With My Mind on My Money and My Money on My Mind
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I used to think identity theft was just an over-hyped gimmick to get people to pay for credit reports and monitoring. That is, until my checking account was cleared out. Turns out, most major banks are not well equipped to handle ID theft, or even your money for that matter.
It was a Sunday night a few weeks back, and I went to Target to grab some groceries. I had been swimming most of the day, so I was still in my board shorts. With no pockets. So I had my wallet *firmly* in hand the whole time. I run through target, grab my stuff, pay with my debit card, and head out to pack my car up- still clutching my wallet. This was the last time I saw that wallet. Nothing suspicious had happened. I spotted nobody that set off my spidey sense (other than the sleeve tattoos and multiple piercings from the girl running the register, but that’s not exactly suspicious).
When getting ready for work the next day, my wallet was missing. I know where my wallet is at all times. This was really strange. I ripped my house apart, searching every square inch. I even rummaged through the garbage (in AZ heat, the term “hot garbage” is not a simile) before I realized it really was gone. So I reviewed the security footage from my home surveillance system to see if anybody broke in while I was sleeping. No signs of entry. The wallet was just gone. Could have been lost, could have been stolen, but I had no clues to go on.
So, I call work to let them know I’m taking the day off. I had to get to a Bank of America branch and the DMV to cancel my debit card and get a new license. Got home and checked my online banking, and there was no sign of suspicious activity. So, I figured the wallet was lost, the bank card is useless, and there isn’t much somebody can do with my driver’s license; I figured everything was cool. Had a frustrating day, so I head back to the pool to relax and have a beer.
Everything is business as usual for the next few days. Until late Thursday night, I got a call from the Phoenix Police Department. The officer said they had a subject in custody who had two forms of ID with my information on it. Then the guy asked what I looked like. At first I thought it was a prank because people were joking around the office that I missed work on a Monday because I “lost my wallet”. As the officer began rattling off my personal information, I quickly realized this was no joke.
They said they caught this guy at BestBuy trying to use somebody else’s credit card to buy a whole bunch of computers. Apparently BestBuy’s register system pops up an alert code if there is somebody trying to use a card that has been reported lost or stolen, and they call the cops. Impressive. The police caught the guy red handed. With drugs. And paraphernalia. And a bunch of people’s personal information.
At the time, I thought they got the sucker before he could do any real damage. But just to be safe, I checked with Bank of America. I was shocked to see my account was overdrawn by almost $300. Last I checked, I had almost 40k in there.
A quick review turned up 5 suspicious transactions. Two were deposits, and three were withdrawals. All five transactions occurred *inside* five different Bank of America banking centers. What amazed me most is the final two transactions. A withdrawal of 26k. And later that day, another withdrawal of 12.5k. Way to spot suspicious activity Bank of America. They handed the guy almost 40k in cash in one day.
Turns out the first two transactions where not just deposits. They were checks written to me, Christopher Hooley. The first one was $6200. The guy kept $5k and left $1200 in my account. The next one was a day later at a different center for $7500. Again, the guy kept $5k. I saw the debit slip online, and this guy’s signature wasn’t even a remote attempt to copy mine. To make matters worse, it turns out he was forging checks from another valley business, who subsequently called the police on ME!
After seeing his writing, all of the sudden it felt personal. That was MY name, written as sloppily as I had ever seen it. Now I had to find out who this guy was.
A detective from the Phoenix PD was already assigned to my case. I never actually even spoke with him. I sent the detective an email with the list of fraudulent transactions on my bank account and that was pretty much all he needed. But I had his email address, so I shot him an email asking who the thief was.
The detective told me the suspect’s name was Christopher Cantrell. An identity thief heavily involved in drugs. That’s all I needed to know to find his case on MCSO.org. And right there in front of me was his mug shot and list of charges.
