One BANK of America customer claimed there was no way to recover about $15,000 lost to scammers, and they only realized what had happened when their card was frozen.
During the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, many Americans remained unemployed and received Employment Development Department (EDD) benefits through debit cards issued.
The cards were provided by Bank of America, and the hopeful plan quickly went sour after scammers were able to obtain the information and drain millions from the accounts of those needing the benefit, according to Los Angeles ABC affiliate KABC.
Bank of America was later fined in 2022 for automatically denying claims from those affected by fraudsters, according to the outlet.
US law requires financial institutions to review and investigate any claims made by account holders, but regulators ruled that Bank of America filtered its processes to automatically deny claims during the pandemic.
Bank of America has since said it no longer automatically denies claims, but California resident Alfredo Mansilla accused the bank of wrongly denying his claim after scammers took $15,000 from his EDD debit card in 2022.
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Mansilla said he was recovering from surgery when he checked his account to see that the money was gone.
The resident said he was receiving fixed disability payments, which he used to pay bills and support his wife and children.
“It was a shock to me when I learned that almost $15,000 had been withdrawn from my account,” he told KABC.
“Man, I thought this money was stolen from me and I can’t get it back.”
“This is a lot of money for someone who has a wife and two children and is disabled,” Mansilla added.
“I was late with my house payments…and that scared me.”
Mansilla gave more details about the situation and said that he only discovered the disappearance of the money after his account was suddenly frozen.
“I thought: Why was it frozen?” he said.
After carefully examining his account, Mansilla found that it was connected to the email and phone number of an unknown person in Texas.
They brought several charges which he did not file, and $15,000 was withdrawn and placed in three separate bank accounts.
Mansilla claimed he immediately reported the fraud to Bank of America.
“I told them that the transfers that are being made are not mine…the account numbers are not mine,” he told KABC.
After filing a formal claim, the resident claims Bank of America immediately denied it.
“We have completed the review and determined that nothing went wrong,” the bank responded, according to Mansilla.
He proceeded to make two more claims, to which Bank of America allegedly responded by saying, “Our original decision was correct.”
“I felt like I was hit in the stomach when they denied my claim the first, second and third time,” Mansilla noted.
“What baffles me is the lack of effort they’ve put into trying to correct this problem, knowing that they’ve had problems like this, you know, for the last few years now.”
He said Bank of America should have double-checked the bank accounts to which the money was transferred to confirm the identity of the fraudsters.
The email address also contains a domain from an island near Madagascar.
“They would have noticed that my name wasn’t on them… It’s ridiculous that they don’t want to do anything to correct that,” Mansilla said.
The news outlet contacted Bank of America for comment, asking if Mansilla’s claim was automatically denied like the one in 2020, and a company spokesperson noted that “we have not used this filter in over a year.”
Mansilla later confirmed that Bank of America reversed its decision on his claims and deposited $15,000 into his account, according to KABC.
Mansilla told the station in an interview, “You have shed a lot of light on my life… It is the greatest feeling in the whole world… I knew what was stolen from me, and I came back… thanks to you guys.”
“So the party is at my house next weekend!”
Bank of America also added in its statement that it has worked tirelessly to help those affected by EDD card fraud throughout the pandemic.
It also indicated that it will no longer be the supplier of EDD cards from 2022.
The US Sun has contacted Bank of America for further comment on the Mansilla case and EDD cards.