After the Wells Fargo scandal a couple of years ago, a class action investigation is now looking into practices at other banks to see if the creation of a fake checking account was a more common practice that originally believed.

BOK Financial, the parent company of Bank of Oklahoma and other regional banks, is among the companies currently under investigation. Attorneys also are examining the banking practices of Bank of America, Capital One, HSBC, Royal Bank of Canada and TD Bank.

The creation of a fake checking account was virtually unheard of until Wells Fargo employees opened millions of fake accounts in the midst of their frenzied attempts to meet unrealistic sales goals.

After an investigation by federal regulators, Wells Fargo reached a $142 million settlement, paid several fines and promised to revamp the sales department to prevent fostering deceptive maneuvers such as opening a fake checking account.

Wells Fargo employees were accused of creating 3.5 million fake checking accounts and fake credit card accounts to boost their sales figures. Employees also allegedly signed up customers for services they never authorized, including online bill pay. Customers were unaware they had been victims of any of these unauthorized maneuvers until they were charged unexpected fees for overdrafts, insufficient funds or interest.

Fake Checking Account in Your Name?

If you have had a fake checking account created in your name, you could be eligible for compensation through legal means.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency investigated 40 U.S. banks earlier this year to see if widespread fraud was a problem. Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting indicated he discovered approximately 20,000 bank accounts with certain compliance irregularities among the millions of accounts he said he analyzed. He reported to congress that fewer than 10,000 were unauthorized accounts, such as a fake checking account.

Otting refused to identify the banks that received nearly 250 notices regarding compliance problems that needed amending.

“We’re asking banks to improve their policies, procedures and control around their account openings,” Otting reportedly testified to the House Financial Services Committee.

The Comptroller’s findings suggest that customers of many large and mid-size institutions BOK Financial might want to check their statements for possible indicators of a fake checking account or other improper activity. BOK Financial’s headquarters are in Tulsa, Okla., but they operate a variety of banks in eight states throughout the southwest, including:

• Arizona: Bank of Arizona
• Arkansas: Bank of Arkansas
• Colorado: Colorado State Bank and Trust
• Kansas/Missouri: Mobank
• New Mexico: Bank of Albuquerque
• Oklahoma: Bank of Oklahoma
• Texas: Bank of Texas

According to the website for BOK Financial, the company began as a small bank in Tulsa more than 100 years ago. Today, BOK Financial says it is one of the top 25 banks in the U.S. and boasts assets of more than $30 billion.

If you believe you a fake checking account was opened in your name without your authorization at BOK Financial or any other financial institution, you could be eligible to participate in this lawsuit investigation.