Check this out:
CANTRELL, CHRISTOPHER MCKAY #P438548
Booked: 07-09-2008
Sex: MALE
Race: WHITE
D.O.B: 10-11-1975
Height: 5′09
Weight: 200
Eye: BROWN
Hair: BLACK
In Custody For:
001 FELONY COUNT OF DANGEROUS DRUG-POSS FOR SALE
001 FELONY COUNT OF THEFT-CONTROL PROPERTY
001 FELONY COUNT OF ADMIT TKT-FRAUD CREATION/POSS
001 FELONY COUNT OF FORGERY-W/WRITTEN INSTRUMENT
005 FELONY COUNT OF FORGERY-POSS FORGED INSTRUMENT
001 FELONY COUNT OF FORGERY-POSS FORGED INSTRUMENT
001 FELONY COUNT OF FORGERY-POSS FORGED INSTRUMENT
001 FELONY COUNT OF FORGERY-OFFERS FORGED INSTRUM
001 FELONY COUNT OF TAKING IDENTITY OF ANOTHER
001 FELONY COUNT OF TAKING IDENTITY OF ANOTHER
001 FELONY COUNT OF TAKING IDENTITY OF ANOTHER
001 FELONY COUNT OF DANGEROUS DRUG-POSS/USE
001 FELONY COUNT OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA-POSSESS/USE
As you can see from the picture above the huge rap sheet, he’s pretty much a spitting image of me. So it’s understandable why 5 separate bank of America branches where confused, and allowed him to make huge cash withdrawals. He has trusting eyes.
But just for conjecture’s sake, here’s a picture of me.
The moral of this story is, if you want to steal somebody’s identity, you don’t need to mess with all that online stuff. Just get somebody’s info, make a fake license with your picture on it, and walk right into any Bank of America branch and just ask them to hand you the money in cash. It doesn’t matter if you look like a doper, or even if you’re on drugs at the time. Doesn’t even matter if you know your victim’s signature. All you need is their name and address and a fake ID, and you can clean out any Bank of America account!
In my next post. I’ll explain the aftermath and how Bank of America’s service is only second to their ability to protect your money from identity thieves. Stay tuned.
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Leave YOUR Comments!
Desiree Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Wow that is all too crazy. What is going on with BOA? sheesh. Hope everything pans out for you!
Btw- What type of home surveillance system do you use? I really need one. :)
A Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I can see the resemblance between the both of you, its understandable BoA could mistake him for you. You both have facial hair, hair on your skull, two eyes, nose, mouth and a Y chromosome.
Hope the bastard gets what’s coming to him. Good luck getting your cash back.
anonymous Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
you shouldn’t have been content with needing just your SSN/name/address to do telephone banking or anything else before this happened. Most banks work this way.
Personally, I use etrade’s banking services - you can opt into having an RSA token which from then on you need to use online banking. naturally ATMs don’t care about it, but your PIN should keep that safe, as it did in this case.
Sea Man Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Wow, you look like a douche bag in that picture.
Roger Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Hi Chris,
Sorry to hear about the identify theft man but I wanted to relate an opposite experience I’ve had with BofA but through their credit card account. I had my Visa stolen at a baseball stadium and some guy ran up grocery charges at several local gas station convenience stores and that triggered the BofA alarm because I normally don’t shop there and there were several transactions at similar places within the hour. I got an automated call, checked my wallet, called in and they immediately cancelled the card and made sure I didn’t pay for any charges that I didn’t make retroactive to when I lost the card.
It seems that the credit card fraud detection is much better than what they have for standard banking like check-fraud and such. I would suggest keeping less money in your checking account as well.
David Boring Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
You look silly in that hat.
David Boring Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
…kidding!
Anon Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I think you’re lucky not to have been hassled by the police yourself. Seriously. From what you’ve written so far, the Phoenix police seem to be a couple notches smarter about identity theft than the average. They DIDN’T show up and arrest you for check-forgery, which seems to be the usual modus operandi of the nation’s finest when confronted with identity theft.
Joe Random Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Dude, you looked much better with the beard. :)
bryan helmig Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Wow. That’s incredible, I used to be a teller at a bank and all we’re required by law is to hand out cash to see a valid driver license. If you do big checks, you have to fingerprint/sign it. We never double checked signatures on the teller line, but for 26k (which we never experienced), I am sure we would do some double checking.
I’ll keep up with your posts, good luck man!
Kalena Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
That sucks Chris. Glad it worked out in the end, could’ve been a lot worse I guess. But how did he get your wallet in the first place? Did you drop it between the checkout and the car?
Tran Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Best of luck with getting your money back.
I had my wallet swiped from me and the thief spent $700+ on 7/15. Apparently, disputes with my bank can take up to 30 days. Police investigations can also 30 days as well. Oh, boy.
I don’t know how many males can pass for an Asian girl, but this one did…
jrock Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Hey, I’m a teller at a small bank.
