Bank of America has froze nearly 350,000 accounts of thousands of Californians who get their EDD benefits through B of A debit cards. The account holders are struggling to get answers after the bank froze the accounts due to alleged fraud.

Bank of America is Dealing with Fraudsters

Channel CBS San Francisco first reported about the fraudsters draining the accounts of unemployed Californians.

Tatiana Solorzano’s Account was Before Hacked

“My heart dropped. I was scared, you know,” said Tatiana Solorzano, as she was hacked last month. “I thought they were going to do it again!”

A single mother, Solorzano, said a few weeks ago she noticed an unusual transaction on her account from another bank showing just zeros.

“It happened the second day, then again the third day. Once it was the third day they were finally able to hit my account for $1,003,” said Solorzano. “Rent was due October 2nd, you know, I was like, ‘Oh my God, that money went out right when my rent is due!’”

Bank of America has had 350,000 Debit Cars Frozen due to Suspected Fraud

350,000 debit card accounts had been frozen due to suspected fraud, the EDD office said. Since the attacks seem to have targeted ATMs all across the state, experts say this could be a large criminal enterprise.

“This is a massive operation. These are physical cards that have to be printed. Then somebody has to go to those ATMs everywhere,” said Steve Morang, a certified fraud examiner.

Criminals can buy PIN numbers on the secret web, Morang said. Regular debit cars, don’t have a chip. Therefore, EDD cards can make stealing personal information easier.

Hackers Have not Broken Into Their Systems or Stolen Their Data, Says Bank of America

Hackers have not broken into their systems or stolen their data, Bank of America said.

How could all of this money been stolen? The bank did not respond to the request for comment on this.

Anyone who has had their account frozen and hasn’t heard from EDD, should directly contact Bank of America to solve the issue.