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UPDATE:
- Bank of America has been ordered by a federal judge to provide preliminary relief to Class Members whose accounts were frozen after fraudulent charges were made.
Jennifer Yick relies on unemployment insurance to survive the COVID-19 economic downturn. Unfortunately, Yick, a former real estate agent and property manager from San Francisco, had her last $400 stolen from her account because of unauthorized transactions.
Yick claims Bank of America, the financial institution in charge of administering the unemployment benefits where she lives, doesn’t do enough to properly protect fund recipients like her from potential fraud.
Yick filed a class action suit Friday against Bank of America in San Francisco federal court accusing the bank of being unwilling or unable to stop criminals from breaching its systems and stealing millions of dollars of Employment Development Department (EDD) benefits. Yick aims to represent a class of unemployment benefit recipients who have also found themselves in similar situations as victims of fraud.
Yick’s story may sound familiar to many Americans. Every day there is a new story of an EDD recipient who has gone to use their Bank of America EDD debit card, only to discover that the money in their account was suddenly gone, according to the complaint.
“It’s kind of like a nightmare. . . . Every day I’m wondering what’s more important. Do I get on the phone with the bank and try again so I have a place to sleep tomorrow, or do I just accept that I’m going to be on the street and focus on my job search? Because you can’t do both,” said one EDD cardholder and fraud victim, according to the complaint.
Bank of America has a “zero liability” policy stated in its own EDD cardholder agreement, to deal with potential fraud. However, Bank of America has failed to offer any assistance to the numerous defrauded EDD cardholders, instead opting to deal with the situation in a range of harmful ways including not answering the customer service phone lines for EDD debit cardholders, opening claims and closing them before a full review could be completed, crediting funds and debiting without any notice to the cardholder, not abiding by the legal requirements to provide provisional credit to EDD cardholders, and freezing EDD cardholder’s accounts unaffected by fraud.
The suit alleges that Bank of America violated California’s consumer privacy and unfair competition laws and the federal Electronic Funds Transfer Act, and also accuses the bank of negligent performance of contract, negligent failure to warn, breach of contract, breach of implied contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and breach of contract concerning third-party beneficiaries.
Customer service representatives at Bank of America have voiced their frustrations at being unable to offer real support to affected customers.
“We’re actually no longer allowed to tell them [defrauded EDD cardholders] a timeframe, because we have no clue . . . . Every day, I talk to 30 people with the same story. I just pray for them after my shift, honestly.”
A Bank of America spokesperson told Law360, “As California’s unemployment program faces billions of dollars in fraud, Bank of America is working every day with the state to prevent criminals from getting money and ensuring legitimate recipients receive their benefits.”
On May 19, U.S. District Court Judge Vincent Chhabria hit Bank of America with an injunction in the class action lawsuit. The order requires Bank of America to provide some urgently needed relief to Class Members who were frozen out of their accounts after the bank failed to protect them from fraud.
In the order, the judge cited a “strong likelihood of success” concerning the plaintiffs’ claims and extended certification of the Class to all benefits cardholders who contacted Bank of America to report fraud.
“The harm being suffered by class members is irreparable,” stated the order, which also noted that Class Members are in dire need of assistance after their unemployment benefits were stolen and then locked in frozen Bank of America accounts.
“Continued denial of these benefits will seriously hinder the ability of many class members to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads,” wrote Judge Chhabria in his order.
Details of the relief that will be provided to Class Members under the order will be hashed out in the following week, according to court documents.
Over the years Bank of America has faced a range of class action lawsuits. In Oct. 2020, a class action lawsuit was filed against the bank for ATM bank fees that consumers weren’t informed about.
Have you been a victim of fraud, or had unemployment benefits stolen from your account? Share your experiences in the comment section below.
The Unemployment Insurance Recipients Class Action Lawsuit is Yick v. Bank of America, N.A., case number 3:21-cv-00376, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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202 thoughts onBank of America Sued for Failing to Protect Unemployment Insurance Recipients
Also in nevada boa was shutting off ui cards claiming fraud and withholding benefits for 3 to 4 months. I was on phone with hold music playing over 9 hrs everyday only to be hung up on at least 4 times per day. After all that they had to western union me what was in the accountfor a 30.00 + fee. Since not getting any money in 4 months i was evicted and had car towed and lost.