I just want to let you know that unless you make large cash withdrawals on a regular basis, there is no reason the teller shouldn’t have suspected fraud. Whenever someone withdraws more than $10,000 and doesn’t have a history of large withdrawals the teller really should go through a couple extra steps to verify the identity of the person. First of all checking a signature.
good luck
wowsa Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
What a crappy story, I hope you get your money back. But seriously you seem like a smart guy, you should know better than to carry around a bank card with access to that much cash. I never lose my wallet either, but I have misplaced my bank card (somehow left in the atm once). When I realized it was gone, I shut down that account quicker than a whore house during a herpes outbreak.
Chris Hooley Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
LMFAO @ David Boring, A, and Joe Random.
I just got a call from a journalist about this. Turns out this type of identity theft is pretty common.
Also found this post on Reddit. Cool, except the trolls… I had my identity stolen and my checking account cleared out. Not sure how that makes me stupid
Also @ Wowza - LMAO @ the herpes thing… but I did shut down my card immediately. He didn’t use my bank card for anything. He used a fake ID and walked right into the bank to access my checking account.
Surgeandoj Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
I had a similar thing happen to me. Checked my bank account and i’m thousands in the red. They did the whole deposit money and take most of it out thing too. Luckily, I was protected under the law, just had to fill out some paperwork and file police reports in every city money was withdrawn in. Hope your story has a happy ending. I think its time to close that BOA account. Good luck!
Chaos Motor Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 1:47 am
Bank of America is about the worst bank in America. Here’s a tip: They. Don’t. Care.
atavus Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 1:57 am
Thanks, this explains why the guy that got my ATM card info used BoA ATMs. No idea how he did it, I had the card up to the point it was canceled and shredded by me, after the fact. I’m guessing he had a scanner and camera and I never noticed it.
Anyhow, ING Direct noticed the problem within a couple days and reimbursed several thousand with just a fax, took less than a day.
Amy Alkon Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Again, my sympathies, Chris. Blogged your story here:
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2008/07/25/way_to_go_bank.html
Amy Alkon Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 7:11 am
SurgeonDOJ, just saw your comment. I’m the journo Chris spoke with. Could you please e-mail me at adviceamy at a o l dot com? I had a similar thing happen to me, and I’m working on discovering what’s up at B of A.
Amy Alkon Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Bank of America is about the worst bank in America. Here’s a tip: They. Don’t. Care.
Actually, my experience is that they have serious contempt for their customers.
Oh, and did I mention that they’re firing me as a customer, after almost 20 years, at the end of July? Did I bounce checks or something? Nope. It seems I complained a bit much about how they failed in their fiduciary duty to me as a bank customer by having their tellers tossing my money to thieves like it was lettuce…without verifying my signature, asking for a PIN…no, just a fake driver’s license in my name with the wrong expiration date was fine for them! SEVEN times.
Oh, by the way - the e-mail address for the chairman of this company:
ken.d.lewis@bankofamerica.com
Amy Alkon Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 11:12 am
There’s a digg on this here:
http://digg.com/world_news/Bank_of_America_s_multiple_layers_of_security_fail_again
And I just e-mailed you a letter somebody just sent to BofA’s Ken Lewis about your blog item. Feel free to post it if you want.
Roman Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Same thing happened to my friend here in Atlanta. BofA just forked over 10k to a Nigerian guy pretending to by my friend…a white guy.
Oh, and it happened twice about 3 months apart, even after my friend forced BofA to institute extra safety measures for his account.
They pretended to make a deposit of X amount, received a balance slip, then the next day, went to another BofA, and cleaned out the account of the exact amount.
Chris Hooley Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
There’s another digg on this that’s getting a lot of votes.
http://digg.com/business_finance/Way_to_spot_suspicious_activity_Bank_of_America
Dig it up!
David Temple Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Glad they got the dude, the whole story sucks. I happen to think it is your fault anyway. Haven’t you ever heard of a mattress?
Chris Hooley Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
@Desiree sorry I missed your comment! I motion activated cameras recording all entries into the house. They all are connected to a computer with DVR software. It’s pretty slick, all cameras are on the screen at all times too so I can monitor outside my home if I really feel like being paranoid
@David - yeah dude I *should* keep my money right next to my gun. That way I can blast fools if they ever try to mess with my paper!
adam Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
you and him do look kind of similar.
kelly ursulak Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
he’s pretty cute i want to phuck his ass off hope he’s gay too.
Chris Hooley Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
awesome.
Amy Alkon Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Thanks, Chris, for the support — and regarding the case with the Nigerian guy, did he go in with the friend’s account number the first time? Or did he say he “forgot” his (your friend’s) account number? Very important to know.
I think I figured something out about my case — now I just have to see if I can get the cops on it, which isn’t likely to happen here in L.A. believe it or not.
