Bank of America froze account of the American family, suspecting that they are illegal

Bank of America froze family bank accounts, demanding proof that they are American citizens.

Фото: Depositphotos

Josh Collins from Roland Park, Kansas, said that in June he received an email from Bank of America. The letter contained many personal questions, including whether he was a US citizen or a citizen of another country.

Josh was born in Wichita, Kansas. His wife, Jessica Collins, whose great-grandfather came to America from Mexico, was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri.

Photo: Facebook, personal archive

Jessica thought the letter was a scam and threw it away because Josh had been doing banking for the company for the past 20 years. However, on July 24, the Collins family realized that this was not a scam - Bank of America froze their account, cutting off their access to their cash, without warning.

Josh said that when he could not use the card, he called the bank and found out that his account was frozen because he did not respond to the letter he received.

Then Josh and Jessica went to the bank to talk to someone from the staff in person.

“It took about 15 minutes, but the first question they asked me was, 'Are you a citizen?'” Josh said, adding that they wanted to know if he had dual citizenship.

Eventually, Josh’s bank accounts were unfrozen after he showed his driver’s license to the bank.

In a statement released Friday by Kansas City Star, Bank of America said: “Like all financial institutions, we are required by law to store complete and accurate data for all of our customers and we can periodically request information on citizenship and proof of residence in the United States. This kind of advocacy is not new. ”

The bank added: “This information should be up-to-date, and therefore we periodically appeal to customers, which we did in this case.”

A spokeswoman for Bank of America said that if customers do not respond to the letter, the bank can decide to “limit the account” until they can confirm that the account holder “meets regulatory requirements.”

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