This Denver woman had to fight her bank for a refund after scammers stole $7,363 — and her bank first ruled it legit

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This Denver woman had to fight her bank for a refund after scammers stole $7,363 — and her bank first ruled it legit

This Denver woman’s savings account was accessed, drained of a whopping $7,363 by a scammer — but the bank first ruled the transactions were legit. Here’s how she got her money back

Denver resident Megan Holt thought she was being financially smart when she opened a high-yield savings account with SoFi. She used the account strictly for savings — not transactions. But one day, her phone rang. It was SoFi, alerting her to suspicious activity.

At first, she assumed the bank would protect her savings. Instead, she learned that nearly $7,400 had vanished overnight.

“They [the scammers] had done 19 transactions between $100 and $900 — almost every day,” Holt

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. “They just took it.”

Her total loss was $7,363.

The transactions were all friend-to-friend transfers sent to a person she had never heard of. Holt immediately disputed the charges, expecting the bank to protect her. Instead, SoFi told her the transactions appeared legitimate.

SoFi launched an investigation, but according to Holt, the bank concluded that her account had not been hacked.

“They said it didn’t look like there was a struggle to get into the account,” Holt told reporters. Essentially, SoFi was claiming the transfers must have been authorized because there was no clear sign of hacking.

Dan Vedra, a consumer protection attorney in Denver, told 9News reporters that the federal Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) protects consumers in these types of situations.

“The law says that the consumer is not liable for unauthorized electronic funds transfers. The financial institution is liable for an unauthorized electronic funds transfer,” Vedra explained.

However, according to Vedra, banks are increasingly overwhelmed with fraud cases, which can allow cases like Holt’s to slip through the cracks.

“There’s so many of these unauthorized transactions going on each and every day that they don’t have the manpower to reasonably investigate every single dispute that comes through,” Vedra told 9News reporters.

Vedra reviewed Holt’s case and said she likely did have a case under EFTA since she didn’t authorize the transfers or give out her account login information. With that information in hand, 9News Consumer Investigator Steve Staeger reached out to SoFi to ask why they ruled Holt liable.

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Story Continues

After reviewing the situation, the bank said it found more information and reversed the denial. According to Holt, SoFi called to confirm that she would receive a paper check for $7,800, which includes all her lost funds and the interest.

Holt later learned that around the same time her SoFi account was drained, a hacker also tried to access her credit union account — an effort that, luckily, failed due to security measures. She admitted to using the same password on multiple accounts — which is a major security concern.

Holt was lucky — persistent questioning led to her reimbursement. However, not all fraud victims are as fortunate. Understanding your rights under EFTA is essential to fighting back when banks refuse to help.

The Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) protects consumers against unauthorized transactions, but there’s a strict 60-day window to dispute fraudulent charges.

If a consumer reports the fraud within two business days, they are typically only liable for up to $50 of the stolen funds. After that, the liability can increase to $500 if reported within 60 days. Beyond 60 days, banks aren’t required to reimburse stolen funds.

Cybersecurity experts stress that strong passwords and multi-factor authentication (MFA) are crucial to preventing fraud. They also recommend accountholders:

Monitor accounts frequently for suspicious activity

Set up fraud alerts to receive real-time notifications of unauthorized transactions

Use a password manager to create and store unique, hard-to-guess passwords for each account

If you are a victim of fraud, don’t be afraid to challenge your bank — you can even mention EFTA by name. If a bank refuses to reimburse you despite filing in time, consider filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to escalate the issue.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

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