Dave Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 10:38 am
I used to work IT at a bank so I’ve seen copies of depositions, ect. Important to remember: You will probably have to give a deposition to the bank and it’s lawyers in order to recover your money. Repeat as often as you can in the deposition: “Know your customer”. It’s the bank’s responsibility to make sure that the person that says they are you really is you. They will try to twist and turn to avoid paying out the loss, but stand your ground and keep repeating it, 30 or 40 times in a conversation is annoying, in a deposition it’s critical.
I’ve seen some where they only said it once or twice, the lawyers twisted and confused the person into conceding that it might, on some level, been the customer’s fault. But as long as “Know you customer” is said constantly, every time you get backed into a corner, then you will show you are no fool, and you will be far more likely to get your money back without too much of a delay
Good luck!
Jane Copland Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Chris,
Best of luck getting it all sorted out. There are some really evil jerks out there and it’s terrible they can even get this far. Thinking of you,
- J
Jane Copland Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 10:56 am
… and again, I am NOT Rand! Agh! :)
smasher Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Bullshit, that’s george lucas.
jhkjhjkhkjh Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
so how did he get your wallet?
Jojo Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Sorry for your Rotten luck.
But really, there is absolutely no reason to have $40k in your checking account unless you’re planning on a major purchase, and even then it’s a silly place for that much cabbage. Not the best way to handle your money, from a security and even more so from a fiduciary standpoint.
What exactly happened to your wallet? When do you think the low-life scum was able to abscond it?
Mantari Damacy Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Yes, I would hit it. Both of them. HOTTTT!
Car Resources » Blog Archive » Way to spot suspicious activity Bank of America…! Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
[...] out, most major banks are not well equipped to handle ID theft, or even your money for that matter.read more | digg [...]
Kathryn Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Well, I’m printing this to take to BofA. I just had a run in with those bozos a couple of days ago trying to cash a BofA check from Sprint without an account there. There was an attendant or manager or just a general fuckwit standing in the lobby greeting people. I went to the window and they turned me away and said I had to talk to a representative to verify the check. Hmm.. last time I checked Target can verify a check. Why can’t their bank tellers? So this jerk that wanders around starts to blow some smoke at me that went a little like this: “This is our policy, ma’am. The clerks don’t have as much information as we do, and we have to do this to protect our customers. It’s to catch Fraud.” I told him I’m not as nieve as he thinks. That it’s because I don’t have an account at BofA and they would very much like to sell me one. I also told him that the act of sending me away from the teller after I’d stood in line.. to talk to one of their reps (I found out later so that one of their reps can draw a smiley face in the corner of the check, I am NOT KIDDING!) so that I can get a sales pitch already guaranteed that I would never be opening an account at BofA and he should verify the check right there. He refused, so I left. I will not be going into another BofA, and I’m leaving this comment just to help out any bad press. They made me waste my lunch after I’d walked all the way there to avoid driving as I was cashing the check for gas money and I walked away empty handed and still got back late for class. Bad job BofA!
Echilon Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Unbelievable. I hope you get back what was stolen.
mel Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
BOA has become more and more outrageous. its happened more than twice with me already, where i have my wallet with me, but yet someone is still taking money. idk, but BOA needs to step it up. best of luck to you.
anony mouse Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Get a lawyer, if you do not already have one. Your lawyer will get your money back from BoA. Trying to do this alone makes no sense.
dawidio Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I had a similar experience with Keybank up in Seattle. My account was cleared out and the signature, date, ID, everything was different. They even wrote a different middle initial. The person went to 3 branches over 4 days (even went after I reported suspicious activity) and was never detained or questioned. When it was obvious I’d been ripped off, Keybank treated me like I was the lawbreaker, even telling me I had to call the police to report it. What? Someone steals money from your bank and you have the account holder call the police? I feel your pain.
lawl Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
A wallet chain would go perfect with that hat.
Russ Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Wow,man.What a nightmare.Best of luck to you and your family man.I hope it will work out for you.
Jonny Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Wow. that really blows. i hope everything goes well from here on out.
Reddy Watt Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Bank of America doesn’t need your business. The Federal Reserve paid them to buy Countrywide. They sold all their bad loans at the Fed window for cash. Customers are an annoyance they no longer need to deal with now that the government supports them.
Why not bank with a local bank that knows you on sight?
cat Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
can we go on a date? real photo, of course :)
NEwton Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Reading the WHOLE page i can judge…. that the author should have used a better picture of himself
Tony P Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
And I’ll clue you to something else. I could form a new identity for myself using nothing but a fairly advanced but inexpensive card printer. Right down to magstripe, 2D barcode, etc.
