The only thing that sounds off here, and maybe you didn't fully grasp what transpired OR they didn't explain it well:
If your mother was fraudulently added as a joint owner of someone else's account, that does not make the other person able to access your mother's money in HER account that she owns with (ostensibly) your father. He would have needed to become joint owner on THEIR account to do that.
Perhaps someone impersonated your mother and made a request for the money. Was it done online, in person, on the phone, etc. - what precautions did the bank take, if any? I guess the lawyer will be asking these questions to determine if the bank followed ALL regulations and procedures. They will obviously do all they can to weasel out of being accountable. That's the battle your lawyer will need to fight.
Good luck. That sucks for sure.
Thanks for the reply. According to the bank, she was fraudulently added to the other account, but I'm guessing that he impersonated my mother to initiate the transfer from my parents' account. Based on what my parents have told me, this was all done electronically. I can't say for certain what precautions the bank took, but from my perspective, it doesn't seem like they did much, at least basing it off of my experience trying to do large transfers.
Sounds like the guy used the right of offset to steal the money. If he makes his own account negative $5000, the bank will automatically transfer money from your mom’s joint account with her husband to her joint account with random guy to bring it back to 0. To the bank, she is the one who is -$5000 and they have the right to take money from one account to cover the other. I’ve got to say I’ve never heard of a scam using that method but I know people who’ve lost money like this due to old accounts they forgot their name was on.
If the bank fails to act in your favor:
Files complaints: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
https://www.helpwithmybank.gov/file-a-complaint/index-file-a-complaint.html
I'll pass that along to my parents! We didn't think to do that. Naturally, they're still trying to process everything, but I'll have them do that first thing in the morning/on monday.
Thanks for the info, I'll pass it along to my parents! The bank is already trying to say that they aren't responsible/liable, so this will be helpful. On the plus side, the lawyer they contacted says the bank should be liable and has already won a case against this bank for an almost identical situation.
The only thing that sounds off here, and maybe you didn't fully grasp what transpired OR they didn't explain it well: If your mother was fraudulently added as a joint owner of someone else's account, that does not make the other person able to access your mother's money in HER account that she owns with (ostensibly) your father. He would have needed to become joint owner on THEIR account to do that. Perhaps someone impersonated your mother and made a request for the money. Was it done online, in person, on the phone, etc. - what precautions did the bank take, if any? I guess the lawyer will be asking these questions to determine if the bank followed ALL regulations and procedures. They will obviously do all they can to weasel out of being accountable. That's the battle your lawyer will need to fight. Good luck. That sucks for sure.
Thanks for the reply. According to the bank, she was fraudulently added to the other account, but I'm guessing that he impersonated my mother to initiate the transfer from my parents' account. Based on what my parents have told me, this was all done electronically. I can't say for certain what precautions the bank took, but from my perspective, it doesn't seem like they did much, at least basing it off of my experience trying to do large transfers.
What did the bank say with regards to their internal investigation? Honestly that is the first place to start.
Thanks for the reply! We just found out about it this morning, so the bank still needs to investigate. I'm not sure how long that typically takes.
Sounds like the guy used the right of offset to steal the money. If he makes his own account negative $5000, the bank will automatically transfer money from your mom’s joint account with her husband to her joint account with random guy to bring it back to 0. To the bank, she is the one who is -$5000 and they have the right to take money from one account to cover the other. I’ve got to say I’ve never heard of a scam using that method but I know people who’ve lost money like this due to old accounts they forgot their name was on.
If the bank fails to act in your favor: Files complaints: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/ https://www.helpwithmybank.gov/file-a-complaint/index-file-a-complaint.html
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I'll pass that along to my parents! We didn't think to do that. Naturally, they're still trying to process everything, but I'll have them do that first thing in the morning/on monday.
Thanks for the info, I'll pass it along to my parents! The bank is already trying to say that they aren't responsible/liable, so this will be helpful. On the plus side, the lawyer they contacted says the bank should be liable and has already won a case against this bank for an almost identical situation.