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California residents who were unable to access their unemployment benefits after Bank of America froze their state-issued debit cards have filed a class action lawsuit accusing the bank of lax security measures.
Lead plaintiffs, Julie Hicks, Kuang Ting Chong, and Stephanie Moore, want to represent other Californians who were left high and dry during the coronavirus pandemic after Bank of America froze unemployment debit cards to combat fraud. In their class action lawsuit filed Tuesday, they say “systematic failures” in Bank of America’s security led to the breaches and the bank’s actions punished the unemployed by denying them access to desperately needed funds.
Hicks, Chong, and Moore say they are three of the hundreds of thousands of Californians who received a Bank of America debit card to access unemployment benefits — their only source of income in the face of a global pandemic that resulted in massive layoffs. Each of the plaintiffs say they were blindsided when Bank of America unexpectedly froze their accounts in response to an uptick in fraud, facing declined transactions when purchasing tires, food for their children, and other necessities.
They say the debit cards issued by Bank of America to them and others entitled to unemployment benefits were subpar when it came to securing their unemployment benefits.
The Bank of America unemployment debit cards issued prior to 2021 did not come with several key security features, including an “EMV” chip, say the plaintiffs.
“EMV chips are small, metallic squares that create unique transaction data each time the chip is used to make a purchase,” explains the class action lawsuit. “Debit cards without chips are extremely easy for thieves to duplicate. All a thief needs to create a duplicate card is data from a single debit card purchase.”
The plaintiffs say that EMV chips have become standard in recent years to protect consumers from identity theft; however, despite being readily available and inexpensive, Bank of America issued unemployment debit cards without this technology.
As a result, Bank of America unemployment debit cards were targeted and hacked on a large scale by identity thieves in 2020, say the plaintiffs.
“These individuals used clone cards, likely created from information obtained on the dark web, to initiate fraudulent ATM withdrawals throughout California,” alleges the class action lawsuit.
Bank of America responded to the uptick in fraudulent activity in October — by freezing the accounts of nearly 350,000 unemployed Californians, allege the plaintiffs.
In addition to being unable to access unemployment benefits, Bank of America also reversed fraud credits to create negative charges for recipients, leaving them unable to access funds already in the accounts, claims the class action lawsuit.
The plaintiffs want to represent Californians who had their Bank of America unemployment debit card cloned by identity thieves, as well as those who were unable to access their benefits as a result of the bank’s sweeping decision to freeze or reverse credits on their accounts.
They are seeking damages on behalf of Class Members along with a court order prohibiting Bank of America from denying unemployment benefit recipients access to their accounts.
Bank of America was hit with a series of class action lawsuits filed by California unemployment benefit recipients and ordered to provide immediate relief earlier this year. Ten class action lawsuits claiming Bank of America improperly handled unemployment benefits during the pandemic, resulting in frozen accounts and fraud, were consolidated into federal court in the Southern District of California in June.
Was your Bank of America unemployment debit card frozen? We want to hear from you! Tell us about your experience in the comment section below.
The plaintiffs are represented by Benjamin Gubernick of Gubernick Law, PLLC, and by David N. Lake, of Law Offices of David N. Lake, A Professional Corporation.
The Bank of America Unemployment Debit Card Class Action Lawsuit is Hicks et al. v. Bank of America, N.A., Case No. 5:21-cv-05544, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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42 thoughts onBank of America Froze 350K Unemployment Debit Cards, Alleges New Class Action Lawsuit
I also had my edd account hacked. The perpetrator was nice enough to leave me $5.00 in my account not that I could even get it since my account was frozen. I made daily phone calls to the fraud department of BofA for 3 weeks before I could be reimbursed for the money. As of today my information including my Social security number is on the dark web. aI filed my 2021 Taxes only to find out my number was already used on a tax return for 2021. I’m so tired of trying to prove my identity.
