individual who opened the account for the business. I am friends with the individual that opened the account and know that he tried to close it." So the lawyer asked what that had to do with closing the account and the branch manager said he personally didn't want to release funds to anyone but his friend. We are still in court today to make that now ex-manager repay us from his own pocket. The bank also refused to repay us for the 14 months worth of service fees because the account was still open. So it is obvious that what the banks are after is the same thing most businesses are after, a higher profit, it is a shame that they can't see that if they harm too many small clients they will eventually harm the large clients the same way. And then their entire customer base will leave, it is a natural cycle and they are just playing a game of Russian Roullett hoping it doesn't happen on their time.

That is ridiculous! Why should she have to go through all of that? The Bank of America should have been able to freeze that account from anymore transactions. I recently had a bad experience with Bank of America myself. They have lost me as a customer as well.

Maybe she should change her name to Rachel Rich?

No one has mentioned that Ms. Poor also will now have numerous overdrafts listed in her banking file. Antime she opens a new account the bank will see that she has all these overdrafts at BOA. That information can not be erased.

Sounds to me that it wasn't in BoA's best interest to close that account. They were making money hand over fist from her misfortune.

Isn't there any legal remedy against the bank for allowing such fraud?

So BoA has not changed! My experience with them is decades-old but still very similar-they just want your money, they do not care about you. I have not had an account with them since 1980!

I have been a BofA costomer since I was 13. So 11 years. I was recently charge $35.00 twice in an overdraft fee for an overdraft of $.42. I under stand my mistake, but come on. I think it all depends on the area at which you bank. I was double charged while on vacation by a gas station, they immediatly refunded the balance and sent me a letter a few weeks later telling me the issue had been resolved, but that same vacation they suspended my card because I made to many out of state purchases. The problem here is it wasn't am ATM card it was checks easier to track I guess, but they don't pend or clear like debits. The bank can suspend your account and it is unfortuante that in her case it didn't.

I used BOA the first time when i was in college and was not impressed with all the fees i had to pay. Then i decided to give it a try again a few years ago, and to my astonishment, they found a way to let my hopes down again. They would hold either my check or my wifes check for verification or whatever it was, usually for about a week, and then it would clear. The bad thing about that was the fact bills had to be paid and usually i depended on that check i just deposited to pay those due bills. Of course they would not release the money, except 100 dollars, which did nothing, but maybe help pay the overdraft fees i would incur due to them holding that check. From that point on i said i would never be a BOA member again, unfortunately, the Military Govt Travel cards are BOA, so I have to have one of those. BOA is a rip off.

I believe it is time for us to stand up and fight these large corporations. I am in the process of doing that now with Bank of america. They have doubled the interest rate on a credit card for no reasonable reason. I have contacted the BBB of Delaware and BOA told them it was resolved. That was a lie, they have had no contact with me and it is far from resolved. I implore anyone that has had problems with this to contact the Better Business Bureau and ask for help. I would be more than willing to join a class action suit, a lobbyist group or any organization that would legally, intelligently and effectively stop these huge corporations from hurting individual Americans.

Did you know that BoA has a program to issue credit to illegal immigrants? They charge exhorbitant interest rates for these accounts. It's all about making money, providing little or no customer service and ignoring the needs of customers (this account has been open for 22 years)

Capitol One, you're next!

My checkcard number was stolen and I had several fraudlent charges go through on my account similar to this story. However, unlike this story my bank (SunTrust) was awesome... They changed my card number the same day - froze my funds, and I had my $$ back by the end of the week - including the overdraft fees.

After having Bank of America steal sums of my account when it actually had cash deposited prior to check presented, I am clearing my account from them. Bank of America is like the Nazis during the war, they pry the gold from the teeth of their victums (account holders) and think nothing of it. They are an immoral entity!

