Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New Jersey
ATM Fraud
On July 4th 2001 I went to an ATM and was told I
had insufficient funds and could not withdraw
money. I called my bank immediately to find out
that about $5000 had been withdrawn from my
account from several ATM's over a period of about
10 days. I told the bank that these transactions
were not done by me and that I never lost my debit
card. I was told to write a letter to the bank
explaining what had happened. I did that. The
bank denied my claim for fraud because I never
lost my card and all the transactions were PIN
related. They told me I could write another letter
asking for further investigation. It has now been
over 7 months since my initial call. The bank has
been horrible to deal with and they will not give
me any information. I've contacted many
organization about this but so far nothing has
worked. I'm desperate for more ideas on how to
resolve this. I also want to know if the bank is
required to give me an answer within a specific
time frame. Thanks for your help.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: ATM Fraud
I don't have the benefit of reviewing the content of your letters to the bank. One thing I would insist upon is the date and location of each withdrawal. Most ATM machines have cameras appearing above them. If withdrawals were made by someone other than yourself, hopefully the cameras would have filmed it. Insist that the bank disclose the exact dates and times of the withdrawals and the location of each ATM machine. Once you have that information, you should go to your local polic station and file a criminal report of theft. I would then write a final demand to the bank requesting that they complete a fraud investigation and provide you access to review the videotapes of the specific withdrawals. If that fails, you can resort to filing a lawsuit in Court and seek to obtain the information through the Court ordered discovery process. If you require any legal assistance in this regard, please feel free to contact me at (201) 498-0400.
Re: ATM Fraud
The bank is required to act according to state and federal law. I know there are laws applicable to your situation. I also believe that there is a shortened statute of limitations (time period in which you can bring a suit against the bank) so you must act quickly. You should consult an attorney as soon as possible.
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