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Bank of America (BoA) owes customers thousands of dollars after bungling its delivery and management of unemployment insurance benefits during the pandemic, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
The latest class action lawsuit, filed in California on April 20, is one of at least three class action lawsuits the bank is facing over its management of California state unemployment insurance payments.
Lead Plaintiffs Jonathan Smith and Alex Yuan allege that the bank knowingly sent out insecure debit cards that use outdated strip technology that can easily be hacked, did not manage subsequent hacks well, and caused customers to lose thousands of dollars – on top of causing stress and anxiety at the height of the pandemic.
Smith, a Los Angeles resident, says that the first time he tried to use his BoA issued card at one of the bank’s ATMs his card displayed a negative balance, despite him having collected unemployment insurance without spending any of it.
He quickly realized his account had been hacked and drained of $900, the class action lawsuit claims. When he notified the bank, he was given a $900 credit and an investigation concluded he had been hacked. However, a month later the bank reversed the credit without notifying Smith and froze his account, according to the claim.
When Smith tried to follow up with the bank, he was subjected to long wait times and dropped calls, the class action states.
On the rare occasion Smith managed to get into contact with a customer service representative, they behaved discourteously toward him and accused him of lying about his circumstances, according to the class action lawsuit.
“During that period, Smith suffered severe stress and anxiety wondering how he would be able to pay for basic necessities, including, but not limited to, rent, groceries, and therapy. Smith was ultimately forced to borrow money from friends and family to cover said costs.”
Yuan, a San Jose local, had a similar experience, according to the class action, having his BoA issued card hacked twice – to a total loss of $1,800, the class action lawsuit states. When Yuan contacted Bank of America, his account was credited $1,800, however, much like Smith, the credit was reversed. While Yuan was dealing with the situation, he was hacked again bringing the fraudulent withdrawals to $2,700.
Despite numerous attempts to contact the bank to retrieve the benefits owed to him, Yuan remains out of pocket several thousands of dollars, the class action states.
According to the class action lawsuit, thousands of dollars of unemployment insurance benefits have been stolen from people left unemployed during the pandemic through unauthorized transactions – including ATM withdrawals and unauthorized purchases on food delivery apps.
At the heart of the class action lawsuit is BoA’s alleged knowing use of old and easily hackable debit cards. The bank’s decision not to issue unemployment benefit cards with chips technology was “catastrophic” and led to widespread hacks that caused the bank to freeze the accounts of approximately 350,000 unemployment California residents, the class action lawsuits claims.
“With these actions, Bank of America has effectively deprived EDD cardholders of unemployment insurance benefits to which they are lawfully entitled and on which they heavily rely. Notably, many EDD cardholders remain unable to access their unemployment insurance benefits to date – months after Bank of America first froze their accounts.”
Smith and Yuan want to represent a Class of people through three subclasses: the Declaratory and Injunctive Relief subclass, the Access Denial subclass, and the Regulation-E subclass. They are suing for negligence, breach of contract, and violation of California’s privacy and business laws.
They are seeking certification of the Class, restitution, injunctive relief, damages, legal costs, and a jury trial.
Did you receive a Bank of America debit card to collect your unemployment insurance benefits? Let us know in the comments section!
Smith and Yuan are represented by Daniel L. Warshaw, Bobby Pouya, and Sophie R. Sedaghat of Pearson, Simon & Warshaw, LLP, and Raymond P. Boucher of Boucher LLP.
The Bank of America Debit Card Hack Class Action Lawsuit is Smith, et al. v. Bank Of America, N.A., et al., Case No. 2:21-cv-03385, in the U.S. District Court Central District of California.
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72 thoughts onBank of America Bungles Handling of Unemployment Benefits, Class Action Alleges
Ive had some issues with the relia card and had my card froze.
I need to join
Yess I’ve been denied all my money that was stolen out of my account . On top they then freeze my account and deny me access to my own money. This happened in December
some one was stealing my unemployment money from the start from feb till November someone was getting my money then when I went to get my unemployment money they said I had been getting money but stopped so someone used my name and socal and a adress I never knew so I reported fraude to the edd and the ftc but now its 3 months later and im still getting no money and now im homeless cause they never even checked to see if the person there giving money to was me and bank off America won’t help me do anything to get my money back
My account was hacked for almost $1800. I called to report it to BofA on Saturday. They canceled my card and issued me another one. But they told me that I couldn’t report to the fraud dept until Tuesday because it was a Holiday on Monday and they are closed on Sunday. So Tuesday I called and reported the fraudulent activity on my account. The next day I received a letter from them saying they have blocked my account for suspicious fraudulent activity and closed my claim. I immediately called them and gave them my police report number for this issue, and they reppend my account and claim but they can’t tell me when I will be reimbursed for this fraud. They said it could take up to 90 days for them to even come to a decision on whether I get my money back or not. So I am left with no end in sight and no money to live. I really don’t knkw what to do now.
Bank of America froze my account along with $8k+ of unemployment benefits around New years and said it was due to suspected fraud along with the thousands of others. I sent in whatever verification EDD advised me and my BofA account is still frozen. Luckily I was able to survive with my family of 3 with the help of my parents and sister.
How can I join this Lawsuit?
I have not been paid for 5 consecutive weeks with the state agents claiming that a special program is investigating my unemployment claim. They are 5 consecutive weeks behind including another 4 that I have not been paid. All of my paper work is up to date and the agents see nothing to hinder payment but there is a special program investigation that I am not allowed any information on considering it is involving me and my access to benefits. I informed them that my system informed me that their portal was unsafe. Weeks later my direct deposit was changed to debit card, I have always been direct deposit. I am getting the run around with the state in regard to getting any type of answers.
How do I join this class action I was ripped off $17,000. Had to pay taxes for . Oney I never received.
I would love to know how to become
a Part of this class action lawsuit. I commented on the other post about the Mosson lawsuit, I had $5000 fraudulently withdrawn from my account and have had nothing done about it in the process. It’s now been over two months.
Yes my card was frozen twice and I didn’t know why, they don’t explain their reasonings, just end up calling bofa and edd back and forth, and they keep saying I had suspicious activity so they froze it, well what was this suspicious activity besides my account saying I’ve been paid, but nothing added to my card?