About a month ago I was at a locally owned cookie stand in the mall. The people in front of me, a man and a woman and their two kids, were loading up on the goodies. All four of them got large Icees, over-sized double decker cookies with creme in the middle, and two $5 novelty straws for the kids. The total bill came to over $30! The owner had $$$ in her eyes, loving every minute of her high rolling customers splurge. The purchaser then produced a debit card for payment. When the shop owner asked for ID the buyer replied "It's my mother-in-law's card. She's handicapped and couldn't come in the mall. But (heavy sigh) I can go out and get her if you want me to." Well, you should have seen the look on the cookie stand owner's face - here was her biggest sale of the day about go straight down the tubes. She groaned and said something about "we're not supposed to do this" and rang up the sale, anyway. Even now, I still wonder whose card got charged that day.

I have been a BofA costomer since I was 13. So 11 years. I was recently charge $35.00 twice in an overdraft fee for an overdraft of $.42. I under stand my mistake, but come on. I think it all depends on the area at which you bank. I was double charged while on vacation by a gas station, they immediatly refunded the balance and sent me a letter a few weeks later telling me the issue had been resolved, but that same vacation they suspended my card because I made to many out of state purchases. The problem here is it wasn't am ATM card it was checks easier to track I guess, but they don't pend or clear like debits. The bank can suspend your account and it is unfortuante that in her case it didn't.

I also banked woth BoA. My husband and I were extremely unhappy. Our balance would change everyday even if we had not spent money in days. We were constantly hit with overdraft charges because our balances showed one thing, and it was really another.
Sometimes fees would be taken out for no reason at all, and we would have to call to fight and get it back. Sometimes we got someone nice, sometimes we got someone nasty. Even a manager was nasty with us!
Eventually we got tired of it, and switched to another bank.

Despite the fact that BOA fell down on the job with particular situation - I've never been happier with them. After switching from a regional bank that I had been with for 24 years, due to the fact that they started to care more about the money they were making than their customers (they started charging overdraft fees but couldn't tell me what they were for), BOA treats me like gold. This was a horrible, horrible mistake and unfortunately the bigger the business the more magnified the mistake.

Why isn't there any outrage by big business about the people stealing and profiting from this? While we battle to prove our innocence the thieves spend, spend and spend. The process is set up to allow these people to continue to abuse the system and us. Wow, what if the bank fees and other losses are tax write-offs for the companies? (write off against their big profits).

why didn't She simply stop putting funds into the account, open a new account at another bank (there are certainly enough of them around), give the bank written notice that she would no longer be responsible for any debits to the account and whether they were willing to close the account or not if you don't put any more money in then it is effectively closed whether the bank likes it or not.

I used to work for BOA when it was still NationsBank. When I left, ever so greatfully, I took every account with me. No one should EVER do business with them. They are so cheap and money grubbing they instituted a fee for using the blank deposit slips available at the counter. They will screw you out of every penny possible and then treat you as the criminal in cases like the one described here. BOA customers beware, you may not have a problem now, but if/when you do, do not expect BOA to give one wit about it. If there is a fee to be extracted in relation to an issue you have, be absolutely assured, they will.

I am not surprised. I have had problems with Bank of America. I moved and where I now live there is not a BOA branch. I requested the account to be closed and was denied because my former employer still had pending direct deposits already in process with the bank. by the time those cleared I should have been able to withdraw and close at a $0 balance... guess again... 2 bogus drafts were taken putting myself in the negative... BOA refused to block the bogus drafts and continued to add fees for 3 more months.

why didn't She simply stop putting funds into the account, open a new account at another bank (there are certainly enough of them around), give the bank written notice that she would no longer be responsible for any debits to the account and whether they were willing to close the account or not if you don't put any more money in then it is effectively closed whether the bank likes it or not.

Part of the problem is that even if the banks have standards for handling these things, it does not guarantee that every teller or manager follows them for every customer. In my situation, it was clearly fraud- a large check cashed on the other side of the country. I called a regional office to find out the protocol for responding to this situation. The account wouldn't be frozen, but my local branch could open another account for me, etc etc.

With this new information, I went to my branch and told a teller my situation. When I asked him what could be done, he said that I could fill out an affidavit but NOTHING could be done in the meantime. I was so surprised to get such contradictory information, I went to this guy the next day and he said the same thing. The day after that, I went to another teller who immediately followed the protocol that the regional office gave me. That's two different tellers in the same branch responding in two opposite ways to the same story! Maybe the guy wanted the overdraft fees or maybe he thought I was lying, I don't know.

But think of this:I could still fall back onto the full description of the procedures that I received from the regional office. Without this info, I would've had no real proof that this teller was not telling the truth. But everyone is NOT receiving the same info, even when you're taking the initiative to search it out. Instead, people are giving you bits and pieces of the process so the consumer is always in the dark. Or, someone tells you, "Sorry sir/ma'am, there's nothing that we can do."

LOL, Bank of America needs to know better. As much as they hate giving out credits, they should have closed her account or atleast froze it, so this imposter couldnt do anymore damage.

Don't you people read? The article quoted her saying they wouldn't let her close the account.
And as for her stopping the direct deposit from her employer, she tried to intercept that, but was too late. Read before you hit the reply button.

why not turn them over to the better busness , and see if it helps , some one some were has got to stop them , even better go to a small bank , in your area , i wish all of you the best , if they would catch these people maybe others would see that there was going to be jail time if they tryed this too , i don,t even think they try to catch them ,

Do you think the level of "concern" on the bank's part relates to how "big" a customer is affected vs one with a smaller average balance?

My sister went through the same thing with Bank Of America. Her luggage was stolen at a Grey Hound Bus Station with all of her personal banking information because she had recently opened the account. All of the charges were made online. Both she and I called all of the companies and were told we had the right bank account numbers but the wrong name. They would not give us any additional information. We relayed this information to BofA and it still did no good. We both asked them to close the account and put a hold on all further charges. That did no good. They are not customer friendly and let the thieves do as they please. GET ANOTHER ACCOUNT WITH ANOTHER BANK.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18537394/wid/11915773?GT1=10008

why not turn them over to the better busness , and see if it helps , some one some were has got to stop them , even better go to a small bank , in your area , i wish all of you the best , if they would catch these people maybe others would see that there was going to be jail time if they tryed this too , i don,t even think they try to catch them ,

I surprised it is taking all you people this long to learn about how BofA treats people. I learned that one thirty years ago and fortunately have steered clear of them.

Its not "corporate greed" Its STUPID EMPLOYEES!!!! The bank president didnt do this, some mid level shmo not giving a BFD and didnt care about a fellow human being. It was the local bank branch employees more worried about their lunch break than the customer who pays for their job. Corporations are at the mercy of the idiot employees they have to hire because schools dont even teach kids basic math or reading anymore. Next time you see some gum chomping ditz bag at the local school, remember, they are the next bank managers, auto mechanics, lawyers, etc.
Face it, we are getting just what we created in our current PC society

Bank Of America is a zit on the butt of society. they do not care about people or their customers, just $$. we have a branch in our town & i would NEVER bank there! they have no idea what cutomer service is. i bank with a small local bank & we are treated like gold with them!!

this is unfortunate for this poor girl.why did you state in your story that the account number and the routing number dont have to macth the name on the check.this just gives thives more information on how to commit check fraud....

Well here is another hard fact of life in America for those us that are not Uber Rich. Big banks do not care about the little guy or girl for that matter, they care about the big money companies and individuals. I left the big banks years ago and now deal exclusively with a well established local bank and credit union. I deal with a person who knows my name and more importantly my character so if ever there is a problem my integrity is not questioned. What if my little bank is bought by a big bank....you guessed it I move my account and make new local buisness relationships. In the long run it is worth it.

close account at the bank checks and charge accounts,and open one account at the same bank.
bank of america also ripes off its public on service charges and that if the money is in a charge account and you havee a 0 balance on your charge account they well ckarge a servace charge.

Yet another proof that banks are more interested in charging fees than providing service to their customers.

When will citizens in this country start forcing their legislators to protect them from this non-sense. I've said this before: In Europe there is no such things as identity theft. (Ok, with the exception of forged passports, but that's a different branch of crime). Folks: call your representatives on every level: state, House and Senate, and force them to protect you against this nonsense.

