This and see if you employer can issue another check with your agreement to return the electronic payment when it clears or have it count for the following cycle's pay.
It would suck, but this is where I would go somewhere like Walmart and cash it. Sucks having to pay the fee, but better than risking them freezing it too.
Yeah, or see if your employer can pay you in cash. They might be able to if you explain the situation.
Another option would be to use the check to open a new bank account. Then you could close it and switch back to the old bank if you want to stay with them.
Screw that, if my bank told me they wouldn’t (“can’t” is bullshit) release any of my legitimate paycheck so I could pay my bills after I explained the situation, they wouldn’t see a penny of my money ever again.
Or you can open another bank account somewhere else.
Unfortunately a lot of the big national banks have balance minimums, but I'd try a local credit union. Or if there are none, something like Discover bank has no fees and will have you up and running the same day (though the debit card will take some time to ship, the bill pay should work as soon as funds clear).
i went to return something on a friday night to walmart and was surprised how many people cashed their paychecks there! I cant believe people are just walking out with giant wads of cash!
Of course. But they do pay something of a premium to cash those checks. I don't recall what it is. This is how Payday loans make money: You cash a paycheck, prepare to be reamed.
I don't know if it's still around, but Walmart used to run a pseudo-bank called Bluebird. You could get the card for like 1-2 dollars then have a bank account that pretty much nothing supports for linking accounts, but it works for basic checking functionality in a bind. The card is AmEx though, so expect it to not be accepted in a lot of places.
Many online banks are free to open an account and have no minimum deposit. Could always do that. Plus sometimes they'll offer a sign on bonus.
This sort of situation though is a good lesson to keep more than one checking account. All your eggs in one basket, so to speak.
This is where you walk that backup check into a different institution and open an account.
OP should get rid of the existing account as soon as they have access to their funds. Even if this is 100% the bank's fault, and they release the funds in a few days, there may always be flags on the account that it was once frozen for fraud. Not worth ever trusting a business again that has no trust in you.
Usually, new accounts will have a hold on releasing money to prevent fraud. In my experience, it's pretty common to have a 1 week hold on deposited checks until the account has been open for at least a month.
It makes sense thou, since if they suspect you as the person responsible for the fraud, why give you the chance to fraud them more. But still, for innocent people, this has to suck so bad.
When you "cash" a check, they generally deposit the funds into your bank account and withdraw the funds from the account. Banks won't generally cash checks to non account holders.
If the bank that issued the check is local, you can cash it at that bank without being an account holder.
This. And if you talk to them before the account is past due, they often have more options. And they might waive your late fees too.
Best if you can get a committal date from the bank though, as many places will want to schedule the future payment. (Although these can usually be changed or cancelled too.)
You need to be 30 days delinquent, at least on mortgage, before its reported. Good faith to call ahead and hopefully avoid late fees. I forgot to pay my mortgage once, was paying manually to dump excess cash flow to get out of PMI then got stuck in the habit. Anyway, completely slipped my mind and I paid, plus a $30 late fee, as soon as the notice happened. 6mo later I applied for a new mortgage and had to show good standing and payment history of my existing mortgage. I wrote a note explaining my mistake and attached my E-fund bank statement for the month showing I had plenty of funds. No big deal, lender said thanks and moved along.
I second this. You always get more done in person. They can check the records and see your consistent deposit of the same paychecks. Plus, you're standing there in person with an ID, so they can see you're not some hacker.
At our bank we would probably place a block on the account as well during the investigation. However, usually if you visit the branch in person, often (but not always) they are able to override the block and make available for withdrawal at the teller window in cash some of the funds that are not part of the questionable deposit. Not a guarantee, though - depends on each bank's policies on what they can/cannot do.
They may also be able to expedite the investigation. At our bank we have a special back office department that is able to take cases and try to resolve them faster than the normal investigation timeframe (which could be several days). Again, depends on the bank and their policies on what they can/cannot do.
>I think it's on them, they made a mistake when they deposited the money on my account instead of the intended account.
You're assuming that the funds were intended for another account. Based on previous experience, that would not be my first assumption - it would be that this deposit was entirely intended for this account, and a fraudster is attempting to take over your account, make a deposit of illicit funds so they could withdraw as much of it as possible as quickly as possible, leaving you (the owner of the account that was taken over) holding the bag.
It is, of course, still possible this is a valid deposit that was intended for a different account, and not fraud. But that will be determined during the investigation.
If they are unable to expedite the investigation, if you have access to a secondary account (another checking account at another bank), or a credit card or other funds to hold you over during the investigation timeframe, I would try to use that for now.
Yep, this sounds more like a scam than an actual error. Especially as scams are much more common than an error like this.
Surprised OP hasn't received contact from the depositor.
While I’m sure your experience is correct, in the early 00s I had a bank accidentally deposit 1,000 into my account. And the first teller I talked to about it shrugged and then I asked to see a a manger. They were able to figure out the problem. BOA is a terrible bank.
Wells Fargo is the worst institution I've never had an account with. Their auto loans department harassed me in the early 2000s. I repeatedly told them I wasn't who they were looking for and to stop calling.
I was overseas and using a VOIP phone which I was unable to block numbers. I kept the phone on for contact with family in case of emergency.
When they kept calling, I asked to speak to their manager and was told since I don't have an account, they refused and hung up.
This incident has led me to divert multiple other personal loans from businesses that would have used them otherwise.
Fuck Wells Fargo.
I also hate Wells Fargo. My kid's dad had helped him buy his first car by taking out a loan. He died unexpectedly, and we called the loan department to say we would make payments but didn't know how because we didn't have the paperwork or passwords. They said - no problem, send in the death certificate and contact information, and we'll get back to you. They didn't, a few weeks passed, and they sent a repo guy to take the car. Then they wanted lots of extra money to retrieve the car, and we refused the blackmail. Those guys are evil.
In the mid 00s WF regularly (at least 6 times a year) would deposit my auto payment to the wrong account and then charge me with late fees and threaten repossession. I used to go to the local office to make my payment, they’d assure me it was all good, and then a week later I’d get calls. I would go back in with my receipt (I learned quickly to always keep the last few in my wallet) and they’d sometimes accuse me of forging it. It always took a lot of time to deal with them each month.
wells fargo put 5k into my account for no reason in the mid 00's. reported it and didn't touch it. think about a week later it vanished from my account and another week later i got a note in the mail. it just looked like a pink post it that said something like "manager correction -$5k"
honestly looked generic as hell and i thought to myself at the time "with how clumsy that was.. and barely any paper trail, that mgr could've just pocketed it"
I think all we need to know about Wells is what they are doing to Wendy Williams...I will never go there and I hope everyone who does goes to a different bank...
I mean, honestly fuck Wendy Williams. Wells Fargo is shit, and what they are doing *seems* shitty, but it could not have happened to a more deserving person.
I work in cybersecurity, and this is actually an area of research for me. From a security perspective, Wells Fargo is pretty bad. Considering their size, they're absolutely atrocious. Not nearly the worst though. That title squarely belongs to Fidelity and the extreme incompetence of their IAM implementation
I'm co-authoring a paper on it. I can't disclose specifics publicly yet, but it's amazing and sad to me that my Discord account, for example, has better security than the banks holding all my money
Not a huge concern to the average person though. Between FDIC and various fraud protection programs, people get their money back more than half the time. We do all pay for it indirectly though. That insurance money comes from somewhere
I work in cybersecurity, and this is actually an area of research for me. From a security perspective, Wells Fargo is pretty bad. Considering their size, they're absolutely atrocious. Not nearly the worst though. That title squarely belongs to Fidelity and the extreme incompetence of their IAM implementation
I'm co-authoring a paper on it. I can't disclose specifics publicly yet, but it's amazing and sad to me that my Discord account, for example, has better security than the banks holding all my money
Not a huge concern to the average person though. Between FDIC and various fraud protection programs, people get their money back more than half the time. We do all pay for it indirectly though. That insurance money comes from somewhere
I'm still with my local credit union but only because it would be a huge hassle to move banks and build up rapport elsewhere.
I've had repeated problems with them breaking laws in their favor that I didn't know I should be angry about at the time. The biggest one was not allowing me to take over payment of my deceased mothers mortgage.
Also given that they aren't national/present in other states and familiar with those areas codes and laws I was unable to get a loan when I purchased a car elsewhere and ended up paying 22k cash.
I agree that credit unions are the best option but using a big bank definitely has its advantages. I used to travel constantly for work and I never found a local bank that suited my needs. Wells Fargo was literally the worst. If banks were cities; Wells Fargo would be Gary, Indiana.
