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
On January 26th a person named Andrew Acosta stole $500.00 from my SSI check and on the 28th a person with the email address [email protected] took $240.00 from my same check even though the account was supposed to be locked and my new debit card was not even activated yet. I filed my dispute proving I do not know them. It was denied, I have sinced filed a police report here in Kissimmee Florida and have been in contact with a detective with the Financial Crime Unit. I appealed the decision and they have been issued a subpoena requesting I be given back my money. It was denied again. I have contacted the Inspector General’s office of the US Treasury about my claim. I WANT TO JOIN THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT.
I was given a $50 Walmart giftcard for Christmas. I tried registering it and it states the card has been deprecated. Walmart customer service said call the number in the back of card & i did. The 16 digits don’t exist printed on the card says the automated voice. I called Green Dot Bank and they play stupid and refer back to Walmart. I said I’m having the BBB investigate this and they end the conversation
I’ve had the same debit card for 5+ years with the same account number. On Jan 6th 2021, I requested my direct deposit information. They sent it via email which showed correct information. I log in online 3 days ago and my account number is totally different. I’ve called numerous times and started countless chats, only to be told that it was impossible to change my account number and the number I have now has always been my account number. I’ve gotten no response even though I have sent valid proof that they changed my account number. I need answers!
I just got robbed by the walmart money card ..some how someone stole my information and withdrawal all the money that was left over how can I get help with the refund?
No one but Walmart money card stole your information and took it they did same to me
They also took my first stimulus
They just stole over $500 from me!
Ive experienced horrid service to convenint for them 6 weeks before my reward money is due that i built all year they mysteriously close my account permanently citing a pattern of misuse yet i have all my statements and there is zero anything wrong at all , they say only investigations can know what it is wouldn’t give me corporate information , refused to give me a way to have a lawyer contact them and said they weren’t giving me my money i earned , so im pissed i was counting on that especially now and they’re screweing me over im out roughly 600 bucks and im not at all happy and need help if a lawyer sees this or anyone that can help me take action id be very grateful this is awful
I bought a green dot visa two days ago and put fifty dollars on it to pay a subscription at an online web sight . When I loaded the card to the website it showed only having one dollar on the account . I tried it again today at a different website and it came back the same . Fifty dollars mins the card monthly charge is just gone with no apparent recourse . i can take the small financial hit without batting an eye but the principle of this injustice leaves me feeling the victim of green dot bank . I have a receipt and activated the card on the phone so the call is logged . After reading all the other complaints of others that have experienced the same treatment I have to say I would not trust the Green dot bank to handle my garbage service .
My 1ststimuls of 2200 was deposited on April 15tg to green dot after numerous phone calls n emails or did 90 day trace tax advocate still have not been able to recover my money so I’m out $2200 with no explanation n same account I received my taxes in 2019 so I’m lost that Green Dot says no such account number
It happened to me on Black Friday. Funy, right after I called to dispute, money was immediately put back and case closed. That was two 40ish transactions at a fake pet store in FL. Almost starved waiting for my new card and could not access my check as I had not gotten the new card. Just got the new card Dec 5th. 2 days ago a weird 1.23 transaction alerted me via notifications. Was for a Daniel Abrantes in CA. Funny two mins later it disappeared from my transactions like it never happened. Money was put back. Only a Wal-Mart employee that had access to the system could put it back that fast as pending transactiobs and refunds are not immediate. Okay. Thought it was an error. Nope I think they realized anything over a dollar notifies me. Last night, I conveniently got 2 one dollar transactions. 1 from goodybag.com and another from MUVE. 2 diff states at the same time. Too convenient.I have not used this card anywhere except to pay groxeries. Never online. No it has to be their card employeea doing this. Had this over 6 years. Was the now nonexistent preferred card that does not charge a reload fee ever. I am gonna take my money off and be done.
My mom noticed that she had less money than she thought she did and when we went to check her card we found multiple small incremental purchases and big purchases from mid december to today (01/07) The small incremental purchases were less than a dollar and made that same day. So if it was from one store, there were multiple small amounts taken on that same day. Some purchases were spread out. Then it looks like they eventually got comfortable enough to take out bigger amounts $30-$112. Tried to call and it felt like they pretended like they couldnt hear us. They said immediately that the signal was bad. We are in our home, where the service works perfectly fine. We are very upset considering we make little money as is and we are also in the middle of a pandemic where things seem more scarce.
I found out today about my Green dot 5% cashback after 12 months of $250 cashback ends up to be $2.52, Now I cannot talk to a live person place on hold up to 20 minutes then I was disconnected and I am blocked from my account log in. Tried their live chat online is not live but preset questions that have nothing to do with cashback issues. On top of that with contact Support services say you can email for quicker help is a no-go never connect. Now I can not log in to my account. I want my $250 Cashback of 5% after 12 months of dealing with them for over 2 years, not $2.52.
All I should have to say is our world is going through a pandemic this is not the time for Greendot to withhold stimulus money. There isn’t even a number where you can reach them. Corporate doesn’t even ring through.
I recently put $500 on a Green Dot card and when I went to use it the next day there was no money on it who do we go to to get this taken off the market and to get our money back if anybody has a way to do that we all need to pull together and take care of these people one way or another maybe we all need to go there and visit Green Dot to get our money back I’m sure they have enough assets to give us all our money or is there a legal way to do it I’m from Tacoma Washington so this is all over the United States them taking our money is Walmart part of this scam