If Europeans can, why can't Americans?

What horrible customer service but you also have to remember that this is coming from a bank that is offering credit cards to illegal immigrants. The only thing they care about is more money and not taking care of the customers they already have! I think everyone that has a BOA account should move to another bank!

Reg E (above) I beg to disagree, and I bet many here will agree with me: getting all of her money (eventually) refunded should not have been the goal. STOPPING the problem before it got worse should have been the goal, and then refunding the money. You sound as if it is reasonable to you that the bank simply keep paying the fraudulant claims, hitting her with fees and refunding it piecemeal as she filed an affidavit for each incident! If you worked for a financial institution, I find it sad that you don't seem to think Ms. Poor's first phone call should have resulted in a frozen account to prevent the situation escalating. I find it frightening that you don't seem to think that prevention of further theft is the first goal, and refunding a secondary goal.

Not a surprise with BoA, they're parasitic by posing under the fine print. You point out their flaws and they are arrogant in enacting any procedural alleviation for the customer. It's your fault, not ours

This young lady's story is why I LOVE my Credit Union! In 2005 someone started taking $50.00 every week for three months... The bank had no idea who it was, and neither did I. As soon as I noticed it, they quickly set up another checking account for me. My direct deposits were switched over by the bank as well, and all my money retunred. No forms to fill out, no customer service rep. questioning if I had actually done it, cards sent off that day, loan payments switched to the new account.... it was awesome! Believe it or not, I was on the phone w/my bank for less than an hour. It went so smoothly that I ended up sending the customer service rep. flowers for being so kind. Everyone should do their banking @ a credit union, it's the ONLY financial institution my husband and I use.

We need a law that allows us to recoup the value of our time spent straightening out these messes. If BoA doesn't resolve the matter quickly and we spend hours and hours on the phone, etc., we should be able to claim reimbursment of all fees AND minimum wage for time spent.

One problem I see with her situation is the level of automation she uses. Direct deposit, automatic bill paying... The more you automate a process, the less control you have over it. Direct check deposits are a very serious personal bugbear with me. Too many middlemen involved. When it comes to money coming into my hands, that golden piece of paper comes from boss's (actually bookkeeper's, but you get the idea) hand to mine, then I make the decision on deposit timing. To the best of my ability to control it, I do my darnedest to keep the few automated billing events, of which I have only two, as far off of payday as possible. I got in deep with my bills because of circumstances that had nothing to do with identity theft, and even though I had to piledrive my way through about 2500 dollars in overdraft fees over the course of half a year because of it (not all at once, obviously), I learned real quick that there are a lot of things in life better left to manual control.

Something I did with my phone and cable bills that might work here is to have a verbal password unrelated to other measures that can only be verified by giving that password, no excuses. They were actually VERY good about it.

Conversely, BOA called to question whether to process a $2400.00 charge on my BOA Visa as they suspected fraud. They were right and I was so grateful. They immediately blocked the account and issued me another number, which I received in two days.

I feel for her, but I don't see where she contacted the local police and filed a report. A police report with an affidavit goes a LONG way to aide in resolution and Bank cooperation. Also a personal visit with documentation to the local brach office would have strengthened her position with the abnk and getting her account settled. ALWAYS ask for a manager when you are dealing with ID Theft. They have decision making abilities and the training to deal with issues quickly and expediently. Customer service reps can only document calls. I have dealt with BofA for MANY years in many capacities and have never had them drop the ball on any major or minor issue.

I have closed all of my B of A accounts. I know one reason their customer service has dropped- they are too busy accepting credit card/bank account apps from the illegal immigrants to worry about the current customers. YOu wonder why this happens? Ask B of A why they do not require a SSN to open an account, but those of us that DO have SSNs get screwed when we need help from them....Now Ms Poors credit history is messed up, I guess we all should just go open an account and dont use our SSN (the way they offer the illegals)- that way when we have something happen to our account that could effect our credit- no one will ever know- I have attached a link to check out about B of A and their "american" ways...

