Bank of America Fake Accounts Scandal Lawsuit

Several class action lawsuits have been filed seeking money for thousands of customers potentially affected by Bank of America’s account opening scandal. Bank of America allegedly accessed their customers’ personal information and credit reports to open credit cards, debit cards, checking accounts, and savings accounts in their name. These fake accounts cost many customers thousands of dollars in monthly and yearly fees, significant time and stress trying to close the fake accounts, and potentially damaged their credit score, according to the lawsuits.

Bank of America also allegedly led its customers to falsely believe that these fraudulent accounts were created by outside third parties, leading customers to believe that their identity had been stolen.

In July 2023, the CFPB ordered Bank of America to pay $250 million in penalties for offenses including opening fraudulent consumer accounts without its customers’ permission. The CFPB states that Bank of America has been opening and profiting from fake accounts since at least 2012 in order to reach its own aggressive and unrealistic sales goals for new account openings. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra’s summary of the fake account scandal suggested that the bank essentially assumed its customers’ identities to exploit them financially.

News reports about the scandal have drawn comparisons between Bank of America’s alleged scheme and Wells Fargo’s 2016 fake accounts scandal. Wells Fargo also imposed unrealistic cross-selling goals and quotas on its employees to open new accounts for existing customers. Wells Fargo opened millions of fraudulent accounts, reportedly resulting in over $3 billion in criminal and civil penalties to compensate its customers.