Of course if you’re going to do something, do it right. Be fairly easy to fake a birth certificate and SSN card. All you need are those two items and a current bill (Again which can be faked).
There is no security at all other than your fingerprints and retinal patterns.
Brent Spiner Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Looks like they use the initial deposit to get information on the total balance of the account. The next time they can go in and withdraw from the account, using the knowledge of the deposit (the date, the amount and the rough account balance) to successfully convince the teller they are the rightful owner of the account. After that its fair game to do whatever with the account.
Wm Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Seems like the thing that should be immediately done is to try to freeze your accounts if something like this happens. If the bank won’t freeze it or you suspect that they might not do it properly, get your cash (not in the form of a cashier’s check because they might lock up the check if the cash is somehow drained another way) out of every account and move you cash to another bank immediately. You can always move back after a while. Also remember, a straight debit card is not protected like a credit card is with the minimum loss of $50.
John Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I used to work for a bank as a teller, and this is just carelessness on BOAs part. I always made an effort to view people’s transaction history if they did anything more than a couple of hundred that day. For something like 28k, that would’ve gone to my supervisor first.
Mike Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
The tellers that gave that prick your money are probably fired. I’m a bank manager, and there are policies in-place at all banks that should have prevented this (check signature for large transactions). Luckily, there are federal laws that require the bank to refund your money as long as there is no negligence on your end.
GG Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I didn’t even loose any ID. I deposited a large sum in B of A. Ten days later an ATM won’t let me withdraw any $$ because I’d already taken out $1500 that day!! My online account says I’ve withdrawn $2500 in the last 3 days; $500 from an atm at 7-11 in San Diego then $1500 from inside 2 banks (again B of A) in Los Angeles the next day, then another $500 from inside a B of A in Westlake Village (40 miles west of L.A.)the day after that. I filed a report with B of A’s Fraud Division. They said this happens 24/7 & will (maybe) prosecute only if it’s an organized ring of thieves, not just one guy! I got my $$ back because the bank took pictures of that ‘hole but never found out who did it. How the hell did they copy my ATM card & PIN from a card I never lost??!!?? My guess: inside job at B of A.
Johnny Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
My bank requires that i slide my ATM card and enter my PIN before any deposit or withdrawal in addition to the signature and ID. Not sure if BoA does this, you might ask if they put a note on your account to require it or find a different bank that does it.
Meany Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Those tellers need to be fired. Anyone who wants to take out that much would usually have to go through many double checks, ESPECIALLY if it’s from an account that doesn’t have a history of that. This is really bad. Get a new bank.
Tim Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
A really easy method of account verification would be the use of a password. Why isn’t a pin required to withdraw money? It really should be.
Casey Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
i had my checking account overwithdrawn almost by 500 dollars i filled a report with b of a and then 6 months later when i was paying for my college courses with my b of a credit card i was told i was for my limit by 1000 dollars when i went online to look at the transactions my address had even changed to a po box in another county when i told the fraud department all of this they said that there was nothing they could because they didnt know if i was the real me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
almk Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
So, you didn’t report your card missing to the Bank? That’s just negligent on your part. Even if you thought the wallet was just missing, it’s easier to get a new card activated then to let someone have access to your checking account. Furthermore, check cards are usually not theft protected, only credit cards, and only if you report that they’re missing within a certain time fame. Also, the guy who used your card doesn’t look too dissimilar to you that he couldn’t have passed for you at a store or the bank. Did you have your picture on your card, or do you just expect the bank tellers to know what you look like?
Lastly, I believe that your title needs a comma (Way to Spot Suspicious Activity, Bank of America) and the term simile is an expression comparing two objects using “like” or “as”. I believe the term you were looking for is “hyperbole”.
Sorry about your troubles :-/
MIchael Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
What are you doing with 40K in your checking account dude?? Holy Crap!
tom Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Wow, I’m never going to use BoA..
Fulano Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Might have gotten your account number from the ATM, they were running a scam a bit ago where they modified the atm reader with a slick bit of hardware that stores the card information from the last card used. Used to return a bad swipe so people would just go to another ATM, but they may have evolved it so it passes the information on.
Wish they’d put those brains to better use :/
Dima Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
That sucks ass man, I can’t believe that someone could just withdraw $40K from your account, talk about highway robbery. I hope you get money back, they should give you extra money because of emotional distress, or you could sue em for it… lol.
