New York’s Attorney General is penalizing a national bank for freezing its customers’ accounts and handing the funds over to debt collectors.

New York AG Letitia James says an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that South Dakota-based Pathward Bank illegally sent debt collectors tens of thousands of dollars from New Yorkers’ accounts and froze hundreds of clients’ accounts more than 1,400 times.

According to the AG, Pathward illegally froze accounts belonging to New Yorkers in violation of the state’s Exempt Income Protection Act (EIPA), which bans banks from freezing accounts that include certain government benefits like Social Security benefits, veterans’ benefits, disability insurance, and unemployment insurance, worth up to $3,425.

Says the Attorney General,

“Vulnerable New Yorkers had money taken out of their bank accounts by the very institution they trusted to protect them… Pathward’s illegal actions deprived New Yorkers of their hard-earned wages and critical government benefits.

My office is refunding New Yorkers for every dollar they lost due to Pathward’s illegal actions. If any New Yorker suspects that money is being improperly removed from their bank account, I encourage them to contact my office immediately.”

The OAG’s investigation also determined that the bank repeatedly violated the EIPA after instructing its third-party servicers to freeze accounts and transfer their funds to debt collectors.

Attorney General James notes that many of the accounts frozen had balances under $800, which is several thousand below the wage threshold under the EIPA.

Pathward has agreed to pay $79,664 plus interest to around 88 New Yorkers effected by the violations, and also pay a penalty of $627,000.

James says Pathward cooperated with the investigation and “voluntarily began to remediate these illegal practices last year.”

Pathward Financial had $6.868 billion in assets as of March 2023.

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

Check Price Action

Follow us on X, Facebook and Telegram

Surf The Daily Hodl Mix

&nbsp

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney

A Bank of America customer says he lost tens of thousands of dollars after bad actors found a way to hijack his account.

California resident Jeff Drobman says the theft began when his phone abruptly came alive with multiple notifications from his Bank of America app, reports NBC Los Angeles.

“I started to get notifications that someone tried to log into my account, that my password had been changed.”

Jeff says he tried to call the bank to stop the criminal from looting his account, but his phone suddenly lost service. By the time he was able to get in touch with Bank of America, it was too late.

The thief had already siphoned $21,000 from his account.

“They go, ‘They’ve already withdrawn $21,000 from your account.’ Are you kidding me? That’s half of my bank account.”

Jeff says he was a victim of a SIM-swap attack – a scheme where criminals tricked Spectrum, Jeff’s carrier, into connecting his phone number to a different SIM card. Once in possession of the phone number, the thieves received the text back codes from the bank that allowed them to change Jeff’s password and steal his money.

“So the text message went not to my phone, but their phone. So by hijacking my phone, they intercept my text back codes.”

The American Bankers Association believes that text back codes help secure trillions of dollars in the banking system. But Jeff says it’s clear they are not secure, and he’s urging the industry to begin using facial recognition or authentication apps.

“I want to get the word out that text back codes are not safe.”

NBC 4 contacted Bank of America to learn more about Jeff’s case. After hearing from NBC, the banking giant promptly credited Jeff’s account with $21,000, saying that the lender takes cases of identity theft seriously.

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

Check Price Action

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Telegram

Surf The Daily Hodl Mix

&nbsp

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any loses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney

The head of the largest bank in the US says he’s concerned about “significant uncertain forces” brewing on the global stage.

In the firm’s first-quarter earnings results, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says persistent inflation and new, violent conflicts are his two top concerns as Q2 begins.

“Many economic indicators continue to be favorable. However, looking ahead, we remain alert to a number of significant uncertain forces. First, the global landscape is unsettling – terrible wars and violence continue to cause suffering, and geopolitical tensions are growing.

Second, there seems to be a large number of persistent inflationary pressures, which may likely continue.

And finally, we have never truly experienced the full effect of quantitative tightening on this scale. We do not know how these factors will play out, but we must prepare the Firm for a wide range of potential environments to ensure that we can consistently be there for clients.”

On a call with reporters, Dimon said he thinks markets are probably “too happy,” and the odds of a major market pullback and stalled economy are “higher than other people think.”

Dimon also touched on Russia’s war with Ukraine, stating its outcome “could be determinative on what happens to the global economy” if the cost of gas and oil gets out of control.

JPMorgan’s stock dropped 6.4% on Friday after reporting a net interest income of $23.1 billion in Q1. That’s a 4% drop from the previous quarter.

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

Check Price Action

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Telegram

Surf The Daily Hodl Mix

&nbsp

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any loses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney