In 2016 and 2017, as the news broke about Wells Fargo employees opening unauthorized accounts, an investigation was launched to better determine the depth of this fake accounts scandal.

Early information shows that the fake accounts scandal could include many other financial institutions such as RBC Bank. Consumers who discovered sudden and unexpected charges on their main accounts clued them in to the additional open accounts, according to the investigation.

Although Wells Fargo was the primary bank involved in the fake accounts scandal, regulators launched the investigation to determine if other financial institutions were also involved. The fake accounts scandal could include numerous other banks engaged in similar practices, say the regulators reviewing the situation currently.

The fake accounts scandal prompted regulators to look into the actions of more than 40 midsize and large banks. Although the full results of that investigation have not been revealed, an early report shows that several banks may have pushed employees to meet sales quotas through the opening of unauthorized accounts.

The investigation has already revealed that the use of short-term promotions or sales quota programs could be happening in many places. The early reports also show that issues of employee misconduct and deficient procedures could be rampant across the banking industry.

The fake accounts scandal raises questions for those consumers who have had their name and personally identifying information used to open a bank account without permission. Some of these institutions had bonus programs in place for getting a certain number of customers to sign up for accounts during specified periods.

Some consumers harmed in the fake accounts scandal believe that these promotions enabled devious employees to open accounts in the customer’s name but without that person’s permission or request to do so.

While Wells Fargo already reached a settlement in the fake accounts scandal, it’s not yet known how many of the other banks under investigation like RBC Bank could have had similar programs or practices in place.

The deeper dive into the fake accounts scandal started in 2016, but regulators still have not released the full findings of that probe. Consumers also still do not know when the problems might have occurred or whether or not they could have had an account opened in their name.

The regulators in charge of that fake accounts scandal investigation said that some of the banks with these practices have already taken some corrective measures like refunding customers or closing accounts.

More than 250 alerts were sent by regulators to banks about the issues discovered during that investigation that required bank attention. The regulators also shared that they discovered five industry-wide issues that should prompt further action.

The fake accounts scandal not only violates consumer’s trust, but could even expose that person to a higher risk of identity theft due to the use of accounts opened without their permission and perhaps even kept open for a period of time.

An unauthorized bank accounts lawsuit investigation is now looking into banking sales practices at the following banks:

• Bank of America
• BOK Financial
• Capital One
• HSBC
• Royal Bank of Canada
• TD Bank

If you are a customer at one of the banks listed above and you were charged for fees from a bank account you did not open, you were issued a credit card you did not request, or you were enrolled in services you did not authorize, you may qualify to join this fake bank account class action lawsuit investigation.

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