IBxAnders Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Had a similar situation with Bank of America; cleared out 30k from a business account via a stolen wallet - bank of america is incredible! They did recover the money fairly quickly - but not all of it; the thief just walked into the bank - no questions asked…
Marko Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Dude why do you keep 42K in cash on your bank account?
rusty Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I have a bank of america account and tried to withdraw 3k of my own money and had to answer a slu of questions, show my id my debit card and wait for a manager to authorize my account before they would give me the money. Maybe you just got a shitty branch, then again I live in missouri so may have different laws they have to abide by here
art Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
yeah i got money stolen from my account, boa refunds the money temporarily, then takes it back saying i authorized it, and they say i must of authorized because there’s no proof that someone stole it, so it must be me. boa didn’t even look at the security tapes from the atm because, “its not one of ours, so we cant look at it.” i have to go the the police so they can look at the tapes, gt off your ass boa you do it why do i bank with you if im doing all the work.
Paulimus Prime Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Sorry to hear that BofA is so daft. I’m also sorry to hear that you are a douche bag.
josh Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
BofA also has a long history of being willing to give out all kinds of information about your account over the phone even when in the notes, it says there’s passwords and not to give out some information…they just click through the warning pop-ups and blather away. Look it up. I know folks who’ve set up all the security they can, tested it, it fails, and then try to get anyone, someone supervisory to take enough responsibility to fix the problem. Never happens.
Smart Guy Says:
July 26th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
@GG Tony P mentioned it earlier. There are handheld devices that can scan credit cards magstripes. Can be done easily by a gas station attendant, any retail person - anybody that you hand your card to for a purchase. Make sure you keep an eye on your card from the time it leaves your wallet - if you see somebody go under the counter with it watch out. From the information the scanners obtain people print credit cards with magstripes, 2d barcode etc. All of this is readily available online and yes very scary
Cyanbane Says:
July 27th, 2008 at 12:30 am
The funny thing is that with any bank, all they have to do is set up an alert system in which they ask THE CUSTOMER how much they want to a withdraw to be before they contact you for verification. If you would have set your ‘withdrawal alert limit’ at 2k then you would have been notified for verification. its a win/lose situation for them I know, just because they have every intention of verifying it is you (to be honest they don’t want blog posts like this and we all know it) but they also want to make sure that Bob from the office can withdrawal $5k when he needs to without being hassled. It is a fine line they walk and I don’t envy then, but by asking the consumer and planning a dynamic system that allows for flexibility in choice, they could save a lot of hassle and bad PR (like your post). Honestly, I agree completely with you and think it is a shitty situation that BoA could have handled better with a better ‘Alert’ system, but in the end they need to allocated resources for the system to work, and with the current stock price compared to < 2 years ago, I don’t see them being in that position.
Jim Jones Says:
July 27th, 2008 at 5:50 am
Wow, that is truly scary! I use BOA as well and am really thinking of changing bnaks now. Unbelievable!
John Galt Says:
July 27th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Who leaves 40k sitting in a checking account? At least buy a CD or put it in a money market…
Allison Says:
July 27th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I kind of think the tellers who so willingly handed your money over should be say, “fired?” I wonder how well they sleep at night. I wonder if they bank at Bank of America?
Soooo Sad!
Jzoo Says:
July 27th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
hey chris,
I have a personal experience with BOA that actually goes against your claim. i recently bought a new laptop with my card and seemed to have trouble making a payment of $1,000. after three tries, I called up BOA and found out that they had held that transaction due to suspicious activity. they needed me to verify the transactions before my card was unblocked again. i was definitely surprised by their action but also felt safe at the same time.
Anyway,I hope things work out well for you and that your money will get back to you. Good luck with everything.
DTSLW Says:
July 27th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I’m glad I closed me BoA account when they lost my direct deposit.
Rick B Says:
July 27th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Chris, this is a terrible shituation, sorry to hear about it bro.
I was seriously thinking about switching my business banking to BofA, since they are on both coasts… after reading this, I’m staying away. I’m with Wells Fargo, who is notorious for daily limits and making it tough to access your own money - I’m thinking that’s not such a bad thing now.
Hope it all works out, I’m sure it will, but I an only imagine the Irish rage.
Chomputer Says:
July 27th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
This is the exact reason I have multiple accounts– ALL with locally owned & operated banks. To the posted who said “know your customer”, as a former IT Director for a local bank I can’t stress enough that while giving up a national chain of banks may seem like an inconvenience, the level of customer service & attention to detail (they “know their customers!!”) is unparalleled.
