Good Morning Everyone

My friend is having a major issue with Bank Of America that he's trying to get cleared out. About 1 month ago he found out that he was a victim of identity theft and now the bank is holding him responsible for the fraudulent activities and he doesn't know what else to do.

His debit card was stolen and he didn't realize it until a few days later since he rarely uses it..when he contacted the bank they saw that several transactions had been done with the card, a fraudulent check in the amount of $8000 was deposited and withdrawn (he had about $3000 in there already) so the accoutn was -$5000. The bank automatically credited him $500 while the investigation started. He was told to get a police report and some other notorized documents. He did all of that and didn't hear for a few days.

Now here's the problem: My friend had his pin number written really small on his card (stupid move, I know) and he did mention that to the service reps when they first documented everything. So now the bank is holding him liable for that! I believe that this was a tiny loophold that the stupid fraud dept had but I think it isn't fair..here's why.


1. The checks were fraudulent checks that the teller deposited without verifying! When the check is scanned through the MICR reader (used to be a teller) it will notify you if the check is fraudulent. Also if there was a proper hold placed on the check they would've been able to find out that the check was fraud and not clear the funds.

2. There are video camera stills that should show that it wasn't him! Point black period!

3. The signatures on the check and withdrawal slip DO NOT match his at all. How is it that someone could come in and withdraw $8000 without the signatures not even matching and not verifying the customer in front of them?! After a certain amount there are things that just have to be verified by more than one person! If anything, the bank should be held responsible for their negligence!

So how do we take this to the next level? IMO the odds aren't against him.

Did the police investigate it and what were their findings? When you say that the bank is holding him accountable, what exactly are they doing? Are they keeping his money that was in the account to cover the fraudulent checks? Are they reporting him to the credit bureau/chexsystems?

Make sure he files a complaint with the FTC

http://www.chexsystemsvictims.com/Identity_Theft_UMZB.html

They're making him pay the -$5000 balance and the police didn't actually come in to investigate..he had to go there on three seperate occasions to even get a police report.