My Bank of America account was shut down overnight leaving me suddenly broke – they refused to say why, I’m not alone

A DAD’S Bank of America account has suddenly closed overnight - leaving him broke and worried about feeding his family.

“They shut down my account without any notice or explanation… this is actually relatively common,” warned the shocked customer.

Elad Nehorai spent hours trying to access his life savings at a Bank of America branch in Los Angeles, reported local CBS affiliate KCAL News.

He complained about his treatment on X, formerly Twitter, saying: "I am with my wife & daughter in a @BankofAmerica office.

"They shut down my account with any notice or explanation, and we won’t be able to feed our family or pay medical expenses.

"We are staying here until it’s fixed. So far they have refused to even explain why they did this."

His worrying post prompted scores of kindhearted people to offer help in July.

One said: "I sympathize with you Elad, BoA did this to my mother last year and it took us forever to get it worked out.

"Please let us know if we need to start up a fund drive for your family to tide you over until it gets resolved."

Another user posted: "Bank of America, I don't usually do this but Elad is a good guy with a young family.

"Someone needs to get to the bottom of this right now."

An equally sympathetic user replied to Nehorai on X: "I'm horrified that this is legal and apparently we have no recourse, even for answers.

"I am so naive, I didn't think anything like this could happen here. Scary and frustrating."

'BANKS ARE AWFUL'

And yet another had a similar story: "CitiBank did this to me last year. Took months to get a check mailed.

"Got evicted and lost half of my belongings because of it. Still haven't recovered. Banks are awful."

Nehorai later told CBS News the bank eventually said it would take between 10 to 20 days to fix the glitch.

He added: "Bank of America told me it was shut down. They refused to give me an explanation. They told me I would get my money after it was resolved.

"All of a sudden I find out I'm broke. I can't feed my family and I can't pay any expenses."

The father said on X: "They apparently purposefully refuse to let you find out any information at all.

"The process can drag out for months while people wait for money to feed their families.

"Apparently this is quite common, and spreading. In the end, only four percent of the people affected by this actually warrant investigation.

"The banks don't care."

'HORROR STORY'

In a later update, he said it had been a "horror story" dealing with various managers - one of whom "refused to help" - until he had approached CBS about his dire situation.

When the bank "heard CBS wanted to cover it, the tone instantly shifted... the bank manager removed the hold on our account and transferred [his money] to another account.

"So, we have our money and can feed our family. That's thanks to all of you," he told his supporters on X.

CBS said that after speaking to BoA, it was told the FBI had flagged Nehorai's account after he reported that he was the victim of "email masking."

This is where a scammer pretends to be someone else.

In Nehorai's case, the conman had asked one of his clients for money.

He had reported the fraud to the FBI a week before having his account closed.

WRONGLY FLAGGED

Banking expert J.D. Koontz told CBS that banks sometimes shut down accounts after they've been flagged for suspicious behavior.

He added: "Unfortunately, some good people are being caught in the net with the bad when they try to weed out who may be causing problems."

Banks have to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to regulators.

In 2022, financial institutions submitted more than a whopping 3.6 million Suspicious Activity Reports to the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), reported the Thomson Reuters Institute.

By comparison, banks filed about 830,000 SARs in 2014, and more than 1.4 million in 2021.

The institute said: "Financial institutions in the United States have reported soaring volumes of suspicious financial activity to U.S. anti-money-laundering (AML) authorities over the past three years.

"Vulnerable populations have grown in both size and susceptibility, especially among migrants and the elderly, forming a target-rich environment for threat actors."

The U.S. Sun has contacted BoA for further comment.

Customers of other banks have also gone public about problems with sudden account closures.

The U.S. Sun recently reported on a bar owner left stunned after Chase Bank closed his account with little warning.

The New Yorker was further confused when the bank also shut down his wife’s account, giving them just weeks to find an alternative.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

While there’s little you can do to prevent a bank from incorrectly flagging your account for suspicious activity, there are certain steps you can take to mitigate the damage.

For one, put your money into several accounts so it’s less disastrous if you do end up having your account temporarily shut down.

This will ensure no matter what happens, you’ll still have access to some money for necessary living expenses.

If you do find yourself targeted by your banking institution and see your account suddenly suspended, you should immediately reach out to see how you can have your account reopened as soon as possible.

While bank accounts are routinely shut down due to potential fraud, there are other reasons your bank might give for suspending your account.

This includes if your account has been inactive for more than three years.

FINES

In July 2023, news agency the Associated Press reported that BoA was to reimburse customers more than $100 million and pay $150 million in fines.

This was for “double-dipping” on overdraft fees, withholding reward bonuses on credit cards and opening accounts without customer consent, AP added.

"It is one of the highest financial penalties in years against BoA...BoA must refund $100 million to customers, pay $90 million in penalties to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and $60 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency," as reported by AP.

Rohit Chopra, CFPB director, said at the time: “Bank of America wrongfully withheld credit card rewards, double-dipped on fees, and opened accounts without consent.

“These practices are illegal and undermine customer trust.”

The bank said that it had voluntarily reduced overdraft fees and eliminated all non-sufficient fund fees in the first half of last year.