CHARLOTTE — Brenda Lacey helps run an engine repair business. She’s no stranger to finances, so when she pulled up her bank account, “and I’m like, something’s not right. That balance is not correct.”
She says someone withdrew $17,000 from a Truist branch in Huntersville, odd since she lives in Georgia.
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“I have no way of knowing how they got my information,” she said.
She says the signature on the withdrawal slip is nothing like the signature Truist has on file for her.
Lacey says Truist reimbursed the money. She asked the bank to add more fraud protections and alerts to prevent a repeat.
“Anything $1,000 or more, I was to be notified,” she said.
But she says that didn’t happen. She says two more cash withdrawals. This time in Myrtle Beach: $19,000 and 8,000. She says no one alerted her.
“When you walk out with that amount of cash money ... it blows my mind,” she said. "I’m not a rich person by any means, and you know, this hurts."
And this time: no refund. Truist denied Lacey’s fraud claims twice and blamed her instead, writing -- “Truist denies your claim for reimbursement because of negligence in safeguarding access to account information and/or financial documents.”
WSOC’s sister station in Atlanta got involved, and Lacey says the bank offered her an agreement to repay her the rest of the money.
Action 9 attorney Jason Stoogenke says if you fall victim to fraud involving your bank account:
- File a police report.
If the bank doesn’t reimburse you, you can file a complaint with government agencies that keep an eye on banks.
- U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- N.C. Office of the Commissioner of Banks
- South Carolina Board of Financial Institutions -- Office of the Commissioner of Banking
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