Billion-Dollar Bank Abruptly Freezes Woman’s Account and Refuses To Return Funds, Forcing Her To Rely on Family and Friends for Survival: Report

An Atlanta woman says a popular US bank abruptly froze her account and refused to let her cash out, leaving her to fend for herself.

Shelley Camp says Green Dot locked her out of her bank account out of nowhere for “unusual activity,” reports the ABC-affiliated news station WSB-TV.

Camp says she was out of town when the bank, which has $4.817 billion in assets and 33 million customers, decided to lock her account.

The move forced her to borrow money from friends and family for basic necessities like food, gas and transportation.

“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 says the $640, which was her IRS refund, was in deep freeze with no further explanation until WSB-TV began investigating.

After the news team reached out, Green Dot unlocked the account, stating that it’s deployed “extra fraud protections” for some IRS refunds.

“The majority of those accounts that required additional verification have now been fully processed, and funds have been received by those customers.”

Similar reports of Green Dot freezing accounts in relation to IRS refunds circulated late last year in Tennessee.

Green Dot Bank is partnered with Walmart and TurboTax and specializes in processing tax refunds for its 33 million customers.

In the first six months of 2023, the bank processed about 13.78 million in tax refunds, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange (SEC) filing.