A Chicago mother and daughter say they have repeatedly been issued new Bank of America debit cards, only to find more transactions they insist they did not authorise appearing on their accounts.
Louise Williams, 82, and her daughter Brenda, 63, say they have spent years reporting suspected fraud, changing account details and replacing cards. Brenda estimates she has gone through between 15 and 20 debit cards, including at least six this year.
Louise said she had been issued seven or eight replacement cards. Each time, she claims, unauthorised payments appeared after the new card was activated.
“And every time I would activate that card, someone goes in and steals out of my account,” she said.
Mother afraid to activate new debit card
Louise works as a home health care aide and relies on wages and Social Security payments deposited into her Bank of America account. She said she has repeatedly found purchases from services she does not use.
Transactions reviewed with her included payments linked to Amazon, DoorDash and Uber Eats, as well as activity appearing in New York and California. Louise said she did not make the purchases.
“I don’t use Amazon, I don’t use Uber Eats,” she said. “None of the stuff you get delivered. I go in the store and do whatever purchases I want to make.”
She said the usual response had been to report the activity, return to the bank, close or change the account and receive another card.
But Louise said she had become so concerned about a repeat of the alleged fraud that she had not activated her latest debit card.
“I haven’t activated the card because some way or another someone goes in and take my funds out,” she said.
Brenda says disputed payments were reversed
Brenda said she had been dealing with transactions she did not recognise since 2021. Some disputed payments were initially credited back to her account, she said, before the money was later taken away again.
“They credit me then reverse it,” Brenda said. “It has to be thousands of dollars.”
She said the money was needed for everyday living costs, adding: “I am a home care aide and I have to use it to live and have a roof over my head.”
Brenda believes the problem stops when she does not have a physical debit card. “When I don’t have a physical card they can’t steal, steal, steal,” she said.
The family’s experience raises questions about how suspected fraud could continue after a card number has been replaced. Harry Maugans, founder and chief executive of payment-protection company Privacy, said the source of a compromise might not be the physical card itself.
He said possible explanations could include someone gaining access to an online banking account, malware on a device used for banking or digital-wallet access. He also pointed to card-network services that can automatically provide participating merchants with updated payment details when a card is replaced.
“If you keep changing the locks and they keep getting in, they’re probably already in the house, right?” Maugans said.
He stressed that he could not determine what had happened in the Williams family’s case without examining their accounts and devices.
Bank of America investigating claims
Maugans advised customers who continue to see unauthorised transactions to ask their bank for a record of recent log-ins and check for unfamiliar devices or locations. He also recommended reviewing digital-wallet access and scanning devices used for online banking for malware.
The Better Business Bureau told the broadcaster it had found no complaints matching the specific pattern described by Louise and Brenda.
Bank of America said it was investigating the family’s claims.
Louise said the continuing uncertainty had affected her sleep and left her worried about what might happen to her money.
“It’s been to the point where I can’t sleep,” she said. “I am worried about the stuff that is going to happen to me.”
Brenda called for stronger protection for customers facing repeated disputes, saying: “You all need to get it together. You are harming families and seniors and no one is doing anything about it.”