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/006861.htm

Glad I'm not a Bank of America customer. I use Wachovia Bank and they are great. One time I had a problem and they fixed it SO fast and immediatly refunded the money I was amazed. Customer service is very important especially when dealing with money.

It doesn't surprise me in the least. And what makes my blood boil more is that as she is struggling to get her account fixed, Bank of America is GIVING credit cards to illegal aliens! No SSN#, No Driver's License NOTHING.. GIVING!

Idiots and bureaucrats must work at Bank of America. Some middle managers need to have their accounts tapped to see what it's like. Based on what I read here, I will never again bank with them if I have a choice.

One last thing: when you mail documentation such as an affadavit for something like this, you do it by registered mail to a person, and require a signature and return receipt, providing proof that you mailed it. You follow up with a phone call within two business days. There used to be something called service in this country; it seems to have become extinct.
Don't do direct deposit to your checking account, but instead, deposit your paycheck into a savings account and transfer only enough cash to cover necessary payments. NEVER NEVER NEVER do transactions at a sidewalk ATM -- there are all kinds of documentaries on news shows that show how easy it is to get your info. Unless you are a gazillionaire, when you go out to eat, take cash and pay for your meal in cash, or use your credit card. And walk away from the convenience of the debit card. Go into a bank branch and CASH A CHECK. I have my accounts with a good bank, but I still show up in person and cash checks.
While I do use the online bill payment service, I don't like the debit card, never have, and would like to see it dispensed with. A move toward a cashless society has done nothing but open up a can of worms for the poor soul who owns the checking acount.

We are going through a similar situation due to a truck payment being stolen from our rural mail box. Our check was "washed" and cashed for $800.00 at a Wal-Mart. We only found out when we received a notice that our payment was late. Fortunately our regional bank (Bank of Oklahoma) has been outstanding in making sure that we not only got our money back but also dealing with the collection agency that Wal-Mart told we had bounced an $800.00 dollar check on. Obviously no one at Wal-Mart checked I.D. which I find strange as I am asked to produce my drivers license for checks with much smaller amounts.

When the next big PIN breach hits, it will be Rachel times a thousand.

The sky won't be falling, but it may be raining affidavit's. The bank's need to stream line the system so consumers can function in a post breach world. Otherwise, there might be a run on cash.

Dan
Sherman Oaks, CA

How about a nice class-action lawsuit????

BTW, I got some nice investigation and service from
a major credit-card issuer after filling out a form
with my state attorney general's office, using the
words "predatory lending practices".

I was a BOA customer and because of there inability to
provide Costumer Service I changed banks. However, I still have credit cards from the BOA. I had a large speeding limit and with notification they lowered my speeding limits. Only after my husband called, did the bank send a letter. Our problem with this bank still continued. I would be close to my limit, but not over and after they added the interest rate it put me over my limit and they charged me an over the limit fee. No one from the bank could give us straight answer.I wanted to know why the bank lets you get up to your limit and do not notify you of the penalty. That does not seem right. If I have a sending limit they should decline purchases so the balance does not go over the limit. Bank Of America has lost my repect. I'm tired of the Banks making money off there customer. Who do you think pays for all those beautiful Bank Branches?

Bank America bottom line suck!!! they do nothing when you have problems.Every since they changed from Nations bank to Bank of America they have been actually about robbing people and sucking everything they can think of out from you.I think over drafts charges is almost like paying for a small loan what is they actually doing for $35.00 actually how many of those overdrafts was repeated from it coming in they send it back charge you $35.00 the company they send it back to sends it back to them again and charge you another $35.00 I think Bank of America and the stores where the checks was wrote should be held responsible and charge to pay also for stress damages.Bank of america should have froze the account but they were to busy collecting there $35.00 for doing nothing and the stores should have had better check policies.

This isn't the first time I've heard about Bank of America giving grief to someone who is already getting grief from an ID thief or a scam artist on Ebay. I would never have a checking acct with B of A, and I'm paying off their credit cards as well. They are not the fastest bank when their customers are having trouble like this.

