Monday, October 8, 2012

Bank of America's $888,888.88 Surprise

If you have a Bank of America checking account, you could find yourself nearly a million dollars in debt as a result of depositing a check that bounces.

I've been a Bank of America customer since 1998 and have never had a problem with my checking account until last week when I noticed an $888,888.88 withdrawal appear. As a software developer, my first thought was some sort of system error so I searched the internet to see how many other people had experienced similar glitches, but I seemed to be the only one. Then I started to worry that it was fraud so I contacted customer support. They transferred me to Sheldon Walker in the Global Fraud Prevention department where I was informed that they had applied this charge to prevent me from using my account. Their justification was that a check from my renter had bounced leaving insufficient funds, so to ensure that the bounced check was re-payed they deducted nearly a million dollars from my checking account. Sheldon gave me his direct number (626-397-6029) and told me he would have to be contacted to remove the hold once my account had sufficient funds to cover the bounced check.

I knew my client's next invoice was being processed Thursday night so I waited until the funds were deposited and called Sheldon first thing Friday morning. I left a voice mail message that the funds had been added and I needed the fake charge removed. With the weekend fast approaching I called back every hour leaving a new message, but Sheldon never returned my call. 

I've never heard of a bank purposefully creating fake withdrawals of arbitrary amounts and can't fathom why they didn't place a hold for the amount of the bounced check. It all seems quite unprofessional and makes me think I need to find a bank that will take better care of their account holders.

Apparently I'm not alone. Here are others who have gone through the same nightmare including a TV news story:


UPDATE 10/09/2012:
I received an email notification this morning that my Savings account balance had dropped to $0. When I logged into online banking I found that Bank of America had drained my savings account as "OVERDRAFT TRANSFER HOLD". I tried one last time to reach Sheldon Walker, the employee to whom I first spoke with regarding the hold, but my call went to voicemail so I decided to try another route.

I then called BoA Risk Management (877-240-6886 option 2) and was transferred to someone who was able to remove the -$888,888.88 entry. They were very apologetic and, after a few minutes on hold, informed me that they had removed the extra fees that had been added as a result of the hold. I can verify that my account now shows no trace of the $888k entry and I'm back to black. The savings transfer hold and overdraft fees still show up, but I'll give those a while to clear before calling back.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
I'm happy to have my account back, however this whole experience has shaken any faith I had in Bank of America as a safe place for my money. Because one deposited check bounced, I lost access to my account for nearly a week and watched my savings siphoned off into a black hole of fake transactions. If not for my own persistence, this would have surely gone on much longer as nobody from Bank of America ever initiated contact with me. I had to investigate the cause for the mysterious charge and hunt down someone who could rectify the situation. There's no excuse for a bank hanging a customer out to dry like that with no indication of the cause or what needs to be done.

Time after time, Bank of America makes it clear that the customer is NOT their priority so I'll be moving my personal checking, savings, and business accounts as soon as I can decide on a new home for my money.

18 comments:

  1. I agree. I dont think withdrawing a million dollars from the account is a way to block the account. This definitely needs to be fixed. No bank I know has ever told they would do this to block the account.

    I am a software engineer. I know there are several ways in which this can be addressed. I think we should inform the banks about this irritating issue May be we all can start a case in change.org and get the banks change this system

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  2. Bofa has put that 888,888 charge on my account also but they took what ever was in my account off that 888,888 so its 877,447 lol Its been since 12/14/15 that my account has been frozen . I have wrote to the CEO of Bofa .2 letters to Bofa resolution dept. The answer they gave me is someone put a claim ony account. I have also filed complaints with BBB , Calif state banking dept , Calif dept of business oversight , and filed a police report. I'm hoping one of these will work.

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    1. You don't have a resolution yet? My bf had this happen to him almost 2 months ago and nothing yet. we are trying to find an answer as to how to get this corrected immediately!

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    2. Do any of you guys have any resolutions yet? I am struggling with the same issue. Account closed on Dec 28 2015 and not able to get to proper authority to get any explanation or the money.

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  3. If you are seeing an 888 hold placed on your account and you do not know why. You will need to call the customer service line. They will see who placed hold a d transfer you to the correct department. The 888 hold is a standard hold from BOA to ensure all direct debits are rejected but deposits are still available. They are usually placed because of check fraud or ACH fraud to the account and you need to go to a BOA branch and have your funds transfered and open a new account

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  4. Just went through this same -8888 scam with bank of America.its horrible.In the end after ruining my credit and bouncing all sorts of auto payments etc theyve charged over 700dollars in fees and wont refund any of it.they have also blocked my online access so I have no clue as to what they are charging etc. all they claim is they will send me a cashiers check for whatever is left when they are done. It's a shame.yet there wasn't any fraud.im shocked that this is legal.

