Earlier today I checked my balance at an ATM. I was going to take out 20 bucks and let my brother borrow 10 for a doctor visit co-pay. I should have had about 100 bucks in checking but I was several hundred overdrawn. I went to the bank to have a statement prineted and found 440 dollars in fraudulent charges along with 210 in overdraft fees.
I spent an hour on the phone with the bank. They were super. No complaints with the bank. It’s all being refunded tonight. Their best guess is a hacker did it. In my case it was enough for me to notice all at once.
Please folks, read every line item on your bank statements. It doesn’t matter if you are loaded or just getting by. A lot of these dirtbags will take a little here and there because most people do NOT scrutinize their statements.
Oh, to have a street address for the hackers and an MP5K.
Just email me all your pertinent banking information and I’ll make sure your server is secure.
grins
(By the way, I appear to be a thread killer, and I don’t want you to feel bad if you don’t get more replies… just so you don’t, I’ll go look at the thread a few more times.) hehe
I check my accounts a minimum of every other day, online. I’ve also become very particular about keeping records of all checks written and all other transactions recorded in my register.
If something unauthorized shows up, I don’t want to wait for my bank statement to know about it!
I’ll bet you that was no hacker, but instead B of A screw ups.
Just remember, it is bank policy to take out money before adding deposits. So, say you have a check out for 100.00, and have 95.00 in your account. You go to the bank that day, before cut off, and deposit 10.00 to cover plus a little more.
Guess what… you are SOL. The bank pays out the 100.00, notes that you are five dollars overdrawn, charges you 30.00 for that, and THEN adds your 10.00, which is now gone immediately~ and then you are overdrawn by 25.00. And they charge you the overdraft fee everyday untill it is fixed, INCLUDING the day that you deposit money to fix it.
I keep a loose-leaf notebook for all my bank statements, and I paper-clip all cash deposits I make to the month those statements were written. The only thing that pisses me off is that the ink on those deposit slips is very quick to fade. I want that stuff legible even though it’s supposed to be on the statement.
Anyone else have this problem?
1kBR Kid: A very good thread and thanks for the reminder! It’s something all of us should do.
Mmmhmmm… I’m always paranoid about how much money I have, so I always keep my passbook updated. Not because I’m scared that anyone will take what little money I have, but because I don’t want to use my debit card to buy something only to discover that I don’t have any money left in there to use.
Happened to my friend once. Caused much embarrassment.
My biggest problem with Bank of America is that items will show pending…and then disappear. So the charge isn’t there anymore, but two days later, it posts to my account. Huh? Charges disappear, but show up again a week later.
I’m not totally adept at keeping up with my bank account, but I never had these problems with my Citibank account. I’m so ready to switch to SunTrust.
I’ve noticed that my pending transactions disappear too.
I started under Nations Bank, before they were bought out by BofA. Right after it switched over I noticed they started charging me for using the bank teller. I went in and bitched about it. I got my money back and some free checks (still have most of that box too). I keep a close eye out on my statements. I’m not so much worried about people hacking into my account as I am about the bank helping themselves to it.
I wish there was another bank that is both where I live and where my mother lives. I’d switch over in a heartbeat.
I never read my bank statements. I get the envelopes in the mail. Carry the mail to work and shred it in the machine. I use duplicate checks so I have pretty accurate records of what I have and don’t have. I just trust myself. Stupid I know but I have always done it this way.
Why exactly did they refund you the money, 1kBR Kid? If a hacker got your financial information* and the bank itself had nothing to do with it, I can’t imagine why they would feel compelled to give you money back when its disappearance wasn’t their fault. IANAL, but it seems to me they would be under no actual obligation to put money back in your account unless they themselves screwed up.
I had that happen to me about a month ago. Still in the process of getting it all straightened out. There’s a thread I started about it but I don’t have the time to search, I have to get to class.
When I had money erroneously removed from my bank account, I CERTAINLY couldnt fix it with just a phone call. Even when it was uncovered that it was the bank tellers fault! It involved scads of forms, some I even had to take to be notartized elsewhere, at my own cost, AND an interview in person with the branch manager. (Who ended up firing the teller who made the error)
So if an INTERNAL mistake involves all that, I’m astounded that you fixed your alleged “hacker” prob with a mere phone call. B of A is soundin shadier and shadier by the post…
Do balance your statements as soon as you receive them. If the bank does make an error on your account you have 30 days from the date of the statement to bring it to the bank’s attention or legally they do not have to fix it. This fact is noted on your statement by verbiage like “If no error is reported within 30 days of the closing date the account will be considered correct”. They may still fix the error but are under no legal obligation to do so.
This is just wrong. I worked for Bank of America for 3 years after they bought out my former employer. The posting policies are “credits before debits” and “largest debits first”. That means that deposits are posted before withdrawals and withdrawals are paid in decending value order. Say your balance is $0 and you have 1 deposit for $100 and 5 checks ($95, $30, $20, $15, $10) to post that night. The deposit posts first, making your balance $100. The $95 check posts next, making your balance $5. The $30 checks tries to post next but funds are insufficient and an overdraft fee is deducted immediately. You are now overdrawn. Repeat that step for the remaining checks. You are now overdrawn by 4 times the overdraft fee amounts less $5 and have 4 unpaid checks.
You could argue that the bank’s decision to pay largest debits first is a ruse to collect more fees. The example above, if posted from smallest to largest, would result in 4 paid checks ($10, $15, $20, $30) and 1 overdraft fee with only one check unpaid ($95). The bank’s official position is “We would rather pay your mortgage check and bounce the smaller ones than the other way around”. In other words, they assume the larger check is more important. YMMV.
In any case, the bank must dislose to you their posting policies at the time you open the account and any time you ask.