BofA froze my account in June 2020. Edd continued to pay my benefits thru Aug 2020. In Dec 2021 Edd finally verified my identity and paid benefits via check form aug2020 to Sept 2021. They can’t reissue payments paid to a card they froze. I am out over ten grand and it sure reflected paid on my 1099. Can you help me
THERE WAS FRAUD THAT HAPPENED ON MY ACCOUNT OF 2021 AND UNEMPLOYMENT SC DEW OF BOA LET THE FRAUD GO UP TO 70,000 IM STILL DISPUTING THE CLAIMS TO FINALLY REAP JUSTICE AND ITS GOING ON 2 WHOLE YEARS STILL NO PROVISIONAL CREDIT THEY KEEP SAYING IM CUSTOMER LIABLE
I need help getting my money from B of A! They are refusing to give me access to my $6,000+ of EDD money because of “suspected fraudulent activity” of which came as a complete surprise to me. They still have never credited me provisionally while they are investigating this even. It is going on 2 years now and the bank won’t tell me anything. If I can please get help from an attorney that would be great. How can Bank of America treat they’re customers, or people in general in this dispicable manner? This isn’t right and there are thousands of others just like me in this same exact situation. The bank is now the victimizer! Someone please help me and every other victim of B of A get what’s rightfully there’s, at least. Really they should have to pay for all of the hardship THEY have created and WILL NOT fix as well!
THEY TRANSFERD 3000.00 FROM EDD TO ANOTHER ACCOUNT THEY SAY THAT THEY CAN NOT TELL ME WHAT ACCOUNT .THEN THEY FROZE MY EDD CARD
My BOFA Account was frozen and still is as of septet August 25th 2022 I have been successfully verified with the employment development department of California they stated to me that they sent out two letters to Bank of America for them to unfreeze and give me access to my benefits Bank of America is telling me to call EDD I’m getting the runaround and I’ve been verified for over two months I don’t know what to do I’m left without my phones and my account isn’t even open anymore it’s from 2020 all they’re doing is releasing the funds that are owed to me I’ve been dealing with this problem for over a year and still no straightforward answer just left with unexplained answers and given the runaround from each EDD and Bank of America Maybe someone can help me on how I can get my account on frozen because Niether edd or BofA is helping me after I have been successfully verified
I live i the state of Kentucky and my Bank of America debit card was frozen. Since it was frozen I did an emergency western union for 999$. It was taken out of my account but I never received it. It has been 2 years and I still have about 2000$ in my account that I can not touch. I still do not have access to it. It affected me so bad. My car was repoed and became homeless. I need help
please add me
BofA froze my account after I reported atm withdrawals up and down the east coast and locally that emptied my acct. I spent an hour with them citing all the transactions that were not mine they seemed eager to help. 2 days late recd 2 ltrs stating that after their investigation they found nothing wrong and froze my acct. It took note than a year to finally get only my unemployment wages, never received anything from BofA. I had to move to a homeless shelter and lost my car as a result. They accused me of fraudulent claims!!! I believe to avoid having to reimburse me. FRAUDSTERS THEY ARE.
My account was froze and I couldn’t get access to my funds yet the money kept going lower end lower. I called bank of America and they would not help me saying they didnt have authorization or access to my funds, to call employment. Thousands of dollars went missing and no one could help me.
My account had $660.00 stolen from me and so I reported it right away to bofa. They investigated it and found I was not at fault. And gave me my money back . Then about a week later they took money back and froze my account leaving my account in the minus. I couldn’t pay my rent and was evicted and now live in a friend’s garage. Bofa gave me back the money and unfreeze my account but what it caused was unforgivable and can’t be undone
I had $800 stolen from my California Bank of America EDD debit card (the old style debit card) I immediately notified BofA and after 12 days of phone calls to BofA they told me that myEDD account was frozen now and to contact EDD. I have to do an Identification process to unfreeze my EDD account with took almost another 2 1/2 weeks. Then I contacted BofA to notify them my EDD was finally unfrozen and BofA told me they had to wait to hear it from EDD that my account was unfrozen so BofA could unfreeze my account. Btw after my very first call into BofA they shut off my debit card due to suspected fraud and I was never able to access my funds that were still remaining in my BofA account this entire process mind you. So roughly 1 1/2 months in to this ordeal EDD finally mailed me a physical check for the first 2 weeks my electronic would post to my BofA account. Almost 2 months of my funds on hold at BofA I had received my paper check for only 2 weeks with of benifits. At 2 months and 3 weeks since my very first call into BofA over the stolen money my account was verified and I had received a new debit card I was able to access my original funds that was held hostage from me. Now my account was open they said they were able to start their investigation on my stolen money claim. It took a little over 4 months and 1 week for BofA to come to the conclusion I was NOT at fault and they finally refunded me the $800. I never wish to speak or bank with BofA ever again!!!!