Legal Question in Consumer Law in Florida

Someone in Boston went to my bank (at the branch) and drained my account. I am located in Florida. They requested and were issued a debit card, then did three withdrawals at the bank's location, totaling $24,000, then went to an ATM and took the last $480. The bank did not see anything suspicious about it, and gave them my money. I found out the following day and filed complaints with the bank. They have given me NO answer, it has been 7 days already, no resolution. How can I get my money back?


Asked on 9/13/21, 3:09 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Contact the police and call the bank's customer service department and ask to speak to the fraud department. If you truly didn't authorize anyone to take the money of have anyone else on the account, then they can see the time and location of the withdrawals and view security cameras. The investigation can still take some time and you will need to complete a fraud report. Since they were issued a debit card (again assuming you didn't authorize this), then they would likely have some form of fake ID along with your personal information for identity theft. Contact the credit bureaus (Expeiran, Equifax, and Transunion) and file a report with them as well. Contact the IRS and establish an PIN so a fraudulent return isn't filed in your name. Contact all your other financial accounts (credit card companies, etc.) and speak to the fraud departments. They will issue new account numbers. Ask to set up verbal passwords so when you call in they don't just ask for Date of Birth and SS# since identity thieves usually have this info. When setting up passwords and security questions (like mother's maiden's name), don't use real information--in fact for mother's maiden name you can often use a combination of random letters and numbers. Don't save any passwords on a computer or phone. Good luck to you. It can take some time for investigating and be frustrating. Work through the fraud departments and escalate to a fraud department manager if necessary but be polite (upsetting them may only delay the process).

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Answered on 9/14/21, 5:01 am


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