Bank of New York Mellon, Fidelity Brokerage Services and National Financial Services were hit with a lawsuit last week over alleged unauthorized electronic fund transfers from a Fidelity Investments cash management account, amounting in $17,000 in unauthorized transactions.
According to the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, despite plaintiff David Crawford's immediate filing of a dispute and subsequent arrest of a suspect in September 2024, the defendants have failed to resolve the matter in violation of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.
In or about the early morning of Aug. 5, 2024, Crawford, on a business trip to New York City, was the victim of a robbery in the vicinity of Times Square. The items stolen from him included his phone, driver’s license, several credit cards and his Fidelity Debit Card, the complaint states.
"Shortly thereafter, an unknown individual completed a series of unauthorized transactions" using Crawford's Fidelity Debit Card, the complaint continues.
On or about Aug. 5, 2024, through Aug. 7, 2024, the individual "made a series of unauthorized transactions at numerous ATMs, retailers, and online payment platforms totaling $17,056.89, respectively, from [the] plaintiff’s Fidelity Cash Management account using his Fidelity Debit Card account," the complaint continues.
The individual made repeat withdrawals at the same ATM, transactions at the same retailers and transactions in a part of the city that Crawford did not visit.
Shortly after the theft, Crawford contacted Fidelity, where he was informed by an employee that everything was fine with his cash management account, the order states.
Within the next 24 hours, Crawford "checked his Fidelity Cash Management account and noticed that transactions he was unaware of and did not authorize were being made from the account."
Crawford again called Fidelity and was directed to BNY, the provider of its debit card services, to cancel the card and dispute the transactions.
He then subsequently called BNY and was able to block the continued use of, and cancel, his Fidelity Debit Card. He also submitted a dispute of the unauthorized activity.
On Sept. 9, 2024, Crawford received an email from a detective, stating that he had made an arrest in connection with Crawford's identity theft case.
On Dec. 15, 2024, "frustrated by the complete lack of response and information from BNY or Fidelity," Crawford submitted a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, "detailing the circumstances of the theft and dispute, and BNY’s failure to address the fraudulent transactions that resulted," the complaint states.
On June 27, 2025, "growing more upset and frustrated by the defendants’ failure to, at a minimum, address and respond to his dispute, plaintiff submitted a consumer complaint to Federal Reserve Consumer Help" regarding BNY and Fidelity’s failure to address his claim.
Crawford states that he "never received final results" from either BNY or Fidelity of their investigation of his dispute of these fraudulent transactions, nor received a provisional recredit of the disputed transactions to his account.
The defendants "either conducted no investigation or failed to complete their investigation within the statutorily allotted time, and failed to justify the defendants’ continued refusal to reimburse Plaintiff for the loss he suffered, which indicate the defendant’s lack of good faith investigation into plaintiff’s claim of error," the suit contends.
As a result of the BNY and Fidelity's conduct, action and inaction, Crawford states in the suit that he "suffered actual damages, including, but not limited to, out of pocket financial loss as a result of being held liable for financial transactions he did not authorize, and the mental and emotional pain, anguish, humiliation, frustration and embarrassment of not having his claim of error taken seriously and investigated thoroughly."
BNY declined to comment. Fidelity did not respond to a request for comment.
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