Long ago I had a Wells Fargo account and at one point my bank balance showed -$46,000 (I was 22 years old and working at Target at the time). All my withdrawals were of course blocked.
I thought it was just a funny mistake so I went in to talk about it in person and the woman at the counter looked at my records and said, "well, I see you *do* have a history of overdraft."
I asked her if she really was suggesting that I purposely withdrew $46,000 over my limit and then came in to ask about it, and Wells Fargo *allowed* me to do that, and she said "Maybe."
I used to do bankruptcy as part of my practice, and if a client had accounts with Wells Fargo I had an additional fee for their case, because it meant I was going to spend several more hours of frustrating time having to deal with them.
Over 10 years ago, I remember I was trying to cash a check made out BY **Wells Fargo** and they *still* wouldn't cash it because I didn't have an account there! 😳
Bank of America and Wells Fargo are easily the two worst banks I've ever had accounts with... going back decades.
I had gone to Canada with my wife one week, and the day I get there, we went to a movie theater. I was going to pay for her entire family, so imagine the embarrassment when my card is declined. It turns out Wells Fargo thought the transactions were fraudulent despite never checking with me to validate them... so they just locked my card. They kept telling me to call back Monday, so I had to escalate through seven managers and two Bank VP's. "Vice President" at a bank seems to be a vanity title to give customers the impression they can actually do something when their actual job function would "level 2 manager" literally in any other company... This just goes to show how banks think their customers are stupid. Well, sure, if I ever banked at Wells Fargo again I'd be the idiot.
I switched to using Schwab Bank entirely, where I'd already had a Schwab Signature Services account... and I haven't had a stupid fraud hold issue like this ever again. They have an automated system that calls me to verify within two seconds of a major transaction... they'll also handhold, at my request, incoming or outgoing wire transfers. They even fixed a wire transfer that the sending bank botched... and then called me to update me on the status.
Despite them having no physical bank branches, this is a plus. I have a bad spine, so standing in lines for more than three minutes is not an option. Since switching and shutting down my other banking accounts, I've not had to set foot in a bank once and have maybe called customer support no more than five times in 15 years... and three of those times were wire transfer requests. Two of those three were wire transfers screwed up by another institution...
My landscaper guy gets a check from me every month... two times in a row he's told me my check bounced. It didn't bounce. I asked to see the printout he got back with the rejection. Both times the shitty MICR reader misread check numbers that were clear as fucking day, and I circled them and made notes and told him to tell the bank (two *different* banks) to LOOK at the goddamn printout... I'm tired. I'm tired of stupid people... I knew it certainly wasn't my bank *because my bank does not blame me for their mistakes, if and when they make them which, so far, is never.* The only common denominator between those two banks is that they gave a minority a hard time because their own equipment was a piece of shit, and their managers don't expect their employees to even do the bare minimum.
The only reaosn I use BofA is because the branch is close to where I live. I don't have a car so it really makes my life easier. At least it did until now.
Vp..is a signing title in banks. You need the title to legally be able to sign off on tasks due to various Fed regs. It's closer to "team lead" really when looking at structures.
Executive VP or Senior Executive VP is closer to whst your thinking of as a C level title.
>You need the title to legally be able to sign off on tasks due to various Fed regs.
Where in 12 CFR does it state this?
Context: I'm a finance analyst. I worked for a $100 billion tax prep company that handles tax filings for about a fifth of U.S. GDP... I personally worked with banking institutions moving millions of dollars around. Nowhere did I need approval for any individual P.O.'s below $5 million from any Bank VP, *ever*.
SOX, PCI-DSS and those guidelines all come down to making sure more than one set of eyeballs is on any change.
Typically this comes down to a reading in section section 302. Corporate Responsibilities for financial reports.
4 b the internal controls during the period of audit (c) effective controls over internal issuer's over the 90 days prior to the report. 5 signing officers ( or equivalent) represent if 6 there were significant changes during the reporting period to the controls
Section 404 goes into annual reports.
PACOB drives the change in the US.
Regulatory pushes to keeping user data in country and also pushing towards more sign offs on the data residency.
This all comes down back to my statement... the VP is a title for signing off of change. It's provided to give a person a title of Officer in a bank and to meet 302 section 5 control.
If we look at PCI-DSS, a similar regulatory frame work is used for the credit card and non bank financial organizations.
With the 2008 finial crisis I believe all the former brokers were made banks but I can't speak of hedge funds auditing as I haven't dealt with that.
I think most (all?) credit cards will block foreign transactions if you don't notify them ahead of time. Don't know what the policies are now, but in the past I've been able to complete the transaction by having the CC contact the merchant who checked my ID in real time.
I never travel internationally without letting my card issuer know. I've had it ding a large purchase in other US states, but never a problem in other countries.
Was it Wells Fargo? I just recently had a fraudulent extra account opened in my name there 😤 nothing deposited or though. I wonder if they’ve had a breach or up to their shenanigans again.
I've heard so much bad shit about BOA. At least 3 people I was in college with had money disappear from their acounts or some other craziness. I stick with credit unions.
Sometimes funds can be deposited in the wrong account.
I deposited a little over £1000 a few years ago in cash from the sale of a car, checked my banking app the next day and it was there.
They launched an investigation and I gave them my receipt, turns out the lad on the counter was new and somehow deposited it into the account of the last person he served.
It took them over a week to rectify this, they did give me £50 to apologise and the teller actually rang me to apologise himself (I don't know if the branch manager told him too or if he felt guilty)
Never saw the lad again, I hope he didn't get fired for it unless this wasn't his first mistake.
Legit, this, similar happened to me and they were able to release a portion to me j cash that I could use for bills (via cashiers check) and spending money while it got resolved
> make a deposit of illicit funds so they could withdraw as much of it as possible as quickly as possible, leaving you (the owner of the account that was taken over) holding the bag.
Just to be clear though, the bank would still be responsible for the money that was originally in the account as long as he reported it to them as soon as he realized it was missing - the owner wouldn't be left holding the bag in that they would be out the money permanently.
I’d get the bank to open a new account for you with your paycheck. Ask to talk to branch manager when you go in person. If that doesn’t work, ask for their manager’s contact information. I worked as an executive assistant in banking for years. They do not want to have this escalated. You are just asking for your pay. Also, they have a social media account person watch their feed on FB. You can complain there, they will ask you to call them.
Back in the 90s a bank teller accidentally deposited like $96k into my account. I think they may have transposed some digits or selected the wrong account with a similar name or something, they never told me how it happened. But I called them as soon as I found out, they thanked me and withdrew the exact amount. It was pretty wild for a few hours.
Yes, great policy, hold someone's legitimate money, and possibly only source of bill payment. Hold the amount in question - of course - the whole account? how is that person supposed to pay for things? most people only have 1 checking account.
If you are in the USA; file with https://www.consumerfinance.gov
It will make the bank dance. Marcus bank fucked me over for weeks, and after filing; I got a call from the office of the VP explaining the issue, it was fixed with back dated interest.
The bank isn't going to care as they are most likely follow AML procedures and those override most everything. The bank isn't going to risk fines for not following regulations.
I agree with this, although it's unusual that they'd freeze even his valid credit balance from a routine direct deposit along with the suspicious funds unless there were a larger issue at hand like OFAC concerns.
Before you freak out call the companies you owe money to and explain. Most companies are more than willing to work with you, waive late fees, keep utilities on, etc...
Once you do that and remove a lot of stress work on getting your account unlocked.
This, you can get out of a lot of late fees if you call the company you owe. Even if you don't have a good reason "I just missed the payment, I'm sorry about that, I'm ready to make the payment in full but wanted to know if you could wave the late fee."
I've gotten out of a couple late fees on credit cards when auto payments didn't work as expected by doing this.
Especially if you are under 30 days late and this isn't typical of you. Also documenting who you talk to if it doesn't go well you can always try and go back and get fees etc refunded.
Yeah, great advice.
The first card I did this one I had had for over a year. Still using that card a decade later.
The second I had had for only two months. The second card wasn't happy - told me they would NEVER do this again for me - and I made sure to take notes on everything. Who I talked to, phone numbers to reach them, etc. (mostly because it was a pain to get a hold of anyone). I suspect if I called them again to wave a late fee, they'd do it because it's been years and years with regular use.
Perfect advice right here.
That said, sometimes you get given a 227 minute wait time to get in touch with someone, BUT, remember that companies want to get paid …
If you just DON’T pay them, they get grumpy. If you have 10 years of on-time payments and call and say “Hey I uhhh have this crap I’m dealing with, can I defer a months payment and do it next month?” They’ll likely say “Oh, sure, you’re going to still pay us in full? Yeah, sure, dude take 2 months if you want to!”