BofA had froze my account I will like to know if I can join the class action lawsuit
I have an unauthorized use claim with BofA from 2020 now in 2023 claim is still pending and I can not access due to freeze on acct
I had a private account with B of A that is still!, in HOLD HARMLESS SINCE September 14,21 and was informed that’ I was going to receive a cashier check for My des ui account was frozen and no longer can have the other account. still waiting for my missing stolen funds…619 213 0711 Melissa in San diego please let me know who can aid in this situation
Yes my name is John Brendle I had unemployment funds stolen twice And nothing was done about it except everytime I went to use the card was frozen had to speak with fraud specialist to unlock the card up to a hour every time there was a transaction and the stolen money never put back on my account this went on until funds where all out of the card and I had a card that had no security chip in it for a year it was open to fraud charges happened twice for thousand of dollars where can I sign up to seu bank of America
Bank of america are thieves. My edd benefits were stolen out of my account and they will nor refund me my money. They have Kept my claims pending for 2 and a half years.
They first denied my claim the day after I opened it. Meaning they used a fraud filter. Then blamed edd and edd denied closing my account and made them reopen it. Then sent me a card with a chip I couldn’t activate because they froze until I went in person to a branch and verify myself. It was for nothing all I got was 217 they western unioned me that was left out my entire edd benefits. I filed a police report and they won’t go give me provisional credit or reimburse me for my stolen money
How did u get ur money I’m going through the same thing now it’s going on two years and they keep telling me there’s no time frame it’s so frustrating I don’t know what to do Im losing hope
I had unauthorized transactions from 2 years ago and is now 2023 I called BOA to check on my claim and was told that the money that was frozen has been credited to my card . Since it was a really long time I don’t have the card anymore I call them to replace my card and they never shipped out a new one they credited the money I have been waiting for almost 2 years to get my money back and once again they fail to protect my personal and financial security. I don’t know what else to do I had no access to my online account and now that I have access I notice a lot more unauthorized transactions and the money that was credited was once again stolen because I never received a new card. They had a different email and contact information on file and I feel like they don’t take me seriously . Second time I explained to them the fraud situation and they send me a letter denying my claim because they believe this transactions were authorized by me. When I explain that I had lost my card and they would send me a new one which I never received until I call to find out the claim status and found out they had already credited and someone else use this funds I was waiting for a new card and for my claim to be approved and when it finally did they put the money on a card I had told them that I no longer had now I got a new card with $3 .00 balance what I’m I supposed to do with this OMG they fail to provide me with new card and to credit my approved claim into a new card they also fail to protect my privacy.
I was robbed at gunpoint for my edd card. I the man went to the ATM in the hard rock casino and withdrew 19500 dollars of my benefits. I filed fraud and bank of America sent my new edd card with the stolen funds to a old address that I no longer lived at. The man that resided at that address tried to activate my card and they took the 19500 back and froze it. Now they tell me I have to file another fraud claim and I have and they didn’t return the money vi know who took money out of the ATM at the hard rock casino in wheat land. And it’s clearly not me he’s a lot smaller and different skin color. Yet they don’t want to refund my money. I need help I’m homeless in Sutter county trying to get Labor work. Therea no shelter my family is in Massachusetts I’m stuck out here now.
My OHIO PUA UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS were stolen from me by a former friend. He got every cent, even had the Bank of America Relia Card sent to his house and was receiving my weekly benefits.
When I found out by applying and being told that I was already being paid that my benefits were being stolen…I did everything by the book. I found out who it was, filed a police report, and pressed charges.
Believe it or not customer service told me that they could not give me access to my own online account! Because I couldn’t verify my identity right then and there. Hysterical right? But somehow you let somebody who wasn’t even me and who was a man not a woman at that apply for get approved and received my benefits without verifying anything! I’ve been going back and forth with them for 2 years now and I have not received one cent of my benefits. I don’t know what else to do. Like I said I found out who it was found a police report, pressed charges, wrote a fraud statement letter, sent in pictures of my driver’s license, pictures of myself holding my driver’s license under my chin, pictures of my Social Security card, pictures of my medicare card, my food stamp card,. And believe this or not, they also told me that they were not going to stop releasing my benefits! Yes that’s right! They continue to pay the thief after being told about it! Someone please help!
My account still frozen to this day 2023 and I lost 14,900 one day out of the blue after they made me go clear to the city 5 hours away from my home to verify my identity with two forms of ID I ended up doing it every single day I was in the city until finally they somehow managed to diminish my funds completely and I became a homeless in the city eating out of garbage cans hours from my home took me 3 months to get home and I had to steal a water truck to get back on Christmas Eve I’ve had the worst time with Bank of America I’m barely getting back on my feet and I’m still locked out of my account and it’s January 2023
I’d like to know how to join this class action against BANK OF AMERICA. They refunded part of the fraudulent charges but would not reimburse the charges that were older than 45 days
I was locked out of my card multiple times and and my account was drained of about $14,000 I’ve been fighting this case for 2 years and one year of that I was fighting someone elses claim because mine was mixed in with another person’s claim they put all my info in another person’s case