Thousands Withdrawn During Wallet Theft Crime Spree
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DALLAS (CBS11) - $40,000 stolen from women's bank accounts - and the teller handed the thief the cash. It happened to three different women, all customers of Chase Bank.
She is a 66-year-old woman who wants to protect her identity. But during a trip to Whole Foods last Friday, a thief swiped hers.
"I went to the check-out stand, and my wallet was gone," she says.
CBS 11 first told you about this crime spree - the thief, believed to be a woman, plucked the wallets from three women's purses within hours. But now we've learned she made multiple withdrawals from their bank accounts using an ATM card and a driver license that wasn't hers.
"Two large withdrawals showed up while I was talking with them on the phone," she says. "The first one was $9,500 in cash. The second one was $8,500."
Within an hour, the thief had drained her two accounts of $30,000. She stole $5,000 and $7,000 from her other two victims. All but one transaction came from Chase Bank.
"I'm pretty horrified. And I can't figure out how it could happen," she says. "How would they be able to withdraw without a pin number or account numbers or something?"
But a Chase Bank spokesperson says they believe their bankers followed proper policy, though they won't elaborate for privacy reasons. In another victim's case, the withdrawal was made as a cash advance on a Visa card - which is allowed with a card and ID. What the victims say concerns them most is how their bank could let this happen.
"Very angry, very disappointed," the victim says. "This, in my mind, should not be able to happen, much less have it happen four different times."
There is a piece of good news for the victims: Chase says all of their money either has been reimbursed or will be reimbursed within one business day.
But they say they cannot give us information about their policies, even generally.
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