My mom isn’t allowed to open a bank account, don’t know what to do

[aleckss]

My mom (62F) and I went to Bank of America to try and open an account but the account was closed the next day and we got a letter saying she might even be ineligible to open an account with them or any other bank in the future. The issue is she has incoming checks each month from SSI now and not sure what to do with the checks or where to put them now; not sure if there is an alternate option to a bank account where she can deposit her checks in the mean time?

 

[christopherpriestley]

@aleckss So my aunt was being catfished secretly. She didn’t tell anyone until it turned into such a mess no banks would bank with her. These guys would date her online and have her move money around for them. Is she doing something like this? They target older people.

 

[frances6098]

@christopherpriestley Worked as a fraud analyst with a bank. This happens all the time.

 

[paulusdei]

@frances6098 I was a data analyst in the fraud department of a bank. We had special software that looked for unusual account activity to try and spot these situations.

When I first got hired in 2007, the Wire Department didn’t even challenge people when they came in to send huge amounts of money to a sketchy destination. The new head of the department was hired at the same time as I was, and the first policy she enacted was to require clients to specify where the wire was going and what it was for.

 

[illblush4u]

@paulusdei I manage a wire department now as one of my duties. Fraudsters now coach people on the correct way to answer the questions we ask to determine if it’s a real wire. Makes it really tough to draw the line between sending money where people “want” it to go and also protecting them.

 

[misschelseapearl]

@paulusdei I’m not saying they’re not, but women are also far more likely to get help like above. Most kids are far more likely to look out for their mom and moms are far more likely to accept help, which can lead to posts like above that lean towards women, and then biasing the online posts towards women falling for these scams. Anecdotally, men are far more likely to fall for these scams but that could be biased.

Good research topic though!

 

[aleckss]

@christopherpriestley Jesus that’s awful. Did she get it resolved? Luckily for my mom I don’t think it was that sort of issue because she doesn’t have any online presence

 

[christopherpriestley]

@aleckss You’re sure? We didn’t think my aunt was tech savvy or online either. They talked he through everything. It did not get resolved. It’s been 5-10 years and she keeps doing it. We worry she’s going to lose her house but she won’t listen. They’re smooth.

 

[jowflowsfree25]

@christopherpriestley My wife had a client who eventually after months of counseling admitted to giving a “secret” love affair from Isreal over $50k. He told her his daughter had cancer and collected it over a year or so.

Never even met the guy. But now she’s divorced so…

 

[satellien]

@christopherpriestley Are women more susceptible to this type of scam or something?

 

[melshizadek]

@satellien It would be interesting to see a data breakdown, but anyone who does not have adequate internet and tech savvy would be susceptible to these scams. My uncle fell for a very similar scam with someone posing as a woman and talking to him through FB messenger. He didn’t know enough to recognize the red flags. These scammers know how to target people.

 

[benarandres]

@satellien No, but older lonely folks are.

 

[sgarrett]

@aleckss I'm guessing there is something on chexsystems. Maybe an account was charged off. Probably worth checking that out.

 

[aleckss]

@sgarrett Yeah they did mention that actually! We’re gonna get a report in the mail going into detail about what happened

 

[sgarrett]

@aleckss I believe if they turn you down for something on chexsystems they have to give you paperwork that explains why. I could be wrong on that though.

 

[purestofpure]

@sgarrett They aren’t supposed to give stuff like that to people apparently. Idk why but at both my jobs if people got rejected on chexsystems, we couldn’t give them the paperwork detailing why. It’s kinda dumb if you ask me.

 

[sgarrett]

@purestofpure Hmm, if I remember correctly, at my bank if we denied someone we had to give them a reason.

 

[purestofpure]

@sgarrett Oh? Maybe it’s different policies depending on the place?

 

[wes2010]

@sgarrett You’re correct. Banks are required to provide an adverse action notice to potential customers who are turned down from opening an account. The bank’s notice has certain regulatory requirements it has to include but doesn’t include the actual Chexsystems report. The notice does inform the customer about how to request their report directly from Chexsystems (or whatever reporting agency they use).

 

[bombito]

@aleckss Try a credit union, some of them don't use chexsystems