Can I sue my bank for negligence?

Question

Someone I know had their driver's license stolen by a friend, who withdrew $23,000 from their account since March of this year (over the course of six months). They did this at least 30 times, withdrawing sums of money anywhere from $200 to $2000 at a time, up until they got caught and are now facing felony charges.

My question is, can the victim sue their bank as a result of bank teller negligence? The victim has been a member of the bank for at least 6 years now, so nearly all the people who work there knew what the victim looked like, because she frequented the bank in between the stealing intervals. The thief looks nothing at all like the victim(fatter, taller, different all over), and had to use her handwriting in order to withdraw the money(which is now on file, and looks nothing like the victims). Shouldn't the bank have picked up on this fraud at some point over the course of six months? Doesn't unusual withdrawals, different signatures, or a totally different person withdrawing money from someone's account set off any alarms? It would've been blatantly obvious to anyone who could see, that the thief withdrawing the large sums of money from the account was not at all the same person who was on the drivers license. For those who want more disclosure to the ridiculousness of the situation, the victim weighed 105 pounds, and the thief weighed 160(both females).

Any useful information will be much appreciated.

Answer 1

Can YOU sue YOUR bank for negligence?    What for?  Your story is all about your "friend."   It has nothing to do with you so NO,  you can not sue.

And your "friend" can not sue either.  

Think of it this way,  the bank has to watch tens of thousands of accounts,  your "friend" had to watch just one.  What was your "friend" doing that she could not watch even one account?  

Your "friend" should have been checking her bank account either by the internet on a regular basis OR once a month when she got their bank statement.  She should have compared their bank statement against her personal bank book and noticed the discrepancies and informed the bank immediately.   The bank at that time would have changed the account numbers and access codes and checks,   blocking anyone from continuing access to the account.  

As far as the weight difference,  I have seen women who become pregnant gain over 100 pounds within 9 months.  I have seen women change their hair color with dye and eye color with contact lenses.  Women also change their appearance with plastic surgery.  

The bank could be held responsible for the first month but after that the responsibility is all your "friend's."  She really screwed up.

Sorry.    

Answer 2

Why would you want to sue your bank, from the sound of this you had money that you didn't need anyway.  Think of it this way....it went to a good cause....someone who really needed it and not some spoiled kid born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

Answer 3

the bank has the deepest pockets; anyway they'll tell you to make a police report bring it in, then they'll put the disputed amount back on the books, provided you can identify the illegal transactions from your friends legal ones

Answer 4

Banks usually have fraud protection that alerts the customer, but WHY didnt the person notice so much money missing? If they are so well off not to notice I'm quite sure they can afford an Attorney.

Answer 5

Why would you sue your bank, if someone you know, had their license stolen by a "friend", and this "someone" didn't notice the activity going on with their account? Bank tellers are just ATM's that breathe,the only reason they know your name is because its all over the stuff you hand them. And how many people do you know that look like their drivers license picture. Also, people do gain weight, I know, I married one.

Answer 6

Thats why I don't use banks...only credit unions