Woman says popular online bank locked her account, kept her money

ATLANTA, Ga — A metro Atlanta woman had no access to her bank account for more than two weeks after a popular online bank locked up and then closed down her account but held onto her money.

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“It’s a big mess. It’s a big mess,” Shelley Camp said.

The Douglasville woman uses the popular online-only bank Green Dot for her banking and also uses the Green Dot debit card instead of a credit card.

“A direct deposit from my job went right on my card. So, it was great,” Camp said.

That is until late February when Camp tried to use her debit card and found the account locked for “unusual activity.”

She was out of town and had to borrow money from her daughter just to get back home.

Her phone was shut off and several other bills that she set up to automatically pay from her account also did not go through. She had to borrow money from friends and family for basics like food and gas.

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“Everyday essentials. Yeah. Everything was messed up,” she said.

Green Dot has only a 1-star review on Trust Pilot and 89% negative reviews on Pissed Consumer.

Consumer attorney Cyclone Covey told our sister station Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray that his firm has been contacted by many people with similar stories about Green Dot.

“We have had reports of people having this problem for years,” Covey said.

Green Dot told Camp to send a copy of her driver’s license to resolve the problem. But when she did, they instead shut down the account completely and held onto the money in the account.

“The problem is when they freeze the account or close the account and then keep your money. That’s the part that’s just completely unfair and shouldn’t be allowed to continue,” Covey said.

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Green Dot messaged Camp that she would have to get the company, who had deposited money into her account, to write in and ask that it be refunded to them. It is her IRS refund.

“It’s $640. And it might not seem like a lot. But when it’s the money you got, it’s a lot, you know?” Camp said.

Green Dot did re-open Camp’s account this weekend after Gray contacted them.

Green Dot told Gray this is tied to extra fraud protections they are taking for some IRS refunds and said, “The majority of those accounts that required additional verification have now been fully processed, and funds have been received by those customers.”

“It’s one thing to shut down your account, but it’s another to shut down your account and keep your money?” Gray asked Camp.

“Oh, yeah, that’s the thing that is crazy. I mean, we all need our money,” Camp responded.

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