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    Replies
    1. What can we do? Did you get your money back yet? Can you y still bank with them?

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  5. Had the same thing happen to me, but I was kidnapped a few days beforehand and they used it to make sure that the authorities could do whatever it took to keep me protected. I'm a male btw :(

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  6. This happened to me yesterday because I was selling my bitcoins online and receiving direct deposits. I got 7 deposits of 200 each and on the next deposit they placed the hold and blocked online access. I called them and they said that someone had reported that they did not make the deposit but they couldn't tell me which transaction was fraudulent. They said they have to do an investigation and will give me a cashiers check with the money they is mines but will close my accounts and return the money that's fraudulent. I think they are full of shit and just raise flags since they see money coming into my account from people I don't know personally. I hope this gets resolved soon as I am traveling and they have put me in a predicament affecting my ability to make income and sustain my wellbeing as all money was in those accounts. I contacted the people that made the deposits and they assured me that none of them called bank of america. I think my account got hacked and the bank is covering for the hackers because they are at their mercy.

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  7. My mother just had this happen to her as well. $888,888 and they took the little over $600 that she had in her account and will not tell her whether or not she is getting it back. They closed her account and made her feel like she was the one in the wrong instead of a victim in THEIR fraudulent game. This is unacceptable and unprofessional. This needs to be made public and BofA needs to be held accountable for their actions and their lack of customer care. I have BofA but I am now going to switch to a different bank, for fear that they may try this idiocy with me.

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  8. This just happened to me on Friday, 9 /22/17. My account was fine when I looked at it late morning. Then late afternoon I received an email that the passcode on my account was closed and to call because of suspect fraud activity. I called and was told the account was closed and I needed to call the 877-240-6886 number. I tried several times with no luck, was on hold for ever with no one picking up. I went to the local police station because the bank had mentioned fraud/identity theft. They wanted a copy of my account records so they could see where the fraud transactions were coming from. Saturday morning I went to a Bank of America branch near me and spoke to the branch manager. He was able to print up a statement which no fraud activity at all - just the $888.888.88 charge from the bank. He said my account was closed and i needed to call the 877 number. I went back home and called again. I was finally able to get a live person to talk to and was told my account was closed. Reason : BOA no longer wanted to have my business. I would need to take my business to another financial institution. When I asked about the funds still in my account I was told I would be getting a check in 7-10 days. That was not acceptable and I told her so. She then said she would put a note on my account asking to have it re-opened so the funds could be withdrawn but I would have to wait until Wed or Thursday this week before that would happen. And if they did not re-open the account I would be sent a check. Two of my daughters went to bat for me. We drafted a letter that has been sent to several federal, state and local agencies including the FTC, BBB, Attorney General, OCOC, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, BOA President for Retail Banking & Consumer Relations. I was able to get my money out today after receiving a phone call from BOA Executive Dept yesterday. But we are not backing down from this. We plan on making our voices heard by who ever will listen about this unethical BOA policy.

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    Replies
    1. I would like to work with you in filing a class action lawsuit. This just happened to me too.

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  9. Wow, just happened to me verbatim! Right down to them saying they don't want my business and they don't have to provide a reason (according to their terms) fine, after almost 20 years with this BS bank, my $ can go elsewhere. But no resolution for 888,753 overdraw. Anyone considering BOA RUN FROM THIS BANK!!!!

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  10. They have been holding almost $20,000 of my money since May, they refuse to return my calls the person who was handling my case was fired & it has been in limbo since until last Thursday,when I was made to believe it would be released the following Tuesday, never happened. I call yesterday, with,$2.31 in my savings account to try & speak to someone who will get this finally fixed, & they give me some number to call, I'm terminally ill mind you, so I called & left a voicemail, urging a response & nothing, EXCEPT, an $888,888.88 overdraft, NO EXPLANATION! They've held my money for 6 months now, I've lost my home, my fiance has lost his job, we're living in our truck, in winter! All because of some bogus completely false allegations, where no fraud, or crime was involved. I haven't received a single piece of mail regarding this at all, No one will answer my questions, or return my calls, and I'm not getting any better! This bank is the criminal, they're the frauds. CLASS ACTION?

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  11. Has anyone filed a class action lawsuit on this matter yet? No, I will not be treated like this & let BOA place a debit of over $888,000 on my account either! This is a nightmare. Let's get on this & fight!

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  12. hello
    my name is jayme its 31st january 2018 i woke up TO THE SAME PROBLEM. i have no idea on what to do, and whom to call.. could you please let me know how you solved this

    thanks

    jayme

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