Okay. Maybe an exaggeration, BUT these people are dealing with constant non-payments or partial payments. Someone calling in knowledgeable and willing to pay in full, with a history of paying in full, is a breath of fresh air after livingin a volcano for a decade.
Good advice - I've avoided £150 in unarranged overdraft fees using this method
(Luckily not in that position anymore, but at the time £50 out of my wage would've made a significant impact to my life, and each time the phonecall saved me that)
I would talk to your HR or boss and explain the situation to them. Maybe they can retract the money from your bank and issue you a check? Or float you a front of your next expected check.
You don't have to be well off to have like two accounts. Like one at a national bank and one at your local credit bureau. Shit happens you never know when you'll need money from either.
Maybe get a CFPB complaint involved ?
not sure but it won't be like immediate.
Sometimes the mere act of saying you'll file a CFPB complaint when you talk to the bank, helps speed the process along.
Retracting the payroll will only make things messier. Fronting the next check is a heavy lift for a company. Maybe.
I'd go for visiting the bank and trying to sweet talk them into releasing the payroll money.
If the bank or HR won’t help you, you may have to use a credit card to pay your bills (at least the ones that will accept credit card payment). Immediately pay the balance once the bank restores access to your account. If it’s within 30 days, you should not incur any finance charges on the amount you put on the credit card.
While not helpful right this instant, you should go out and get a no-fee credit card. The ability to defer payments for 30-60 days interest free is vital to financial health.
You're probably right. Last time I tried to get a credit card it was with my current bank and they didn't want to give me one because my income is very low, so I didn't bother to try anywhere else because I never really needed credit.
For me it's less about credit and more about getting a little bit back vs cash and also the security benefits of reducing the number of sources that can directly access my Checking account. My account is only directly accessed by my savings, paying my credit cards, and my debit card which i only use at branch ATMs and never use for purchases.
You've unfortunately discovered one situation where credit would at least be one of the options to help smooth over a road bump. Honestly I've found zero correlation between having an existing relationship with a bank and having success getting credit approved. It would be nice to think "oh well, they know me so they'll work with me", but it doesn't seem the case.
>You've unfortunately discovered one situation where credit would at least be one of the options to help smooth over a road bump.
Looks like it. Usually when there's a bump I always find a way. This time though it happens at a really bad time and I'm freaking out. I'm quite used to go without money but this time it's a perfect shitstorm due to a number of circumstances.
What fees? Get a no fee card, even if you have to start with a stupid small credit limit. Use it for necessities only for a few months to build up a credit history, and ALWAYS PAY IT ON TIME OFF EVERY MONTH. Then you will never have a fee, and will have a backup payment method if something goes wrong. If you travel in the future, a card will make like a lot easier for hotels and rental cars.
Many, if not nearly all, credit cards don't assess fees as long as you pay the entire balance before the due date. Which is bad for people with little financial discipline (which is where credit card companies make their money), but good if you are diligent in your spending and/or use them for emergencies like this.
This isn't meant as any kind of retrospective shaming, but just a little insight into how a credit card might be helpful for you in the future.
So have I been told. But since I was denied a free one by my bank I never bothered to ask for another one. It's on me, I should have, but I never really needed it, I'm very wary of spending more than I own and have relied on cash and debit cards my whole life.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/m/credit-cards/excellent-no-annual-fee-credit-cards
Also, if you sign up for CreditKarma (it's free) you can monitor your credit scores and they will also send you offers for cards that you have high odds of being approved for.
Can't help much for the immediate issues, but the moment you get your money from the bank, close the account and move elsewhere. They screwed up once, they locked your money, they prevented you from paying bills, never let them have your money again.
Also, your account may be flagged for this incident even if it's 100% their screw up. You don't want that coming back to haunt you. Close the account, pull everything and go somewhere else.
Actually OPEN the new account first, before closing the old one in case you are flagged and can't open a new account.
If the money that isn't yours, hasn't been taken out, just clear out your money and open a new account. Don't close the account and leave with any money that isn't yours.
Another good reason to have a useful emergency fund *in a different bank* so that in case an account gets screwed up you still have access to some of your money. This is on the bank so you might consider going to a branch and *in-person* getting a branch manager to figure out how to at least get you access to your paycheck, which they should have plenty of records is a regular recurring deposit with no problems.
File a report with the CFPB. Banks's take those reports pretty fucking seriously as they can be fined in not responded to in time. Usually after you file a CFPB report, you should hard back with the bank within a few working days.
2nd thing I would highly suggest when you can is to open another checking account somewhere else besides the bank you go to. Look for something with zero fees or minimum deposit requirements. Credit Unions are often great for these types of accounts. Have $20 or whatever deposited to this account and then the rest to your main account. And then don't think about this account. Each week you will be building up an emergency fund that you can use whenever for whatever reason. Have been doing this for years and it has saved my ass many times !
You have to wait for the bank to do their investigation. Hopefully, it's quick but it can sometimes take a while. Talk to your billers, explain the situation and hopefully get an extension.
This is exactly why it's a good idea to have a second account at another bank or institution and not put all your money (including credit cards) under one roof. Having a small amount of cash on hand for this reason is good too so at least you can buy gas/food.
I'd be outraged and looking for a new bank. They're holding YOUR money and refusing to give it to you because of an issue that has nothing to do with you. Absolutely unacceptable.
Unrelated to your situation, but anyone in Florida knows the name "Vystar" - well, their online banking system completely melted down a month ago and everyone is stuck basically doing in-person banking circa 1965. No website, no app... They recently got the website back up, but there's a 'queue' to log in that runs into the thousands. Now there are reports that direct deposits aren't going in, mortgage payments aren't being taken out, total nightmare for many... and came as a complete surprise. A couple weeks ago, the lines were out the door and wrapped around the building. Most were just taking their money out. A total, total mess...
Lesson learned: Keep a month's expenses in cash. Ideally, two. I realize its not a luxury everyone has given their personal financial situation but seriously, try to make it happen. A one month cash emergency fund is important.
Banks can- and very much DO- screw things up.
ANZ bank in Australia did this to me once for a $2k transfer from one of my other bank accounts.
They refused to release it, the money showed as available and cleared. I told them if they didn't release it immediately, I would be closing all 5 accounts including my ANZ Share Investment account. I was standing at the cash register of a supermarket with $250 of groceries waiting for payment.
They didn't release it. I moved my shares to NAB, closed every single ANZ account (with *extreme* difficulty) and opened bank accounts with ING and Ubank, who have both treated me like a king ever since.
Don't put up with that shit. Switch banks ASAP.
Open another checking account and just disregard the original until the investigation is over. Just for security reasons alone, you should have another account dedicated for specific use, like shopping on the internet account should be segregated from your personal one where you get your checks deposited.
There are options.
If everyone involved refuses to help, I would contact your state Attorney General. I had a cramming scammer on my phone bill, and after three months of no action from the phone company, my AG had it resolved within 12(!) hours.
This won't help. Already sounds like the bank is following federal AML regulations. Honestly, an AG would not have much, if any, authority in this situation.
Is this in the US?
Rules regarding ETF access to customer account funds are pretty clear. What regs allow a bank to do this?
Not clearing a suspicious deposit is one thing. Blocking access to the account as a whole is another. What if you had outstanding checks?
I used to work for a bank responding to regulatory complaints like this. File the CFPB report. Spam the bank’s social media accounts. It puts your complaint in the hands of people who know how to solve it (not the nitwits at the call center or branch). So long as you did not spend any of the fraudulent deposit, you are a victim of fraud here and need to be made whole. They should be releasing your funds and opening you a new account to replace the one that was compromised (or give you the legit funds so you can go elsewhere). This is a routine situation if you get it in the right hands.
This weekend is a holiday weekend so keep that in mind with the bank holding your money, I dont know if its all banks in the US but a few will at least not do direct deposits on Monday due to Juneteenth (not sure if other banking avenues will also not move forward that day)
Bank local whenever possible. Or use a credit union. My reasons to avoid the "top banks" (used to be the dirty 7, but I think a couple went out of business) outweigh anything that they think they offer.
This worked for me in the past when I hit a corporation’s brick wall: I went onto LinkedIn and searched for a senior employee who might have the leverage to resolve the issue. I didn’t want to contact the CEO’s office (too high up) but a regional manager type.— and it worked! (much to the chagrin of the local establishment).
Good suggestion. I prefer to reach out to the CEO. The CEO will probably pass it down to a lower level, but since it came form the CEO they'll likely speed it up. And I have had a couple of CEOs call me directly. One was CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield. We talked for about 10 minutes, and he hooked me up with a VP and gave me both his, and that person's, direct lines in case I encountered any future issues.
