Has your bank opened fake bank accounts without your permission, or signed you up for services without your knowledge or agreement? These actions taken by bank employees can end up costing you money in the form of additional fees or unexpected interest charges. The use of fake bank accounts has troubling implications for banking customers.

Wells Fargo Fake Bank Accounts

During a Wells Fargo scandal that surfaces in 2015, it was found that employees were creating fake bank accounts to meet sales goals that had been set unfairly high. During that investigation, around 3.5 million fake bank accounts were discovered.

Wells Fargo is set to pay $575 million to settle with attorneys general from across the entire country. The bank has also agreed to a new review process in which it creates teams to respond to customer complaints about its practices.

This is just the latest in penalties Wells Fargo has faced for its fake bank accounts scandal. So far, Wells Fargo has paid more than $1.2 billion in penalties total, and also faces stricter regulations, such as lowering the sales goals employees are asked to hit to a more reasonable—and attainable—goal. This is intended to take away any incentive employees had for opening fake bank accounts at all.

Although Wells Fargo is not part of our current investigation, the Wells Fargo fake bank accounts scandal sparked further investigation into the practices of a number of other major banks. According to federal regulators who have looked into the fake bank accounts issue after the Wells Fargo scandal first surfaced, employees at several other banks have used similar tactics.

Despite this knowledge, federal regulators chose not to bring forward the names of any of these other banks, and have said they have no plans to do so in the future. Though federal regulators have chosen to keep this information concealed, attorneys are currently working together to investigate potential fake bank accounts at a number of banks, including:

• Bank of America
• BOK Financial
• Capital One
• HSBC
• Royal Bank of Canada
• TD Bank

In order to protect yourself, keep an eye open for suspicious activity that may indicate a fake bank account has been opened. Unexpected overdraft fees or interest charges could indicate an account or other services you did not authorize. It also helps to regularly check your credit report and look for suspicious changes there, such as if you were signed up for a credit card without your permission.

Filing a Fake Bank Accounts Lawsuit

If your bank is one of those listed above and has opened up one of these fake bank accounts in your name, or if you have been signed up for services without your permission, you may be able to join this class action lawsuit investigation.