A recent class action lawsuit claims that Walmart negligently allows scammers to steal Green Dot prepaid Visa card information.
Walmart offers several prepaid Visa cards, including products through Green Dot Bank. According to a recent Walmart, Green Dot class action, these cards may be susceptible to fraud.
Plaintiff Guillermo Espinoza says he purchased two $500 prepaid Green Dot Visa cards in February 2019, which he intended to use to pay his rent in March.
The day after he purchased the Green Dot cards, Espinoza reportedly attempted to make a payment on his rent only to be denied several times due to “insufficient funds.”
Espinoza allegedly went back to his local Walmart and asked an associate for guidance. The employee reportedly told him to try again later in the day or the next day, “stating that she believed it may just take a few days for the cards to activate.”
In the same day, Espinoza reportedly called the toll free number on the back of the cards and was told by the automated system that his cards had an available balance of $499 and $500, respectively.
On March 1, Espinoza reportedly repeated the process and learned that one of his cards had a posted transaction for $498.74 at a Walmart in Hemet, Calif. His other card reportedly had a “nearly identical” transaction for a $497.74 charge at the same Walmart.
“Upon seeing the charges to the Plaintiff’s Greendot cards, Plaintiff was furious, confused, and anxious as he needed the funds to pay his rent,” the Walmart, Green Dot class action claims.
Espinoza reportedly attempted to dispute the fraudulent charges with Green Dot but the bank allegedly directed him towards Walmart. He says he called the Hemet Walmart where a floor manager told him that similar “scams” had recently occurred. Information from the prepaid cards was reportedly “compromised.” According to the Walmart Green Dot class action, the manager allegedly told Espinoza “…as soon as they get activated a hacker can liquidate the gift cards.”
Following this conversation, Espinoza was allegedly directed to corporate Walmart’s fraud hotline. He reportedly opened up an investigation with the hotline and filed a police report. After sending his information to the hotline on March 2, Espinoza was reportedly forced to wait while the company investigated. He allegedly called every three to four days to request updates but was given no information.
On March 15, Espinoza reportedly checked again on the investigation and was told that Walmart could not do anything to help him because they were “not liable for those Visa gift cards.” He was then directed back to Green Dot Bank despite having already talked to the company. Green Dot allegedly said they too were not liable for the cards and suggested that this sort of scam was common.
According to the Walmart, Green Dot class action, Espinoza was told that scammers obtain the Green Dot card information prior to genuine purchases. After customers purchase the cards, scammers reportedly attempt $1 purchases to see if the cards are activated. After the products are activated, scammers are allegedly free to spend the rest of the available balance.
Espinoza argues that Walmart and Green Dot Bank do not sufficiently protect the information on the pre-paid cards, making them susceptible to scams and fraud.
“Walmart chooses to sell its Greendot funded Visa Debit Cards in unsecure packaging, wherein the identifying information is exposed to any third parties who come in contact with the Visa Debit Card prior to selling the cards to unsuspecting consumers,” the Walmart class action claims.
Espinoza seeks to represent a Class of California consumers who purchased Green Dot Visa prepaid cards from Walmart with balances of more than $50.
Did you purchase Walmart Green Dot Visa cards only to have the funds fraudulently stolen from you? Share your experiences in the comment section below!
Espinoza and the proposed Class are represented by Ahren A. Tiller of BLC Law Center APC and Abbas Kazerounian of Kazerouni Law Group APC.
The Walmart, Green Dot Prepaid Cards Class Action Lawsuit is Espinoza v. Walmart Inc., et al., Case No. 3:19-cv-01972-MMA-RBB, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
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372 thoughts onWalmart Class Action Says Green Dot Prepaid Cards Are Compromised
Yes. Just last night, $125 – in five separate transactions – was stolen from my card at a couple of Starbucks’ across the country! I’m a single mom and live paycheck to paycheck and this is really very frustrating! Green Dot was no help when I called them, and neither were the Starbucks locations.
Hello we are very sorry for the inconveniences,we are deeply sorry about this,kindly contact our Technical support department on 3182390632 for dispute so you can get a refund back. Thanks
Green Dot
We cant cause every time i tried calling that number you provided (Which is a TEXT NOW number) (sketchy already) Nobody ever answers the phone!?! So lets hear your next lie you have lined up for us who have been wrongful taken advantage of for some BS claims you’ve made against us just to keep our funds!!! sounds like ROBBERY TO ME and you will not get away with this!!!
Yes. This is the second time my card has been compromised. My social security check comes in on this card. This time more than 950 dollars has been taken for some kind of “muscle building product” and they refuse to refund the money stating insufficient evidence.
Hello we are very sorry for the inconveniences,we are deeply sorry about this,kindly contact our Technical support department on 3182390632 for dispute so you can get a refund back. Thanks
Green Dot
Walmart in California did the same thing to meet with a American Express card for $100 that I bought in American Express said they wouldn’t cover it in Walmart city with you to cover but Walmart was one that took my money and I never got it in the mail
Greendot has frozen multiple cards of mine and my husbands, totaling almost $2,000. They will not explain why, I’ve even filed complaints with BBB that haven’t been resolved. I’ve wasted over 20 hours making numerous calls, sending numerous emails, to no avail. Please add me!
I have recently discovered someone has made a green dot banking account using my name and without my knowledge or consent.. Turns out the reason as to why i havent recieved my tax return or my stimulus is because it was wired into this walmart money card account.. I have filed a dispute with both the irs and green dot/walmart money card but still have only been given the run around..
The same thing just happened to my husband. We got a FedEx Express package with a Visa Debit card with his name on it that we didn’t sign up for. Called Green Dot, what a joke of a business. Told them this is fraud, they blocked the card. They actually had a real bank account set up for him with his social security number. I spent all day contacting all of our financial institutions to alert them . I also filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
Walmart moneycard is a joke they sent me an email about a month ago saying they blocked my account due to suspicious activity so i sent them a copy of my drivers license for proof of identity which they kept sending back saying they couldn’t read it so now they closed my account i have not been able to speak to a live person sent emails only for them to say someone would be contacting me i still have not heard from anyone and i have $780 on that card. So basically they stole my money. I will never buy a prepaid card from Walmart or green dot again and nobody else should either this is fraud.
The same happened to me green dot stole my money in total like $700 , please add me .
I received my Walmart Visa gift card as a birthday gift and saved it for a “rainy day” and found it was gone. No support from Green Dot or Walmart except for finger-pointing each other. I filed a police report.
Omg same thing happened to me. My husband got me 150 dollar gift card and by the next day it was gone. Still haven’t heard anything back from them!! They said they would dispute it ??
My money was stolen on April 18th at midnight. Sent to 3 different email addresses as gifts they took 380.00 out of my account they would have gotten more but that’s all I had they did leave 4.15 cince wasn’t that nice of them. (Not) they would have got that if they knew it was still there oh but that’s not all after I called and filed my despite and they blocked that account and absolutely no transactions were supposed to be able to be made on it green dot when in and took 3.00 and something for there fees isn’t that laughable I was talking to. And agent when I noticed that and I said how dare they after I was already robbed and it sure wasn’t on my end so it had to be on their end. He asked me what was I insinuating? and I said exactly what it sounds like.
add me please
Purchased a money card from Walmart. I would cash my check and load it on my card. I recently had $500 taken. So I called and cancelled the card and got a new one. The guy on the phone from green Dot said a new card would fix the problem. The next day the one hundred I had left in my account was gone as well. . I haven’t had any luck getting my money back.