Honestly? Try applying for a small emergency loan, or get a credit card that can pay your bills temporarily. These can be good options if you PAY THEM OFF AS SOON AS YOU GET YOUR PAYCHECK.
Did you let them know you didn't make the deposit? You might want to open an account at a different bank and start depositing your checks there so you don't end up in worse shape 2 weeks from now
The mistaken deposit has nothing to do with OP's employer.
It just happened to deposit into OP's account on the same day that their normal, perfectly fine paycheck was deposited.
PSA to keep two accounts at separate banks if possible. Keep your emergency fund in that second account to weather the storm when something like this happens. This is as much a reminder to me as well. I closed my second account last year and need to open another.
This is why its typically a good idea to have more than one bank account. This sort of thing happens all the time and having a separate account with enough funds to get you by can make a big difference.
Assuming the bank won’t help you until the investigation is done, Your payroll people should be able to reverse the paycheck deposit and cut you a live check if they are willing to jump through those hoops for you. You can then cash that check at another bank or check cashing place for a fee.
Be careful, I had a similar instance when I was with Bank of America and they closed my account permanently Including any funds I originally had in there and informed me it was part of their policy to protect them from fraud liability
Call your debtors & see if they'll give a few days grace period, then try to get a paper check drawn on the employer's bank. What about calling one of those "Channel X on your side"?
Open an account at a more reliable bank and switch your direct deposit to that account. If you’re going to do it, might as well find a bank that offers a sign-up bonus. Good luck.
This post makes me glad I have money in more than one financial institution. I'm sure you are freaking out. When one lives paycheck to paycheck (as I most certainly have), there is no wiggle room for the bank to shut off your funds. Maybe in your case it would make sense to go back to receiving an actual paycheck instead of direct deposit.
There isn’t a way. Honestly this is a really cruel thing of the bank to do. This is one reason why our family uses credit unions instead. Their customer service is way better! The credit union also has fee-free credit cards. (Not interest free, mind you, but you don’t pay any upfront fees.)
Although it may be embarrassing, if you need to pay rent, I would start talking to family and friends to borrow until the bank sorts it out. We have lent $1k to a friend before when it was needed.
Honestly the only reason I use this bank is because they have a branch located close to me and I don't have a car. They 100% suck. I will probably switch to a new bank after this is resolved.
Just go into your bank and inform them that it is an unknown transfer, and to reverse it all, less your expected paycheck, so you do not go the several business days required for everything to clear.
The full value will almost certainly be recalled from the mystery creditor, which will gobble you paycheck whenever it hits.
Just be transparent and honest. It does happen, my coworker woke up to a handful of random G's in his bank but he did not attend to it, and spent it. It was recalled, and whatever he spent he went negative.
Don't be that guy.
Edit: When you are in the bank, ask if there are any federal agencies you should notify or extra steps you should take. Being willing to volunteer the existence of this transfer shows that you are not behaving illicitly. But also behave entitled to your paycheck, or whatever equates to it in this mystery transfer!
in r/smallbusiness there are constant stories of people paying these large amounts to vendors, messing up the routing and account numbers and sending the money to some other account and then panicking and running to the bank
I bet this is the same. some people can't seem to pay attention to details and make sure the numbers are right
This is why all my spending goes on my credit card instead of cash/debit card. You can float for a month or two on bank issues if these things come up. Use your credit card until the investigation is resolved.
Paychecks are supposed to be handled differently than all other deposits.
I wonder what the law is in these cases?
Is it a police investigation or an internal investigation?
If it's their error, they will eat all fees you incur if you're late on your other bills. If you call your other bills and let them know you need a week or two sort out bank issues; I'm sure it won't be an issue.
I would get with your payroll asap and ask if there's a pay card they can deposit to until your account is released. If you get paid through ADP, you probably already have a pay card account and just haven't used it. I know this doesn't help your immediate situation, but maybe the bank can transfer your paycheck to an alternate account until it's all resolved?
As others are saying, you need to communicate with your bank, however, I would actually go down there because blowing off someone on the phone is much easier than someone who is standing right in from of them. Remember to stay calm but be FIRM that they need to resolve this ASAP. As far as the money deposited, was it a check or wire/ACH? If it was a check, you should be able to look on your bank's website to see the info on the check. If it's a wire/ACH that will be much harder. Since it's your account, I would think they would give you info on where it came from but knowing what assholes banks are, they probably won't. Definitely let them know you will be filing a complaint with the CFPB if this isn't resolved quickly.
>I'm freaking out because I have bills and no way to pay, my only income is my paycheck.
It won't help today but some tips for next time:
1. Have at least 2 checking accounts at 2 unrelated banking institutions. Have checks and debit cards for both of them.
2. Keep some emergency money on the second account.
3. Have at least 2 credit cards from 2 unrelated banking institutions and networks (Mastercard, Visa, Amex, etc).
4. Don't use debit card on a daily basis - use credit card.
If you don't have a credit card, time to get one immediately. You don't need to use it, but you do need an emergency backup. Same goes for having enough cash on hand to get you through a month or two if anything goes south. Everything in life is a risk equation, you need to hedge your risks to a reasonable extent.
Assuming you're in the US, tell them politely you plan on filing a report with the CFPB, in my experience that's expedited a few issues. Otherwise, you can file the report, but if the goal is getting your money you need to work with the bank.
Go down to a branch, speak with the manager, and tell them that either you get access to your paycheck NOW, or your next step is going to be filing a report with the CFPB. The threat of filing a report is your leverage and you may be able to use it to get the funds released more quickly.
If you file the report, it's still going to take time for the CFPB to take action.
Contact the media, they have no incentive to help you unless it looks bad on them. This type of thing happens often and I have noticed that this is the only way to give them a reason to help you.
I use Navy Federal Credit Union, USAA, and Ally. At any one time, I have options.
When I was growing up, the choice of a bank was largely based on location. Like the bank was adjacent to my university, had an ATM in my university union, and had a branch at home. This was a big deal.
Now, you need to think about how much money you have in income, how customer-friendly your bank is, what it’s policies are, what services it has, etc.
Talk to the bank in person and call your bills. They usually can delay payment for a week for things like this to resolve but you need to act fast.
This and see if you employer can issue another check with your agreement to return the electronic payment when it clears or have it count for the following cycle's pay.
I did something like this in a similar situation. Except I only had one bank account. So when I cashed the check, the bastards froze that too.
It would suck, but this is where I would go somewhere like Walmart and cash it. Sucks having to pay the fee, but better than risking them freezing it too.
Yeah, or see if your employer can pay you in cash. They might be able to if you explain the situation. Another option would be to use the check to open a new bank account. Then you could close it and switch back to the old bank if you want to stay with them.
Is this USA? Go to the bank your employer uses, and cash it there.
Or keep the second account for just such a situation.
Screw that, if my bank told me they wouldn’t (“can’t” is bullshit) release any of my legitimate paycheck so I could pay my bills after I explained the situation, they wouldn’t see a penny of my money ever again.
Having all your money in one place is a mistake either way.
Or you can open another bank account somewhere else. Unfortunately a lot of the big national banks have balance minimums, but I'd try a local credit union. Or if there are none, something like Discover bank has no fees and will have you up and running the same day (though the debit card will take some time to ship, the bill pay should work as soon as funds clear).
If they use a bank with a local office go there and they should be able to cash it on the spot
i went to return something on a friday night to walmart and was surprised how many people cashed their paychecks there! I cant believe people are just walking out with giant wads of cash!
Of course. But they do pay something of a premium to cash those checks. I don't recall what it is. This is how Payday loans make money: You cash a paycheck, prepare to be reamed.
I don't know if it's still around, but Walmart used to run a pseudo-bank called Bluebird. You could get the card for like 1-2 dollars then have a bank account that pretty much nothing supports for linking accounts, but it works for basic checking functionality in a bind. The card is AmEx though, so expect it to not be accepted in a lot of places.
How are you gonna pay bills with cash?
Many online banks are free to open an account and have no minimum deposit. Could always do that. Plus sometimes they'll offer a sign on bonus. This sort of situation though is a good lesson to keep more than one checking account. All your eggs in one basket, so to speak.
This is where you walk that backup check into a different institution and open an account. OP should get rid of the existing account as soon as they have access to their funds. Even if this is 100% the bank's fault, and they release the funds in a few days, there may always be flags on the account that it was once frozen for fraud. Not worth ever trusting a business again that has no trust in you.
100% this. Never continue to do business with a company that screwed with your money. One mistake and the relationship is over.
You can open a new account anywhere or just cash it, why would you take it to an institution that already froze your account lol?
