PSA: Bank of America froze my account, is closing accounts of non-citizens

[Meowmalade]

A couple of months ago, I got some phone calls claiming to be from Bank of America, asking me to call them back to "verify my personal information or else my account will be frozen".  Sounds really scammy, right?  I ignored it.  I figured if there was anything important, it would come through my Secure Messages.  Googling the phone number just yielded a bunch of "is this a scam" pages with everyone saying that it was totally a scam.  Well, turns out it was real, and they did freeze parts of my account.  An incoming wire transfer was frozen and a credit card payment (for a seldomly used card) bounced.  I had to call a special department and verify a bunch of information for them to unfreeze my account.  They asked for my SSN, address, phone number, citizenship status, job title.  I was not happy with the way it was handled.

I looked up the situation and it turns out that Bank of America is freezing accounts of users suspected not to be U.S. citizens, and is even closing accounts of non-citizens (is that even legal?) and making it difficult for affected users to access their money.  I am horrified and even more angry now, and plan to close my account.

So Public Service Announcement: if you got a call like this, it is not a scam, and if you ignore it your account will be frozen.  And if you bank with Bank of America, you may want to consider changing banks.

[Johnez]

Wow. Very scary, thanks for the eye opener. Are you a citizen? If so I wonder what tripped their alarms.

[accolay]

That's really fucked up. If a bank did that to me, I'd definitely be closing my account. Sign the petition?
https://act.credoaction.com/sign/bofa_immigrants?t=6&ak_proof=1&akid=29782%2E10086221%2EJ8avOo

[bwall]

I looked up the situation and it turns out that Bank of America is freezing accounts of users suspected not to be U.S. citizens, and is even closing accounts of non-citizens (is that even legal?) and making it difficult for affected users to access their money.  I am horrified and even more angry now, and plan to close my account.

Of course it's legal! Banks are first and foremost a business and they have a choice in who they offer their services to. There is no fundamental human right to a bank account.

Thanks to changes made post-9/11, banks are trying to cut off avenues of funding for terrorism. In the past 17 years, they gathered all the 'low hanging fruit', and each year they're ratcheting it up another notch. If it means that a few normal people and/or dormant accounts are inadvertently included then that's better than billions of dollars in fines.

[Freedomin5]

How does that work for the scores of international students on valid study visas? Or the people on valid work visas? That would be so stressful.

Though I would say, if it sounds scammy, I wouldn’t immediately give my information over the phone. I’d hang up, and then call the number on the back of my bank card and ask the bank directly whether it was true and then get transferred to the appropriate department.

[Meowmalade]

Wow. Very scary, thanks for the eye opener. Are you a citizen? If so I wonder what tripped their alarms.

I'm a dual U.S. and Canadian citizen.  There was no reason for my account to be flagged  :(

Thanks to changes made post-9/11, banks are trying to cut off avenues of funding for terrorism. In the past 17 years, they gathered all the 'low hanging fruit', and each year they're ratcheting it up another notch. If it means that a few normal people and/or dormant accounts are inadvertently included then that's better than billions of dollars in fines.

In the article, a native of Kansas was flagged and his account frozen.  My account is actively used for pay deposits, credit card payments, utility payments, etc.  I think this is affecting a lot more than "a few" normal people.

Though I would say, if it sounds scammy, I wouldn’t immediately give my information over the phone. I’d hang up, and then call the number on the back of my bank card and ask the bank directly whether it was true and then get transferred to the appropriate department.

The number they had me call referenced a letter I never received, and I figured if it was something real it should come through my Secure Messages like other important info.  It was so scammy and badly handled!

That's really fucked up. If a bank did that to me, I'd definitely be closing my account. Sign the petition?
https://act.credoaction.com/sign/bofa_immigrants?t=6&ak_proof=1&akid=29782%2E10086221%2EJ8avOo

Thanks!

[Rosy]

Thanks for the info.

[Greenback Reproduction Specialist]

You think its messed up trying to get an account here..... Try opening a bank account in a foreign country as a US citizen.

[Paul der Krake]

You think its messed up trying to get an account here..... Try opening a bank account in a foreign country as a US citizen.

This myth has been debunked a few times.

There are millions of Americans abroad, and they don't do their banking in a dark alley. A few of them, in the early days of FATCA, had their trigger-happy banks close their accounts. They either moved to one of the many banks who would take them, or the banks in question realized they were overreacting and started being in compliance.

[accolay]

You think its messed up trying to get an account here..... Try opening a bank account in a foreign country as a US citizen.

I opened a bank account in Australia without any problems when I lived there. It's probably closed by now. Unfortunate because I think Oz still has a few hundred in a retirement account for me.

[GrayGhost]

Thanks to changes made post-9/11, banks are trying to cut off avenues of funding for terrorism. In the past 17 years, they gathered all the 'low hanging fruit', and each year they're ratcheting it up another notch. If it means that a few normal people and/or dormant accounts are inadvertently included then that's better than billions of dollars in fines.

Kind of funny what freedoms have simply been forgotten because "we're at war with terrorism" nearly a lifetime after 9/11.