Bank of America is horrible,they are making it easier for crooks to steal over and over,whats wrong with this picture? I agree with her,she was a victim 2xs,I will tell everyone I know about this craziness.

I can't even think why her account was not frozen by the bank at the first sign of a problem. I am glad I don't have BOA. But I do have Wells Fargo and so far no problem, but seeing them on the poor service list as well, I figure it is just a matter of time before trouble starts. Now I know why in the old days people would stuff their materess with money.

I had a similar situation with Wells Fargo. However, it was corrected within 24 hours after I reported the criminal activity to the bank.

another from banks, they all charge at least $10.00 TO CASH A GOVERMENT CHECK if you don.t have an account with them. most banks are FDIC and yet they charge ir force you to get an account.

As a victim of identity theft, I can totally understand her problem. I was a victim myself but for a total of $260,000. They did catch the person and I had to go to bankrupt. However, It took over 6 months to fix the problem and it is still on my credit! The banks would not prosecute the person because it was my WIFE! Ex-wife now!

Rachel should find a community bank. A place where they know that she is not Joe Larry Delacruz. She could call or go in and the would immediately lock the account, and open a new one, transferring all instant payments and bill pays to the new account. It is not hard to be a part of the solution. I support the banks and businesses in my community, because in Bank of America/ Wal-Mart world you are not important enough to them to even have a person answer the phone. I don't even want to think about the hours she spent on the phone with automated "services". Because her time was obviously not worth anything to B of A either.

It is inconceivable that BOA did literally nothing to stop the money-bleeding. This is very poor publicity for BOA. Ms Poor should have received help in stopping further use of her account. BOA fell down badly and I hope it shows up with customers taking their business elsewhere.

BoA should be ashamed of themselves. I recently had an issue similar to this and Chase had frozen my account within hours of my phone call, and had a newaccount up and running for me within 24 hrs.

It is inconceivable that BOA did literally nothing to stop the money-bleeding. This is very poor publicity for BOA. Ms Poor should have received help in stopping further use of her account. BOA fell down badly and I hope it shows up with customers taking their business elsewhere.

It is not just Bank of America, I have seen a similar experience at Wachovia.
Blame the account holder not the Bank.
I monitor all my accounts daily on a service provided by M.L.
Here is what I would do in this case:
1. Call the bank and dispute the check
2. Tell them to suspend the account.
3. Open a new account at a different bank and cease putting funds in the compromised account.
4. Switch any electronic payments to the new account and also reroute any electronic deposits.
5. Notify anyone with outstanding checks and make arrangements to replace the stopped check.
6. A police report is required somewhere in this process.
Where you are supposed to file that report is a question mark, the theft could be occuring anywhere in the world.

I would be closing the compromised account via attrition and if the bank doesn't like it they can sue me! Lack of funding is the quickest way to get them to comply.

What do you expect from Bank Of America? There is a reason I have heard people call it Fee of America. They seem to have an alarming trend of "servicing" their customers with high fees such as in this case. In the past I have encountered similar problems with that bank. When I complained to the bank about the problems, the limits of their customer service was to refund one of the service fees, but none of the subsequent ones all caused by the first one.
Needless to say I changed banks.

As many have eluded to, this boils down to profit and bottom line. Until financial institutions are held financially responsible for the accounts in their care you will not see any wholesale improvement. It simply would cost too much. The only way to get wholesale change is to get a message out to our politicians, both state and federal and tell them (through your emails, calls and vote) that you want change. Simple things like fingerprint ID, pictures on credit cards or a simple thing like having the cashier check an ID and signature, (when is the last time the clerk at your local store asked for your ID ?) would all eliminate the majority of this kind of theft. Unfortunately, until it is legislated or becomes more profitable for the retailers and financial institutions, it won't happen.

B of A made feel like a criminal when my debit card got stolen, even after I froze my account they continued charging me overdraft fees, on a closed account! Fina