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Bank of the West Complaint - Idenitity Theft - Identity Theft
Identity Theft - Complaint
COVINA, CALIFORNIA -- A Bank of the West manager instructed one of her employees to approach a friend who was a banker at another bank to steal my personal and banking information. This was done in retaliation due to a family dispute. The Bank of the West employee walked out of the other bank with my personal information including account numbers, social security number, driver’s license number and birth date. This information was subsequently transmitted out of state. All of these activities took place during working hours while these people were on the payroll of the Bank of the West. The banker at the other bank was terminated immediately upon discovery of the unauthorized access and later hired by Bank of the West.
Consumers need to be aware that although the following appears on the Bank of the West web site:
The Bank’s reputation for honesty and integrity is the sum of the personal reputations of its individual employees. Ours is a culture of ethical behavior, in which we protect the confidence and privacy of our customers and scrupulously avoid conflicts of interest.
The Bank of the West does not enforce this statement nor do they discipline any managers who violate this statement. The Bank of West actually takes the position that the activities of their managers are personal activities and not an issue for the bank despite the statement above related to their core values.
Federal agencies such as the FDIC and the California Department of Financial Institutions do not take any action related to this type of identity theft activities. Law Enforcement agencies, most notable, The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department will not take any action in a case like this unless there are fraudulent activities that actually occur with the stolen identity.
CONSUMERS – be careful with BANK OF THE WEST and beware of the behavior of their employees!!!
Consumers need to be aware that although the following appears on the Bank of the West web site:
The Bank’s reputation for honesty and integrity is the sum of the personal reputations of its individual employees. Ours is a culture of ethical behavior, in which we protect the confidence and privacy of our customers and scrupulously avoid conflicts of interest.
The Bank of the West does not enforce this statement nor do they discipline any managers who violate this statement. The Bank of West actually takes the position that the activities of their managers are personal activities and not an issue for the bank despite the statement above related to their core values.
Federal agencies such as the FDIC and the California Department of Financial Institutions do not take any action related to this type of identity theft activities. Law Enforcement agencies, most notable, The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department will not take any action in a case like this unless there are fraudulent activities that actually occur with the stolen identity.
CONSUMERS – be careful with BANK OF THE WEST and beware of the behavior of their employees!!!
Comments:
Posted by tnchuck100 on 2006-12-24:
If you believe your identity has been compromised you need to notify the credit bureaus to flag your file. Do this immeadiately. These are serious allegations, however if you know it was done by bank employees you need to send the a letter putting them on notice that you will hold them responsible for any fraudulent activity. Send copies to your branch and the corporate office. Send the letters Certified mail/Return receipt.
Posted by Anonymous on 2006-12-24:
If you think! This has happened then do something NOW!
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft//
If you think your identity has been stolen, here's what to do:
Contact the fraud departments of any one of the three consumer reporting companies to place a fraud alert on your credit report. A fraud alert tells creditors to follow certain procedures before open any new accounts...
Close the accounts that you know or believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently. Use the ID Theft Affidavit (PDF, 56KB) when disputing new unauthorized accounts...
File your complaint with the FTC. You may print a copy of your complaint to provide important standardized information for your police report...
File a report with your local police or police in the community where the identity theft took place. Give the police a copy of your FTC ID Theft complaint form. Get a copy of the police report (or, at least, the police report number)…
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft//
If you think your identity has been stolen, here's what to do:
Contact the fraud departments of any one of the three consumer reporting companies to place a fraud alert on your credit report. A fraud alert tells creditors to follow certain procedures before open any new accounts...
Close the accounts that you know or believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently. Use the ID Theft Affidavit (PDF, 56KB) when disputing new unauthorized accounts...
File your complaint with the FTC. You may print a copy of your complaint to provide important standardized information for your police report...
File a report with your local police or police in the community where the identity theft took place. Give the police a copy of your FTC ID Theft complaint form. Get a copy of the police report (or, at least, the police report number)…
Posted by Anonymous on 2006-12-24:
Marry Christmas
Posted by Anonymous on 2006-12-24:
Morning Chuck, did you punch in?
Posted by tnchuck100 on 2006-12-24:
Morning, Liddy. Just nosin' around. Drinking my coffee.
Posted by Anonymous on 2006-12-24:
The banker at the other bank was terminated when the unauthorized access was discovered yet later hired by the offending bank. Huh? I would think that one bank would never hire someone that was terminated for such activity. Something very wrong here.
Posted by tnchuck100 on 2006-12-24:
PassingBy: That part sounds like some "good ole boy" activity.
Posted by Anonymous on 2006-12-24:
Them "good ole boy's" just don't know when to quit!
Posted by bas on 2006-12-24:
Thanks for the responses. I did subscribe to credit monitoring as well as closing all the account at the bank were the information was stolen. I notified the FDIC, the OCC, and the FTC. I have also had some interaction with the CA Dept of Financial Institutions. I am still trying to get the LA County Sheriff to do something but they don't want to get involved unless they have hard evidence in hand or some fraudulent transactions have taken place. The Bank of the West continues to defend the actions of their manager saying it is a personal matter. I just wonder how often this happens - where bank employees are involved in ID Theft.
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