Please Support Your Local Business (and Keep Fayetteville Funky)
Scott Says:
July 28th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Hey man - saw your thing on consumerist.com and then read it here. My total sympathies. I HATE BOA. But at this point I do want to know - have they refunded your money, or are they fighting you. What’s going on now?
Scott
Scott Says:
July 28th, 2008 at 12:17 am
Hey - further thoughts. I would like to know if you have
1. Gotten your state’s Attorney General involved going after BOA - they can strip their corporate charter in your state if it comes to that.
2. Threatened to sue them for the amount and damages, etc.
3. Complained to the Controller of the Currency that decides whether they can do business nationally.
The Schofield Process » Way to Spot Suspicious Activity Bank of America Says:
July 28th, 2008 at 8:09 am
[...] Continued At Source… [...]
anon Says:
July 28th, 2008 at 8:49 am
my parents (who live abroad) had an account with BoA and some guy managed to close the CD and withdraw money out of a savings account and the CD through ATM transactions. i spent hours on the phone with BoA since you get assigned different handlers every time and you pretty much have to start from square 1 every time. eventually, i got most of the money back except for roughly $150 which they didnt have the brains to calculate - the interest on the CD and the early termination fee confused them, but i was glad that it was almost resolved at the end.
Chris Says:
July 28th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Wow.
All these people blaming BoA.
BoA tries to be friendly and efficient and you complain.
The guy had a fake ID (Yes, Chris said in these comments that he had a fake ID). I assume he made a fake with his photo and Chris’ information. It’s not like they just waltzed in without any ID and took the money.
You should be more worried that this could happen at just about any bank.
But back to the other part of my statement. I recall a story on Digg.com a few months back when a guy with proper ID tried to withdraw a few thousand dollars and they bank hassled him about it.
See, you can’t have it both ways.
What is important here is not that the guy was able to dupe the dumb, minimum-wage teller but rather what Bank of America is going to do to make things right with Chris.
Chris Hooley Says:
July 28th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Chris,
To say it is unimportant that B of A had a “dumb, minimum wage teller” giving away my money to a crackhead is crazy. Who else is to blame for handing my money to a criminal who didn’t look like me, sign like me, write like me etc.
He even misspelled my address. Bank of America is *responsible* to take care of my money. It’s what they do, it’s why we have banks.
I wish the teller who didn’t give the guy his money was one of the 5 that this guy was able to fool. I can see complaints either way. But this isn’t just “a complaint” dude, the bank gave my money away because SERIES of a careless mistakes. Not once, but 5 times. At 5 different banks!
Man, I just don’t know how you can call a bank giving an identity theif 26k then 12k later that day “efficient and friendly” because to me it sounds like “lazy and careless”
Bobby Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 3:23 am
And people wonder why banks charge outrageous fees for everything. Talk to a teller and it’s $5. Go to some other ATM and it’s $4.50. This is why…because their security policies are so lax that anyone can walk in and just be handed free money. They have to make up for that loss somehow, so they take it from everyone a little at a time. It’s like some kind of reverse communism…take a little from everyone and hand it out in big chunks to a select few people who just happen to be a little bolder than the rest.
What Happens AFTER You Get Your Identity Stolen | Chris Hooley's -ThinkBait- Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
[...] and real life obligations where until I had to rebuild that web from scratch. When a thief cleared out my checking account from 5 different Bank of America branches using a fake ID, it basically turned my life upside [...]
Mary Says:
August 14th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
My husband and I have banked with B of A for 37 years until we were victims of identity theft. In spite of filling out multiple forms, calling their 1 800 number, writing 3 letters (faxed, emailed and regular mail), it has now been 9 weeks without even a letter or call from anyone. Their customer service even to a long time client is nonexistent. Wouldn’t you think someone would have noticed 9 debits on the same day and called us?? We think it must be an inside job.
We did discover from calls to the help line that the thief had even placed a “pin number” on the account for online calls and directed calls to a cell phone they opened in our name with our information. That was a treat to get removed.
It was easier for the thief to deal with the bank than it was for us.
We have even tried getting AARP on their case. I agree they do not seem to care or else the problem is so huge they are afraid to disclose it. I’ve now resorted to responding to blogs now (for the first time ever) because apparently some of the bigger companies are actually monitoring these blogs. Thanks to this blog I now have the Chairman’s email address - but no doubt it probably goes to one of their minimum wage helpful “help desk” phone reps who do nothing but type our request into cyperspace.
