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UPDATE:
- On April 6, 2021, another class action lawsuit was lodged against Bank of America in California federal court claiming a consumer could not access her unemployment benefits through the bank. Bank of America has since responded, noting that it has added customer service agents to answer phone calls and investigate claims in a statement to reporters.
Bank of America’s handling of unemployment benefits is being challenged by a growing list of plaintiffs in at least two class action lawsuits.
A new filing out of California claims the bank isn’t protecting the unemployment benefit accounts it is in charge of and is failing to make it right for the thousands who’ve been frozen out of their money.
Christoper Mosson is the plaintiff in the latest class action lawsuit filed against Bank of America. He’s arguing negligence and breaches of contract, among other things, after his Bank of America unemployment account was hacked and drained of all its money last year.
The Oakland resident noticed unauthorized charges on his account in December and called Bank of America’s customer service to report the fraudulent charges, according to the complaint.
Bank of America froze the account, leaving Mosson unable to access the remaining funds— eventually returning the entire balance back to California’s unemployment department.
Mosson says Bank of America handouts debit cards to unemployment claimants that don’t have a chip, leaving them exposed to skimming and other methods hackers use to steal private financial data.
This breaches Bank of America’s policy which promises to provide products that are safe to use, Mosson alleges in the complaint.
Furthermore, Mosson points to Bank of America failing to uphold its liability guarantee by leaving him without any money during the ordeal.
Mosson argues he isn’t the only person having to deal with the issue. He quotes Bank of America customer service representatives in the class action lawsuit, who admit to hearing about the issue regularly.
“We’re actually no longer allowed to tell them a timeframe, because we have no clue,” the representative said referring to refunds of stolen money, the complaint contends. “Every day, I talk to 30 people with the same story. I just pray for them after my shift, honestly.”
Mosson further alleges this lack of communication in the complaint. He says many Bank of America unemployment account holders were never notified of the fraud.
Rampant fraud led Bank of America to freeze approximately 350,000 unemployment accounts beginning in October, according to this new class action lawsuit.
The issue was the topic of the state lawmakers in a hearing held Tuesday, ABC 7 News reports.
Mosson is seeking to form a class of members who’ve had or currently have a Bank of America unemployment benefits account.
Formally, the class action lawsuit accuses Bank of America of negligence and breach of contract, in addition to violating the Electric Funds Transfer Act and California’s Consumer Privacy Act.
Just last week, a separate class action lawsuit with similar claims was filed against Bank of America. The named plaintiff in that case reports $400 was stolen from her unemployment benefit account.
Another consumer who says her unemployment benefits were hacked has filed a class action lawsuit against Bank of America. In this class action, filed in California federal court in April, San Diego resident Deaniesha Lawrence claims she and others were left with “pennies” in their accounts after fraudsters made off their unemployment benefits.
This most recently filed class action lawsuit claims that Bank of America used “antiquated” technology for unemployment benefit recipients. It also notes that, even though the bank has removed the freeze it put on accounts with reports of fraud, it has not taken any action to reimburse the stolen funds. Lawernce claims that the bank “made it nearly impossible for those in need of benefits to receive their much-needed aid.”
In response to this latest class action lawsuit, a Bank of America spokesperson told Law360:
“We have added thousands of agents to answer phone calls and investigate claims for the areas of the program we are responsible for and, as a result, our average wait time for callers has dropped dramatically. While the vast majority of unemployment fraud is committed by those filing false applications, when fraudulent transactions occur on benefit cards we review those claims and restore money to legitimate recipients.”
Do you hold an account with Bank of America? Have you ever had issues with your Bank of America unemployment accounts getting hacked? Let us know in the comments below.
Attorneys representing the plaintiffs in this class action lawsuit are P. Terry Anderlini, Joseph M. Goethals, and Jackson D. Morgus of Anderlini & McSweeney LLP.
The Bank of America Unemployment Account Hack Class Action Lawsuit is Mosson, et al. v. Bank Of America, N.A., Case No. 3:21-cv-00743 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
204 thoughts onBank of America Faces Another Unemployment Benefits Hack Lawsuit
I think at least $600 of mine is missing. I would like to be sent a claim form or an address in which to file. Thanks.
I am currently going through this they reopened my card yesterday as of 2/1/2021 5:00 pm PST and im waiting for my funds which pays for me a hotel room biweekly so now im currently sleep by the train tracks until the return my payment
add me please
Add me please!!
I had money taken from my account multiple times. Over $3000 has been taken. I have tried contacting bank of America and they say they have nothing to do with the account and payments. I have also contacted EDd and had no resolve either. I have to pay taxes and have a 1099 claiming I received all this money and I didn’t.
Yes I’m one of the ones that’s account got frozen….I’ve been waiting since October 2020 for this claim to be completed. Instead of completing their investigation they closed the claim in which I had to have it reopened November19,2020 I reopened my claim I would call everydAy letting them know how important it was for them to hurry up with their investigation I had rent to pay along with other bills.. all they kept t telling me was that I needed to be patient and wait….now its February my claim was completed and I still haven’t received my credit back in my account . Thus is ridiculous 6,330 was taken out of my account and then to top it off they put my account in negative of standings for 6,330 so everytime I verified and the edd paid me the bank kept and deducted it from the 6,330. So now that my claim was granted their telling me that the extra 4,000 they kept if of mine I won’t be getting that back. It’s not fair so I basically lose out on that other 4,000 dollars.
add me please had this bank and closed my account because I had money in my account then they said I didn’t and took 580.00 from and put a bunch of fees on my account.
WOW! So much for protecting the bank consumer when the bank couldnt keep their customers money safe. Shame on them!!
My identity has been verified for months and I am currently receiving paper checks but I’m still not able to access the funds on my frozen Bank of America. I have called them hundreds of times and have spent hours on the phone even put them on a phone conference with edd to price I’m all cleared and still nothing.
My BOA EDD debit card was hacked in Sept. 2020. BOA replaced the $2940.00 that was stolen and 1 week later debited my account in the same amount. Since my account was now in the negative I did not have access to my UIB money until my account was in the positive. I did not have access to my UIB money for 4 months.