SAN DIEGO — A growing number of fraud reports are coming in associated with debit cards issued by the California's Employment Development Department.
Unemployed workers have seen unauthorized withdrawals from their EDD bank accounts.
EDD confirmed thousands of accounts have been frozen, pending identity verification.
Brandon Birkhofter was one of many unemployed workers who noticed money missing from his Bank of America account.
“I went to the bank to withdraw money from my EDD account and it said I had reached my daily limit,” Birkhofter said.
Bank of America has an exclusive contract with the state of California to handle unemployment benefits through special debit cards.
About a month ago, people started reporting losing money they desperately needed. Tatiana Solorzano said she lost more than a thousand dollars.
“It was around the time rent was due, you know. I was like OMG that money got pulled out right when my rent is due,” Solorzano said.
Gail Goertzen said she lost $4,000.
“From the ATM at Bank of America, $1,000 was drawn four days in a row,” Goertzen said.
Once the victims reported the thefts, they said they got locked out of their accounts.
Bank of America told KPIX-TV that it is working closely with EDD in an aggressive effort to fight fraud. EDD confirmed to the station that thousands of debit card accounts have been frozen due to suspected fraud.
Steve Morang, a certified fraud examiner, said one problem with the EDD debit cards is they don’t have chips.
“By having the chip, you have your information that's on the card encrypted in the chip and it makes it more difficult to duplicate the cards. Whereas the magnetic strip, that's 30, 40-year-old technology,” Morang said.
If you discover money missing from your debit card account, contact the Bank of America or EDD. Your account may have to be locked and a new debit card issued.
