Class Action Filed Against Bank Of America Over EDD Fraud
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - A class action lawsuit has been filed against Bank of America alleging that it hasn't done enough to protect unemployment accounts from fraud.
Kristine Lazar was the first to expose the massive fraud against unemployed Californians who had their Bank of America EDD cards drained by fraudsters.
Now a class action lawsuit has been filed against the banking giant alleging BofA has violated the California consumer privacy act, the electronic funds transfer act and the California unfair competition law.
"We filed this case against Bank of America because Bank of America has failed to protect recipients of unemployment insurance," said attorney Brian Danitz. "This is absolutely a monopoly. Bank of America has an exclusive contract with EDD and...has sole responsibility for fraud claims, but they have dropped the ball big time."
The suit also accuses BofA of not implementing basic security measures "such as chips in the debit cards that they give out to unemployment recipients", said Danitz.
EDD has said that chip technology was relatively new when it entered into an exclusive contract with BofA. That contract is set to expire this summer.
In a statement to us, BofA said:
"As California's unemployment program faces billions of dollars in fraud, Bank of America is working every day with the state to prevent criminals from getting money and ensuring legitimate recipients receive their benefits."
But victims we spoke with - many of whom have had their accounts frozen and are still waiting for a resolution - say they didn't get their money back until they contacted us.
We have sent Bank of America dozens of cases involving compromised EDD cards and in almost every case, they have gotten us a resolution - even for claims they originally closed.