Subterfuge at Megabanks

Another word we the publicly educated rarely visit is Subterfuge: a strategy used to delay, distract, evade and eventually wear down one's opponent. In the world of banking, it appears the opponent is the customer.

One of my favorite websites is RipoffReport.com, where I do research on companies and individuals prior to making any contractual or financial commitments. On one of my news feeds I caught wind of someone who produced a video about their trouble with Bank of America. Customers who wanted to legally modify their bank loans after the housing bubble burst, are the victims of subterfuge that eventually forces the customers into foreclosure. Bank of America pulled out its last stop when it requested from a customer, a death certificate.

I went to Ripoffreport.com and produced a small chart showing the number of complaints about a handful of banks in the United States.

I wonder what it must be like to be customers for Megabanks. Before I moved across the country I did research to find small local banks instead.  I used a site called "MoveYourMoney." The original website no longer exists, but the Facebook page is still there. I find that disturbing.

The proliferation of complaints online about Bank of America alone makes me wonder if their current customers will be their last. Maybe they adopted their subterfuge tactics as part of their anti-fraud strategy, but they clearly act with impunity and won't stop or change on their own.