unauthorized withdrawals
Complaint
Billye Beck
Country: United States
Three unauthorized withdrawals were made to my account. I caught it each time, and was able to go to the bank and get it refunded. Last week I checked my online banking account, and found that all of my money was gone from my checking account. This resulted in several insufficient fund charges. After complaining to the bank about it several times, at all levels, from bookkeeping through the president of the bank. After they "looked into it", their offer to help me was to refund insufficient fund charges. The explanations I got were the following: (a)It was not reported within 24 hours, (b) Well, if it had been drawn for the amount that was authorized, we would have caught it. (I had authorized payment of $66.38, for a period of 48 months, and then stopped payment on it twice). HELLO, are they not getting this? IT WAS UNAUTHORIZED, no matter the amount or how many days it had been. It was paid on Monday, I caught it on Friday. If you have to notify them within 24 hours, you're in trouble if you do banking by monthly statement. They are telling us that this is a "Federal" regulation that it must be reported within 24 hours. NO one I talk to, has ever heard of this. Please help.
Comments
The bank, to pay a loan, or some third party making unauthorized charges.
Check into FRB Reg. E, and EFTA.
If this is a consumer account, then in case of loss of debit cards, there are requirements to notify your bank promptly, or you might be subject to higher losses due to fraudulent withdrawls, but a condition of such liability is generally that the money cannot be recovered. Those terms do not apply if the debit card isn't actually lost. Disputing based on errors found on statements, when no card has been lost, generally allow up to 60 days from the statement date of the statement showing the disputed charges, although this dispute should be sent in writing.
If this is a commercial account, there are no such protections, and you had better keep on top of it, or your account could be drained.
If you are having problems, contact the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, where you can file a complaint. www.occ.gov
In general, it is unwise to authorize automatic payments from your accounts, for any reason, due to problems such as this. It may be a nuisance to send in checks for repeated payments, but at least you have control, and have a stronger legal leg to stand on if the creditor messes up.
EFT isn't what its claimed to be.