Signed “broke now but wiser”.
anonymous Says:
August 23rd, 2008 at 6:53 am
Christopher Cantrell was “erroneously released”. Anyone look up his case history on the supreme court site or the superior court site for Arizona?
here’s a link to the bench warrant that didn’t come out til July 1, 2008. He was released in January of 2008. It took them 5 months to realize they had released an inmate on accident.
http://www.courtminutes.maricopa.gov/docs/Criminal/072008/m3254620.pdf
This is the state’s fault.
See he was in a Texas federal prison and served his couple year sentence there. Well he had ten more years to serve for the state after that. so Arizona was supposed to come pick him up “extradite” him. so he could continue serving the rest of his sentence- 10 years!
But they didn’t do that. Instead the Feds handed him a bus ticket to Phoenix and told him to check in with his parol officer.
To make matters worse!!!!!!!
In February 2008, Mr. Cantrell was arrested and charged with forgery and taking the identity of another. He was arrested by Glendale police. Then he spent 4 days in jail downtown and then Phoenix scratched the charges!!!!!!
They had him in their possession but they gave him up and let him walk free out of there on Valentine’s Day!
See while Mr. Cantrell was free between January 11 2008 and July 9 2008….. he was considered State Property.
What stupid freakin idiots they are!~!!! They can’t keep track of the inmates and accidently let one go?! WTF!
Doesn’t that mean that all the victims could technically sue the state for making such a huge mistake.
When it comes down to it, none of this would have ever happened if he was still in prison where he was SUPPOSED to be! None of this would have happened if Arizona would have been more on the ball and picked up their Federal Convict to finish up his 10 year sentence!
Just think if this guy would have murdered someone while he was out on the loose, the victim’s family could and would probably sue the state because they are at fault!
The Taste » Blog Archive » Beware the ID thieves! Says:
August 25th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
[...] Chris-Hooley.com has a great story on ID thieves for those who want to learn more. [...]
J Says:
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I wish I would have ran into this blog just a few weeks ago, my purse was stolen at a gas station and someone used my information at a Wachovia to do the exact same thing. This has been about 3 weeks and Wachovia has still not refunded me my money or contacted me. I’m just amazed by this and I didn’t have the money to cover the checks they deposited and cashed the same day. But a teller from another Wachovia allowed this person to cash a check and gave them all my new account information. Last week my paycheck went into this account and because it was still in the negative they took my paycheck to date i haven’t recovered any of my funds from Wachovia, not even a return call.
Public Service Announcement Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:24 am
[...] No witty family commentary in this post, just a valuable link I’d like to share. I don’t know about you but I’m tired of getting endless offers for pre-approved credit cards in the mail. I have other things to do besides opening these lame offers and shredding the application so some malcontent doesn’t steal my identity (and who wouldn’t want to be me?) and I end up like this guy. [...]
8 Corporate Screw-Ups That Digg Made Big - Left The Box Says:
October 22nd, 2008 at 9:01 am
[...] Way to Spot Suspicious Activity Bank of America: [...]
8 Corporate Screw-Ups That Digg Made Big - Left The Box Says:
October 22nd, 2008 at 9:01 am
[...] Way to Spot Suspicious Activity Bank of America: [...]
spray Says:
December 4th, 2008 at 8:47 am
I am glad he got caught
Cyn Says:
December 17th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Watch out for TCF Bank too. One of their employees stole my identity. TCF officials would not even cooperate with the local police department when they were investigating. I try to warn everyone I can about TCF. They go far beyond not caring, they seem to delight in employing thieves at their branches in Jewel food stores. BEWARE!!
Cagemonkey Says:
January 5th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Yeah, you routinely keep 40K in your bank. OK. I believe you. Sure I do.
Jessica Says:
March 27th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Wow, what an amazing story. I will put a link up on my new site about protection yourself from identity theft (www.identitytheftprotection.info). The reality of the problem is evident here. Is not just an online problem, it’s a real, offline problem too! You’re so lucky they caught the guy!!
Shala Says:
April 6th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Wow, the SAME thing just happened to me with Bank of America, my wallet was stolen a month ago, i canceled all cards and accounts, opened new accounts and someone walked into 4 different BOA locations over 2 days with a fake ID from another state and removed over 7k from my accounts. The person did not have my new account numbers but BOA apparently volunteered the information, including ssn! There was even an extra alert on my account stating that I had been a theft victem earlier in the month. Steller work BOA, sloppy and disgusting.