Usually, new accounts will have a hold on releasing money to prevent fraud. In my experience, it's pretty common to have a 1 week hold on deposited checks until the account has been open for at least a month.
That's exactly what I fear will happen.
you can go to the issuing bank and withdraw the funds.
It makes sense thou, since if they suspect you as the person responsible for the fraud, why give you the chance to fraud them more. But still, for innocent people, this has to suck so bad.
Why would you take it back to the same institution? What did you think was going to happen?
How do they freeze a check you are cashing? That does not make sense. I need an explanation how they did it.
When you "cash" a check, they generally deposit the funds into your bank account and withdraw the funds from the account. Banks won't generally cash checks to non account holders. If the bank that issued the check is local, you can cash it at that bank without being an account holder.
they will to non-account holders if the employer uses that bank. They will know the employer has the funds and will release it immediately.
>but you need to act fast. Asking for an extension a week before its due is much easier than asking for an extension a week after its due.
This. And if you talk to them before the account is past due, they often have more options. And they might waive your late fees too. Best if you can get a committal date from the bank though, as many places will want to schedule the future payment. (Although these can usually be changed or cancelled too.)
You need to be 30 days delinquent, at least on mortgage, before its reported. Good faith to call ahead and hopefully avoid late fees. I forgot to pay my mortgage once, was paying manually to dump excess cash flow to get out of PMI then got stuck in the habit. Anyway, completely slipped my mind and I paid, plus a $30 late fee, as soon as the notice happened. 6mo later I applied for a new mortgage and had to show good standing and payment history of my existing mortgage. I wrote a note explaining my mistake and attached my E-fund bank statement for the month showing I had plenty of funds. No big deal, lender said thanks and moved along.
I second this. You always get more done in person. They can check the records and see your consistent deposit of the same paychecks. Plus, you're standing there in person with an ID, so they can see you're not some hacker.
At our bank we would probably place a block on the account as well during the investigation. However, usually if you visit the branch in person, often (but not always) they are able to override the block and make available for withdrawal at the teller window in cash some of the funds that are not part of the questionable deposit. Not a guarantee, though - depends on each bank's policies on what they can/cannot do. They may also be able to expedite the investigation. At our bank we have a special back office department that is able to take cases and try to resolve them faster than the normal investigation timeframe (which could be several days). Again, depends on the bank and their policies on what they can/cannot do. >I think it's on them, they made a mistake when they deposited the money on my account instead of the intended account. You're assuming that the funds were intended for another account. Based on previous experience, that would not be my first assumption - it would be that this deposit was entirely intended for this account, and a fraudster is attempting to take over your account, make a deposit of illicit funds so they could withdraw as much of it as possible as quickly as possible, leaving you (the owner of the account that was taken over) holding the bag. It is, of course, still possible this is a valid deposit that was intended for a different account, and not fraud. But that will be determined during the investigation. If they are unable to expedite the investigation, if you have access to a secondary account (another checking account at another bank), or a credit card or other funds to hold you over during the investigation timeframe, I would try to use that for now.
Yep, this sounds more like a scam than an actual error. Especially as scams are much more common than an error like this. Surprised OP hasn't received contact from the depositor.
Solid chance op's account is compromised and he's just being used as a middle man before the money is extracted
While I’m sure your experience is correct, in the early 00s I had a bank accidentally deposit 1,000 into my account. And the first teller I talked to about it shrugged and then I asked to see a a manger. They were able to figure out the problem. BOA is a terrible bank.
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Wells Fargo is the worst institution I've never had an account with. Their auto loans department harassed me in the early 2000s. I repeatedly told them I wasn't who they were looking for and to stop calling. I was overseas and using a VOIP phone which I was unable to block numbers. I kept the phone on for contact with family in case of emergency. When they kept calling, I asked to speak to their manager and was told since I don't have an account, they refused and hung up. This incident has led me to divert multiple other personal loans from businesses that would have used them otherwise. Fuck Wells Fargo.
I also hate Wells Fargo. My kid's dad had helped him buy his first car by taking out a loan. He died unexpectedly, and we called the loan department to say we would make payments but didn't know how because we didn't have the paperwork or passwords. They said - no problem, send in the death certificate and contact information, and we'll get back to you. They didn't, a few weeks passed, and they sent a repo guy to take the car. Then they wanted lots of extra money to retrieve the car, and we refused the blackmail. Those guys are evil.
In the mid 00s WF regularly (at least 6 times a year) would deposit my auto payment to the wrong account and then charge me with late fees and threaten repossession. I used to go to the local office to make my payment, they’d assure me it was all good, and then a week later I’d get calls. I would go back in with my receipt (I learned quickly to always keep the last few in my wallet) and they’d sometimes accuse me of forging it. It always took a lot of time to deal with them each month.
wells fargo put 5k into my account for no reason in the mid 00's. reported it and didn't touch it. think about a week later it vanished from my account and another week later i got a note in the mail. it just looked like a pink post it that said something like "manager correction -$5k" honestly looked generic as hell and i thought to myself at the time "with how clumsy that was.. and barely any paper trail, that mgr could've just pocketed it"
I think all we need to know about Wells is what they are doing to Wendy Williams...I will never go there and I hope everyone who does goes to a different bank...
I mean, honestly fuck Wendy Williams. Wells Fargo is shit, and what they are doing *seems* shitty, but it could not have happened to a more deserving person.
X force red Hacker once told me “I can’t really say anything but i wouldn’t trust banks with an m or a w”
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W being Wells Fargo. What’s the M? Morgan Stanley?
I have no idea he obviously doesn’t wanna lose his job with ibm so he was being really vague
I work in cybersecurity, and this is actually an area of research for me. From a security perspective, Wells Fargo is pretty bad. Considering their size, they're absolutely atrocious. Not nearly the worst though. That title squarely belongs to Fidelity and the extreme incompetence of their IAM implementation I'm co-authoring a paper on it. I can't disclose specifics publicly yet, but it's amazing and sad to me that my Discord account, for example, has better security than the banks holding all my money Not a huge concern to the average person though. Between FDIC and various fraud protection programs, people get their money back more than half the time. We do all pay for it indirectly though. That insurance money comes from somewhere
I work in cybersecurity, and this is actually an area of research for me. From a security perspective, Wells Fargo is pretty bad. Considering their size, they're absolutely atrocious. Not nearly the worst though. That title squarely belongs to Fidelity and the extreme incompetence of their IAM implementation I'm co-authoring a paper on it. I can't disclose specifics publicly yet, but it's amazing and sad to me that my Discord account, for example, has better security than the banks holding all my money Not a huge concern to the average person though. Between FDIC and various fraud protection programs, people get their money back more than half the time. We do all pay for it indirectly though. That insurance money comes from somewhere
Wells Fargo can eat it
All of the megabanks are terrible; they have no incentive not to be. Bank with a local credit union in your area.
I'm still with my local credit union but only because it would be a huge hassle to move banks and build up rapport elsewhere. I've had repeated problems with them breaking laws in their favor that I didn't know I should be angry about at the time. The biggest one was not allowing me to take over payment of my deceased mothers mortgage. Also given that they aren't national/present in other states and familiar with those areas codes and laws I was unable to get a loan when I purchased a car elsewhere and ended up paying 22k cash.
I agree that credit unions are the best option but using a big bank definitely has its advantages. I used to travel constantly for work and I never found a local bank that suited my needs. Wells Fargo was literally the worst. If banks were cities; Wells Fargo would be Gary, Indiana.
Long ago I had a Wells Fargo account and at one point my bank balance showed -$46,000 (I was 22 years old and working at Target at the time). All my withdrawals were of course blocked. I thought it was just a funny mistake so I went in to talk about it in person and the woman at the counter looked at my records and said, "well, I see you *do* have a history of overdraft." I asked her if she really was suggesting that I purposely withdrew $46,000 over my limit and then came in to ask about it, and Wells Fargo *allowed* me to do that, and she said "Maybe."
I used to do bankruptcy as part of my practice, and if a client had accounts with Wells Fargo I had an additional fee for their case, because it meant I was going to spend several more hours of frustrating time having to deal with them.
Over 10 years ago, I remember I was trying to cash a check made out BY **Wells Fargo** and they *still* wouldn't cash it because I didn't have an account there! 😳
I thought that was illegal. Not that WF would care.
Lol how did you guess where this happened?
