A short post about a recent issue that happened to me when I deposited a rental deposit into my account the other day. Dealing with a scam with banks can be challenging.
If you using Bank of America, go check your accounts. Apparently, I got a lot of deposits and then withdrawals totaling around 103k into my account. Now I have several holds placed on my money while it waits to get figured out.
I had already contacted the bank about this issue and not playing the waiting game.
What’s next…
After making a call to my bank about the issue. Was told that it was from property taxes or liens on property that I don’t own. I only paying on a piece of land that is worth only 4k. Which will be paid off next October!
So I did a few checks and found out that I don’t owe any money to the IRS, the State treasury department. Not sure how my banking info got involved with this, but rest assured that I will be closing down the account after this incident. This is not the first time this had happened to me with this bank. The last time it was when I was living in California during the 90’s. So this time around I will be watching this very closely and if needed will contact a lawyer about the issue.
I have since locked my card and made a note on my account about the issue with the agent on the phone. I also have searched for a lawyer in this matter, because if anything I may sue for damages. The real issue is coming up with the money for the lawyer. I am barely scraping by these days. This blog doesn’t make any money. I just write and do not stuff my site full of ads and affiliate links and such. This may change later since I see that my About page is always getting views.
A few tips…
So after taking the first step toward figuring this out. I do suggest that you change your password, and enable either 2FA (two-factor authorization) on your accounts. I also would recommend you check your third-party apps accessing your accounts as well. This is also known as API. For example, we all know about Plaid and how it is used to sign into your bank to verify and such. This is not the only one, but the most used one.
Don’t give out any of your banking information ever! Not over the phone, or by email. The bank will never contact you about your account information unless you are in the actual branch of the bank. Even if you call them, they will have you sign in, (cable companies tend to do this, amongst others). This is accomplished by having a text sent to you from the agent. This only works if you contact the bank about your account and possible fraud.
Pay attention to what scammers are asking you about your account. While some emails will look legitimate, look for spelling errors, hyper-imposed sections of the email, and other things.
In Summary…
So if you think you may have been scammed through your bank, take a moment to look for a few things. Start by taking screenshots of your account to cover your ass. Make a call to the bank’s fraud department and have notes added to your account.
Do file a claim to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about the issue. They do tend to investigate trends of scams. Even if it may be unique, still file a claim. While they may not be able to help, it does help others with similar instances and they tend to investigate further as to how this may happen and put out a report about current scams. Look, if nothing gets said, then nothing changes. You have to speak up about this!
Take the time to change passwords, yes it’s a pain in the ass, but worth protecting your accounts. Also, have every other device with access to force login again with the new password to have better security. This is something like Google, Amazon and etc will do to protect your account. Your bank is no different in this.
Be mindful about using your card. Skimmers are out there in ATM’s even at your bank! So be careful. If your bank uses the tap to login to an ATM, use that, but look over the card slot at the ATM before doing so. Scammers are very creative when dealing with skimmers and stealing your banking info.
If anything use a RFID blocking wallet. Many claim that they are but not, so make sure it does block your cards from being read by RFID. Hackers are able to hack your card wirelessly these days and having an RFID-blocking wallet will help from this happening.
Stay alert about your banking, financials, and just in general. Plenty of fools out here, trying to take your money that is desperately needed to keep afloat.