Fraud Victim Put into Collections by Bank of America

The Miami Herald published a story of a fraud victim, who had a debit-card stolen and subsequently was sent into collections. Allegedly, the crook (who stole the card) deposited $18,412.67 in fraudulent checks into the account; then withdrew $3,659.90.

The account holder did all the right things, contacted Bank of America; filed a report with the authorities etc.

Why this wasn't noticed when the account was reported stolen is unclear? Since the total amount of $18,412.67 wasn't withdrawn, you would deduct they noticed the fraud deposits?

BofA isn't commenting, they say because of "privacy reasons."

The Miami Herald offered a pretty good resource to help anyone, who has a similar problem:

"If you have a problem with a national bank and feel like you aren't getting anywhere, contact the U.S. Treasury's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency at 800-613-6743, toll-free. Its Consumer Assistance Group investigates and works to resolve consumer complaints."

Miami Herald story, here.

Another resource is the Federal Trade Commission, who has a consumer page on how to deal with "unkind" collection practices, here.