After the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal of 2016, regulators are focusing on the business and sales practices of other banks throughout the country.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) looked at 40 other large banks to determine if the fake accounts scandal was a systemic problem. According to an article in American Banker, the OCC found other financial institutions employed tellers and other bank personnel who were opening new accounts without the approval of the customers’ consent.

Bank of America, TD Bank, Capital One, HSBC, Royal Bank of Canada and BOK Financial are among the banks under investigation by consumer advocates for potential employee misconduct related to the creation of new, unauthorized accounts.

Extreme Sales Targets Spurred Fake Accounts Scandal

When Wells Fargo employees were caught in the fake accounts scandal, the employees blamed unreasonable sales goals that made them feel they were under immense pressure to perform. Some employees said that management was aware the sales goals were unrealistic and actually encouraged employees to do what they had to do to meet those goals, even if it included deceptive behavior.

Wells Fargo agreed to a $142 million settlement in the fake accounts scandal and had to pay hefty fines after their employees created 3.5 million fake bank accounts and fake credit card accounts. The accounts were based upon the information of customers who already had real accounts with Wells Fargo, which allowed the employees to access all of the personal information necessary to create new accounts.

Because the customers already had Wells Fargo bank and credit card accounts, the fake accounts went unnoticed until customers saw unexpected fees on their statements.

If you are a customer of Bank of America or any other financial institution currently under investigation, you should look for the following signs that you may be a victim of a fake accounts scandal:

1. Overdraft Fees. In order to open a new fake account for a customer, a Wells Fargo employee would move money from the customer’s existing account to open the new fake bank account. Customers who counted on their full amount sitting in their real account faced overdraft fees when they counted on money being there that had been removed.
2. Bank Fees. Instead of opening a fake account for a customer, some Wells Fargo employees gained sales momentum by upgrading current customers to more expensive accounts. One woman said she saw a $29.95 charge on her account, but she didn’t know how she had incurred such a fee. Upon further investigation, she discovered a Wells Fargo employee had upgraded her account to one that required a consistent $5,000 balance. When her balance went below that amount, she incurred the fee. She said she was never asked to upgrade her account and never authorized such a drastic change.
3. Interest Charges or Annual Fees. If an unauthorized credit card was created in your name, you could incur interest charges or annual fees to maintain that credit card account.
4. Credit Report Changes. Any attempt to open a credit card account in your name will appear on your credit report.

Customers of Bank of America and other financial institutions can also obtain a free annual copy of their credit report once per year from each of the three major credit bureaus.

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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