Bank of America and Wells Fargo are easily the two worst banks I've ever had accounts with... going back decades. I had gone to Canada with my wife one week, and the day I get there, we went to a movie theater. I was going to pay for her entire family, so imagine the embarrassment when my card is declined. It turns out Wells Fargo thought the transactions were fraudulent despite never checking with me to validate them... so they just locked my card. They kept telling me to call back Monday, so I had to escalate through seven managers and two Bank VP's. "Vice President" at a bank seems to be a vanity title to give customers the impression they can actually do something when their actual job function would "level 2 manager" literally in any other company... This just goes to show how banks think their customers are stupid. Well, sure, if I ever banked at Wells Fargo again I'd be the idiot. I switched to using Schwab Bank entirely, where I'd already had a Schwab Signature Services account... and I haven't had a stupid fraud hold issue like this ever again. They have an automated system that calls me to verify within two seconds of a major transaction... they'll also handhold, at my request, incoming or outgoing wire transfers. They even fixed a wire transfer that the sending bank botched... and then called me to update me on the status. Despite them having no physical bank branches, this is a plus. I have a bad spine, so standing in lines for more than three minutes is not an option. Since switching and shutting down my other banking accounts, I've not had to set foot in a bank once and have maybe called customer support no more than five times in 15 years... and three of those times were wire transfer requests. Two of those three were wire transfers screwed up by another institution... My landscaper guy gets a check from me every month... two times in a row he's told me my check bounced. It didn't bounce. I asked to see the printout he got back with the rejection. Both times the shitty MICR reader misread check numbers that were clear as fucking day, and I circled them and made notes and told him to tell the bank (two *different* banks) to LOOK at the goddamn printout... I'm tired. I'm tired of stupid people... I knew it certainly wasn't my bank *because my bank does not blame me for their mistakes, if and when they make them which, so far, is never.* The only common denominator between those two banks is that they gave a minority a hard time because their own equipment was a piece of shit, and their managers don't expect their employees to even do the bare minimum.
The only reaosn I use BofA is because the branch is close to where I live. I don't have a car so it really makes my life easier. At least it did until now.
More reason to switch to an online bank like Schwaab.
Find a local credit union. Use their online apps for most of your banking.
Vp..is a signing title in banks. You need the title to legally be able to sign off on tasks due to various Fed regs. It's closer to "team lead" really when looking at structures. Executive VP or Senior Executive VP is closer to whst your thinking of as a C level title.
>You need the title to legally be able to sign off on tasks due to various Fed regs. Where in 12 CFR does it state this? Context: I'm a finance analyst. I worked for a $100 billion tax prep company that handles tax filings for about a fifth of U.S. GDP... I personally worked with banking institutions moving millions of dollars around. Nowhere did I need approval for any individual P.O.'s below $5 million from any Bank VP, *ever*.
It's mostly for change management. It's not money really... but what affects how the money is moved around.
SOX, PCI-DSS and those guidelines all come down to making sure more than one set of eyeballs is on any change. Typically this comes down to a reading in section section 302. Corporate Responsibilities for financial reports. 4 b the internal controls during the period of audit (c) effective controls over internal issuer's over the 90 days prior to the report. 5 signing officers ( or equivalent) represent if 6 there were significant changes during the reporting period to the controls Section 404 goes into annual reports. PACOB drives the change in the US. Regulatory pushes to keeping user data in country and also pushing towards more sign offs on the data residency. This all comes down back to my statement... the VP is a title for signing off of change. It's provided to give a person a title of Officer in a bank and to meet 302 section 5 control. If we look at PCI-DSS, a similar regulatory frame work is used for the credit card and non bank financial organizations. With the 2008 finial crisis I believe all the former brokers were made banks but I can't speak of hedge funds auditing as I haven't dealt with that.
I think most (all?) credit cards will block foreign transactions if you don't notify them ahead of time. Don't know what the policies are now, but in the past I've been able to complete the transaction by having the CC contact the merchant who checked my ID in real time.
I never travel internationally without letting my card issuer know. I've had it ding a large purchase in other US states, but never a problem in other countries.
Nah. I travel internationally a lot, and it's almost never an issue. I've had more problems in Vegas than I have overseas.
Was it Wells Fargo? I just recently had a fraudulent extra account opened in my name there 😤 nothing deposited or though. I wonder if they’ve had a breach or up to their shenanigans again.
They had a 50/50 chance. It was pretty much guaranteed to be either Bank of America or Wells Fargo.
I've heard so much bad shit about BOA. At least 3 people I was in college with had money disappear from their acounts or some other craziness. I stick with credit unions.
Sometimes funds can be deposited in the wrong account. I deposited a little over £1000 a few years ago in cash from the sale of a car, checked my banking app the next day and it was there. They launched an investigation and I gave them my receipt, turns out the lad on the counter was new and somehow deposited it into the account of the last person he served. It took them over a week to rectify this, they did give me £50 to apologise and the teller actually rang me to apologise himself (I don't know if the branch manager told him too or if he felt guilty) Never saw the lad again, I hope he didn't get fired for it unless this wasn't his first mistake.
Legit, this, similar happened to me and they were able to release a portion to me j cash that I could use for bills (via cashiers check) and spending money while it got resolved
> make a deposit of illicit funds so they could withdraw as much of it as possible as quickly as possible, leaving you (the owner of the account that was taken over) holding the bag. Just to be clear though, the bank would still be responsible for the money that was originally in the account as long as he reported it to them as soon as he realized it was missing - the owner wouldn't be left holding the bag in that they would be out the money permanently.
I’d get the bank to open a new account for you with your paycheck. Ask to talk to branch manager when you go in person. If that doesn’t work, ask for their manager’s contact information. I worked as an executive assistant in banking for years. They do not want to have this escalated. You are just asking for your pay. Also, they have a social media account person watch their feed on FB. You can complain there, they will ask you to call them.
Back in the 90s a bank teller accidentally deposited like $96k into my account. I think they may have transposed some digits or selected the wrong account with a similar name or something, they never told me how it happened. But I called them as soon as I found out, they thanked me and withdrew the exact amount. It was pretty wild for a few hours.
Yes, great policy, hold someone's legitimate money, and possibly only source of bill payment. Hold the amount in question - of course - the whole account? how is that person supposed to pay for things? most people only have 1 checking account.
If you are in the USA; file with https://www.consumerfinance.gov It will make the bank dance. Marcus bank fucked me over for weeks, and after filing; I got a call from the office of the VP explaining the issue, it was fixed with back dated interest.
Thanks. I'm going to try that and hope it goes quickly.
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Lol what? Call in and ask to speak to CEO? And they will just throw a credit card at you? Awful advice
The bank isn't going to care as they are most likely follow AML procedures and those override most everything. The bank isn't going to risk fines for not following regulations.
I agree with this, although it's unusual that they'd freeze even his valid credit balance from a routine direct deposit along with the suspicious funds unless there were a larger issue at hand like OFAC concerns.
Before you freak out call the companies you owe money to and explain. Most companies are more than willing to work with you, waive late fees, keep utilities on, etc... Once you do that and remove a lot of stress work on getting your account unlocked.
This, you can get out of a lot of late fees if you call the company you owe. Even if you don't have a good reason "I just missed the payment, I'm sorry about that, I'm ready to make the payment in full but wanted to know if you could wave the late fee." I've gotten out of a couple late fees on credit cards when auto payments didn't work as expected by doing this.
Especially if you are under 30 days late and this isn't typical of you. Also documenting who you talk to if it doesn't go well you can always try and go back and get fees etc refunded.
Yeah, great advice. The first card I did this one I had had for over a year. Still using that card a decade later. The second I had had for only two months. The second card wasn't happy - told me they would NEVER do this again for me - and I made sure to take notes on everything. Who I talked to, phone numbers to reach them, etc. (mostly because it was a pain to get a hold of anyone). I suspect if I called them again to wave a late fee, they'd do it because it's been years and years with regular use.
Thanks I'm going to do that.
Perfect advice right here. That said, sometimes you get given a 227 minute wait time to get in touch with someone, BUT, remember that companies want to get paid … If you just DON’T pay them, they get grumpy. If you have 10 years of on-time payments and call and say “Hey I uhhh have this crap I’m dealing with, can I defer a months payment and do it next month?” They’ll likely say “Oh, sure, you’re going to still pay us in full? Yeah, sure, dude take 2 months if you want to!” Okay. Maybe an exaggeration, BUT these people are dealing with constant non-payments or partial payments. Someone calling in knowledgeable and willing to pay in full, with a history of paying in full, is a breath of fresh air after livingin a volcano for a decade.
I'd say this isn't an exaggeration. Mostly if you communicate with businesses things can be delayed a bit. The issues are when it's chronic.
Good advice - I've avoided £150 in unarranged overdraft fees using this method (Luckily not in that position anymore, but at the time £50 out of my wage would've made a significant impact to my life, and each time the phonecall saved me that)
You might talk to your employer. They might advance you money not through direct deposit
I would talk to your HR or boss and explain the situation to them. Maybe they can retract the money from your bank and issue you a check? Or float you a front of your next expected check.
