So, I just received an email and text message that I had opened a savings account with a major bank I have never previously used. I didn’t open any links on the texts or email. I went to the major bank’s website directly from Google and called their fraud department. They confirmed there was an account under my name and closed it. I am filing a fraud report with the credit bureaus. I always have my credit frozen.
What is the scam here? What could some one do with a savings account linked to both my email and number?
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none of the comments so far seem to have gotten it right, so i’ll chime in. for reference, i’ve worked in banking for 4 years (im still in my 20s, so 4 years is a majority of my working career).
first of all, a savings account has no credit, or line of credit attached to it. so no one is going to be using the account to purchase items. a freshly opened savings account with $0 is practically worthless.
secondly, no one is going to get a job and then use someone else’s bank account to deposit the funds. if you think about it, thats just dumb. most employers are still happy to write you a check if you don’t have a bank account.
the real reason to open an account under someone else’s name is to write bad checks and deposit them into the victims account. once the bad check clears after 1 day, the scammer will withdraw the funds. after a week or so, the bank will catch on to the bad check, but the funds have already been withdrawn by then. at this point, the victim is responsible for the lost money unless they can prove the account was opened due to fraud.
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