After Fidelity 'Glitch,' Frustrated Customers Face Restrictions on Deposits

Fidelity customers who use a certain type of account have discovered cumbersome deposit restrictions in recent days. In some cases, folks say they are encountering weeks-long holds for deposits to clear.

Here's what's happening: The financial services company has recently seen a surge in fraudulent activity, which meant it had to take “immediate steps to address the issue,” a spokesperson said in an email. While Fidelity isn’t confirming what exactly those actions entail, affected Reddit users are reporting frustrating personal experiences with the new fraud prevention measures, which they say are overly aggressive.

The fraud scheme in question went semi-viral earlier this month, sometimes under the hashtag “#fidelityboyz.” In one post that has over 4,500 likes on Instagram, several men wearing Fidelity T-shirts are seen throwing large amounts of cash in the air.

It shares similarities to the “infinite money glitch” that involved Chase Bank just a few weeks ago.

The "fidelityboyz" trend essentially promised customers a hack to get free cash. It involved immediately withdrawing funds via phony checks before Fidelity actually cleared the deposits. In reality, it was just check fraud, and people who tried it will likely face serious consequences.

In the meantime, the type of account that’s been affected is called a cash management account, abbreviated CMA. These are interest-bearing accounts that have functionalities for paying bills as well as cashing and writing checks. On its website, Fidelity calls them an “alternative to traditional banking.”

But customers are now reporting in forums that when they’ve tried to make legitimate transfers and check deposits, they've been slapped with holds and haven't been able to access money they need.

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Fidelity deposit limits had been reduced from $100,000 to $1,000 in some cases, adding that the fraud concerns were specifically related to mobile-app check deposits. Reddit users claim they've also found holds on electronic fund transfers when they've tried to pull money into their Fidelity account from other banks.

"I really dig my CMA account, but weeks for a transfer ain't gonna cut it," one user wrote. Another reported, "Fidelity is holding 2 deposits until October 11th. I have bills to pay."

Fidelity's stance is that it is focused on preventing fraud.

"We recently identified individuals attempting to commit fraud using their Fidelity accounts. We have no tolerance for any type of illegal activity,” a spokesperson said. “To be clear, these individuals were committing fraud with respect to their own accounts: No other customer information, accounts or assets were at risk.”

In addition to social media, the Fidelity scam was also trending among fraudsters on Telegram, a messaging app, according to the fraud blog FrankonFraud. Unlike the Chase "glitch," however, this scheme didn't involve raiding ATMs for cash.

“Since Fidelity does not have ATMs, the method seems to focus on depositing fake or altered checks through mobile apps — often on newly opened accounts," the FrankonFraud blog post read. "After checks are posted, people either use debit cards or wire transfers to extract the money quickly."

Fidelity’s new safeguards appear to have largely shut down the illegal activity. The challenge now is that some customers who have ostensibly done nothing wrong are being told they’ll have to wait to be able to withdraw or invest funds that are subject to a hold. The company has not specified how it plans to resolve that issue.

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