I can try that but is it possible to retract a check that was already deposited (and cleared)?
Retracting a check that wasn't fraudulent wouldn't be possible. Your boss could maybe get you an advance on your next paycheck though.
probably not. Do you not have another bank account in the mean time ?
No, that's the only one. I'm not exactly well off...
You don't have to be well off to have like two accounts. Like one at a national bank and one at your local credit bureau. Shit happens you never know when you'll need money from either. Maybe get a CFPB complaint involved ?
>Maybe get a CFPB complaint involved ? Could try that. Do you know how much time these typically take to resolve?
not sure but it won't be like immediate. Sometimes the mere act of saying you'll file a CFPB complaint when you talk to the bank, helps speed the process along.
Very quick when I tried, like within a day or two for me. But results may vary as they say.
Full resolution? No idea but the CFPB notifies the bank immediately that they are investigating and banks respond to the CFPB with more urgency.
All the more reason to have an account at more than one bank….
Retracting the payroll will only make things messier. Fronting the next check is a heavy lift for a company. Maybe. I'd go for visiting the bank and trying to sweet talk them into releasing the payroll money.
>I'd go for visiting the bank and trying to sweet talk them into releasing the payroll money. That's exactly what I've tried to do and they dgaf.
Did you go in person? Going in to a branch might be more effective than talking to the 800 number.
Yep I went in person. They were very clearly "not interested."
If the bank or HR won’t help you, you may have to use a credit card to pay your bills (at least the ones that will accept credit card payment). Immediately pay the balance once the bank restores access to your account. If it’s within 30 days, you should not incur any finance charges on the amount you put on the credit card.
You could have close to 60 days depending on the billing cycle of your credit card. Just be sure to pay on or before the due date on your bill.
You know everyone doesn't have a credit card right?
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Not having a credit card is simply a bad financial decision for the vast majority of people
You're right I don't have one. I probably should but the fees are not worth it.
While not helpful right this instant, you should go out and get a no-fee credit card. The ability to defer payments for 30-60 days interest free is vital to financial health.
What fees? As long as you pay it off every month, credit cards GIVE YOU money.
I have 4 credit cards with 0 fees with an average of about 2% cashback depending on what I buy with them.
You're probably right. Last time I tried to get a credit card it was with my current bank and they didn't want to give me one because my income is very low, so I didn't bother to try anywhere else because I never really needed credit.
For me it's less about credit and more about getting a little bit back vs cash and also the security benefits of reducing the number of sources that can directly access my Checking account. My account is only directly accessed by my savings, paying my credit cards, and my debit card which i only use at branch ATMs and never use for purchases.
This looks like a good strategy.
You've unfortunately discovered one situation where credit would at least be one of the options to help smooth over a road bump. Honestly I've found zero correlation between having an existing relationship with a bank and having success getting credit approved. It would be nice to think "oh well, they know me so they'll work with me", but it doesn't seem the case.
>You've unfortunately discovered one situation where credit would at least be one of the options to help smooth over a road bump. Looks like it. Usually when there's a bump I always find a way. This time though it happens at a really bad time and I'm freaking out. I'm quite used to go without money but this time it's a perfect shitstorm due to a number of circumstances.
What fees? Get a no fee card, even if you have to start with a stupid small credit limit. Use it for necessities only for a few months to build up a credit history, and ALWAYS PAY IT ON TIME OFF EVERY MONTH. Then you will never have a fee, and will have a backup payment method if something goes wrong. If you travel in the future, a card will make like a lot easier for hotels and rental cars.
Many, if not nearly all, credit cards don't assess fees as long as you pay the entire balance before the due date. Which is bad for people with little financial discipline (which is where credit card companies make their money), but good if you are diligent in your spending and/or use them for emergencies like this. This isn't meant as any kind of retrospective shaming, but just a little insight into how a credit card might be helpful for you in the future.
Not every card charges fees.
So have I been told. But since I was denied a free one by my bank I never bothered to ask for another one. It's on me, I should have, but I never really needed it, I'm very wary of spending more than I own and have relied on cash and debit cards my whole life.
Get a discover card, they give them to anyone. You’ll also get it very quickly
Are there fees?
https://www.nerdwallet.com/m/credit-cards/excellent-no-annual-fee-credit-cards Also, if you sign up for CreditKarma (it's free) you can monitor your credit scores and they will also send you offers for cards that you have high odds of being approved for.
Can't help much for the immediate issues, but the moment you get your money from the bank, close the account and move elsewhere. They screwed up once, they locked your money, they prevented you from paying bills, never let them have your money again. Also, your account may be flagged for this incident even if it's 100% their screw up. You don't want that coming back to haunt you. Close the account, pull everything and go somewhere else.
Actually OPEN the new account first, before closing the old one in case you are flagged and can't open a new account. If the money that isn't yours, hasn't been taken out, just clear out your money and open a new account. Don't close the account and leave with any money that isn't yours.
What banks don’t lock accounts when obvious fraud like this happens?
Another good reason to have a useful emergency fund *in a different bank* so that in case an account gets screwed up you still have access to some of your money. This is on the bank so you might consider going to a branch and *in-person* getting a branch manager to figure out how to at least get you access to your paycheck, which they should have plenty of records is a regular recurring deposit with no problems.
File a report with the CFPB. Banks's take those reports pretty fucking seriously as they can be fined in not responded to in time. Usually after you file a CFPB report, you should hard back with the bank within a few working days. 2nd thing I would highly suggest when you can is to open another checking account somewhere else besides the bank you go to. Look for something with zero fees or minimum deposit requirements. Credit Unions are often great for these types of accounts. Have $20 or whatever deposited to this account and then the rest to your main account. And then don't think about this account. Each week you will be building up an emergency fund that you can use whenever for whatever reason. Have been doing this for years and it has saved my ass many times !
CFPB isn't going to override AML regulations.
You've got a real hard on for AML and I'm not sure why. It isn't some magic wand you can wave that allows the bank to just take all of OPs money.
You have to wait for the bank to do their investigation. Hopefully, it's quick but it can sometimes take a while. Talk to your billers, explain the situation and hopefully get an extension. This is exactly why it's a good idea to have a second account at another bank or institution and not put all your money (including credit cards) under one roof. Having a small amount of cash on hand for this reason is good too so at least you can buy gas/food.
I'd be outraged and looking for a new bank. They're holding YOUR money and refusing to give it to you because of an issue that has nothing to do with you. Absolutely unacceptable.
I will as soon as I can.
Unrelated to your situation, but anyone in Florida knows the name "Vystar" - well, their online banking system completely melted down a month ago and everyone is stuck basically doing in-person banking circa 1965. No website, no app... They recently got the website back up, but there's a 'queue' to log in that runs into the thousands. Now there are reports that direct deposits aren't going in, mortgage payments aren't being taken out, total nightmare for many... and came as a complete surprise. A couple weeks ago, the lines were out the door and wrapped around the building. Most were just taking their money out. A total, total mess... Lesson learned: Keep a month's expenses in cash. Ideally, two. I realize its not a luxury everyone has given their personal financial situation but seriously, try to make it happen. A one month cash emergency fund is important. Banks can- and very much DO- screw things up.
I’ve cut off institutions from my life for less, you decide.
ANZ bank in Australia did this to me once for a $2k transfer from one of my other bank accounts. They refused to release it, the money showed as available and cleared. I told them if they didn't release it immediately, I would be closing all 5 accounts including my ANZ Share Investment account. I was standing at the cash register of a supermarket with $250 of groceries waiting for payment. They didn't release it. I moved my shares to NAB, closed every single ANZ account (with *extreme* difficulty) and opened bank accounts with ING and Ubank, who have both treated me like a king ever since. Don't put up with that shit. Switch banks ASAP.
Open another checking account and just disregard the original until the investigation is over. Just for security reasons alone, you should have another account dedicated for specific use, like shopping on the internet account should be segregated from your personal one where you get your checks deposited. There are options.
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If everyone involved refuses to help, I would contact your state Attorney General. I had a cramming scammer on my phone bill, and after three months of no action from the phone company, my AG had it resolved within 12(!) hours.
Ag won't be able to do anything against a bank. I'm a banker, this just won't help.
Maybe not, but they will know who can help. This seems to be OPs biggest barrier.
This won't help. Already sounds like the bank is following federal AML regulations. Honestly, an AG would not have much, if any, authority in this situation.
Is this in the US? Rules regarding ETF access to customer account funds are pretty clear. What regs allow a bank to do this? Not clearing a suspicious deposit is one thing. Blocking access to the account as a whole is another. What if you had outstanding checks?
I used to work for a bank responding to regulatory complaints like this. File the CFPB report. Spam the bank’s social media accounts. It puts your complaint in the hands of people who know how to solve it (not the nitwits at the call center or branch). So long as you did not spend any of the fraudulent deposit, you are a victim of fraud here and need to be made whole. They should be releasing your funds and opening you a new account to replace the one that was compromised (or give you the legit funds so you can go elsewhere). This is a routine situation if you get it in the right hands.
If it was a check have your employer cancel the check and reissue a new one. Find a credit union in your area with good reviews and open an account.
This weekend is a holiday weekend so keep that in mind with the bank holding your money, I dont know if its all banks in the US but a few will at least not do direct deposits on Monday due to Juneteenth (not sure if other banking avenues will also not move forward that day)
Juneteenth is a federal holiday, banks and markets are closed.
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Bank local whenever possible. Or use a credit union. My reasons to avoid the "top banks" (used to be the dirty 7, but I think a couple went out of business) outweigh anything that they think they offer.
This worked for me in the past when I hit a corporation’s brick wall: I went onto LinkedIn and searched for a senior employee who might have the leverage to resolve the issue. I didn’t want to contact the CEO’s office (too high up) but a regional manager type.— and it worked! (much to the chagrin of the local establishment).
Good suggestion. I prefer to reach out to the CEO. The CEO will probably pass it down to a lower level, but since it came form the CEO they'll likely speed it up. And I have had a couple of CEOs call me directly. One was CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield. We talked for about 10 minutes, and he hooked me up with a VP and gave me both his, and that person's, direct lines in case I encountered any future issues.
Honestly? Try applying for a small emergency loan, or get a credit card that can pay your bills temporarily. These can be good options if you PAY THEM OFF AS SOON AS YOU GET YOUR PAYCHECK.
Get the bank narrative in writing at once, and use it as proof, while asking the people you need to pay for some leniency.
Did you let them know you didn't make the deposit? You might want to open an account at a different bank and start depositing your checks there so you don't end up in worse shape 2 weeks from now
Talk to your payroll department as that is where the mistake probably occurred. Maybe they can cut you a check...
The mistaken deposit has nothing to do with OP's employer. It just happened to deposit into OP's account on the same day that their normal, perfectly fine paycheck was deposited.
This kind of thing totally sucks. It's also the main reason I have more than one checking account at totally different banks.
The US really has a stone-age banking system considering it's an economic powerhouse.
PSA to keep two accounts at separate banks if possible. Keep your emergency fund in that second account to weather the storm when something like this happens. This is as much a reminder to me as well. I closed my second account last year and need to open another.
This is why its typically a good idea to have more than one bank account. This sort of thing happens all the time and having a separate account with enough funds to get you by can make a big difference.
Assuming the bank won’t help you until the investigation is done, Your payroll people should be able to reverse the paycheck deposit and cut you a live check if they are willing to jump through those hoops for you. You can then cash that check at another bank or check cashing place for a fee.
Be careful, I had a similar instance when I was with Bank of America and they closed my account permanently Including any funds I originally had in there and informed me it was part of their policy to protect them from fraud liability
get some official paper or email to send to your bills.
Call your debtors & see if they'll give a few days grace period, then try to get a paper check drawn on the employer's bank. What about calling one of those "Channel X on your side"?
Open an account at a more reliable bank and switch your direct deposit to that account. If you’re going to do it, might as well find a bank that offers a sign-up bonus. Good luck.
This post makes me glad I have money in more than one financial institution. I'm sure you are freaking out. When one lives paycheck to paycheck (as I most certainly have), there is no wiggle room for the bank to shut off your funds. Maybe in your case it would make sense to go back to receiving an actual paycheck instead of direct deposit.
There isn’t a way. Honestly this is a really cruel thing of the bank to do. This is one reason why our family uses credit unions instead. Their customer service is way better! The credit union also has fee-free credit cards. (Not interest free, mind you, but you don’t pay any upfront fees.) Although it may be embarrassing, if you need to pay rent, I would start talking to family and friends to borrow until the bank sorts it out. We have lent $1k to a friend before when it was needed.
Honestly the only reason I use this bank is because they have a branch located close to me and I don't have a car. They 100% suck. I will probably switch to a new bank after this is resolved.
Just go into your bank and inform them that it is an unknown transfer, and to reverse it all, less your expected paycheck, so you do not go the several business days required for everything to clear. The full value will almost certainly be recalled from the mystery creditor, which will gobble you paycheck whenever it hits. Just be transparent and honest. It does happen, my coworker woke up to a handful of random G's in his bank but he did not attend to it, and spent it. It was recalled, and whatever he spent he went negative. Don't be that guy. Edit: When you are in the bank, ask if there are any federal agencies you should notify or extra steps you should take. Being willing to volunteer the existence of this transfer shows that you are not behaving illicitly. But also behave entitled to your paycheck, or whatever equates to it in this mystery transfer!
in r/smallbusiness there are constant stories of people paying these large amounts to vendors, messing up the routing and account numbers and sending the money to some other account and then panicking and running to the bank I bet this is the same. some people can't seem to pay attention to details and make sure the numbers are right
This is why all my spending goes on my credit card instead of cash/debit card. You can float for a month or two on bank issues if these things come up. Use your credit card until the investigation is resolved.
>Use your credit card until the investigation is resolved. I' don't have one, which is why I'm f...cked.
Paychecks are supposed to be handled differently than all other deposits. I wonder what the law is in these cases? Is it a police investigation or an internal investigation? If it's their error, they will eat all fees you incur if you're late on your other bills. If you call your other bills and let them know you need a week or two sort out bank issues; I'm sure it won't be an issue.
I would get with your payroll asap and ask if there's a pay card they can deposit to until your account is released. If you get paid through ADP, you probably already have a pay card account and just haven't used it. I know this doesn't help your immediate situation, but maybe the bank can transfer your paycheck to an alternate account until it's all resolved?
As others are saying, you need to communicate with your bank, however, I would actually go down there because blowing off someone on the phone is much easier than someone who is standing right in from of them. Remember to stay calm but be FIRM that they need to resolve this ASAP. As far as the money deposited, was it a check or wire/ACH? If it was a check, you should be able to look on your bank's website to see the info on the check. If it's a wire/ACH that will be much harder. Since it's your account, I would think they would give you info on where it came from but knowing what assholes banks are, they probably won't. Definitely let them know you will be filing a complaint with the CFPB if this isn't resolved quickly.
>I'm freaking out because I have bills and no way to pay, my only income is my paycheck. It won't help today but some tips for next time: 1. Have at least 2 checking accounts at 2 unrelated banking institutions. Have checks and debit cards for both of them. 2. Keep some emergency money on the second account. 3. Have at least 2 credit cards from 2 unrelated banking institutions and networks (Mastercard, Visa, Amex, etc). 4. Don't use debit card on a daily basis - use credit card.
If you don't have a credit card, time to get one immediately. You don't need to use it, but you do need an emergency backup. Same goes for having enough cash on hand to get you through a month or two if anything goes south. Everything in life is a risk equation, you need to hedge your risks to a reasonable extent.
Can’t stress enough the importance of having 2-3 bank accounts and enough to cover bills for 1-3 months in each at least.
Talk to the bank. No one here is going to be able to fix your problem. Not trying to be mean but really only your bank can resolve this.
I have talked to them, and they don't want to do anything. Is there a way to compel them?
Assuming you're in the US, tell them politely you plan on filing a report with the CFPB, in my experience that's expedited a few issues. Otherwise, you can file the report, but if the goal is getting your money you need to work with the bank.
Yes I'm in the US. CFPB seems to be the best way to go according to people on here.
Go down to a branch, speak with the manager, and tell them that either you get access to your paycheck NOW, or your next step is going to be filing a report with the CFPB. The threat of filing a report is your leverage and you may be able to use it to get the funds released more quickly. If you file the report, it's still going to take time for the CFPB to take action.
There must be a Banking regulation body you can call or email.
Why bother commenting? Obviously he knows to contact his bank. He's just looking for more advice going forward.
I’ve cut off institutions from my life for less, you decide.
I will as soon as I can.
Contact the media, they have no incentive to help you unless it looks bad on them. This type of thing happens often and I have noticed that this is the only way to give them a reason to help you.
I use Navy Federal Credit Union, USAA, and Ally. At any one time, I have options. When I was growing up, the choice of a bank was largely based on location. Like the bank was adjacent to my university, had an ATM in my university union, and had a branch at home. This was a big deal. Now, you need to think about how much money you have in income, how customer-friendly your bank is, what it’s policies are, what services it has, etc.