Jan 2, 2025
The reason it makes sense to keep your money in a bank account, as opposed to a shoebox under your bed, is that your funds are protected while you’re not using them.
But what if a bank employee decides to access your funds and steal them instead?
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That's what happened recently in Wilmington, Delaware, when 35-year-old Citizens Bank teller Vannia Chatt stole $81,350 from various account holders.
As part of his confession, Chatt justified his actions by saying, "I did not want to see my family suffer through homelessness again and made a desperate decision that continued to get out of hand." He was (clearly) fired from his job and faces multiple charges.
Targeting dormant accounts
In the course of his theft, Chatt specifically targeted dormant accounts, meaning accounts with no activity for an extended period of time. Between December 2023 and November 2024, Chatt created emergency debit cards on-site that he used to withdraw from the accounts he accessed.
Of the $81,350 he stole in total, $78,000 came from one victim alone.
A Citizens Bank security officer got wind of the scam and alerted police. He also got Chatt to produce a written confession.
Thankfully, Citizens Bank has credited all of the stolen funds back to their original accounts, so customers aren't out any money.
The bank said, "The safety and security of our colleagues, customers, and the public is a top priority. We are working closely with law enforcement in their investigation."
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The problem with dormant accounts
A dormant bank account, by nature, is one that sits unused for an extended period of time. If you have a dormant account, at some point, your bank may contact you to let you know that it will be closed if you don't take some type of action, such as making a withdrawal or a deposit. That may not happen for a few years, depending on your bank. But ultimately, there's no universal time frame.
There are a few risks associated with having a dormant bank account. First, if your account sits dormant, your bank might eventually start charging an inactivity fee.
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Also, after a period of time, your bank might close your account if you don't transact in it. But if your bank is unable to get in touch with you to arrange for a transfer of funds, you risk having that money turned over to the state, at which point it could become harder for you to recoup. (You can check this database to see if your state is hanging onto any of your money.)
Also, when you have a bank account you use regularly, you're likely to notice fraudulent activity. With a dormant account, someone could steal a bunch of your money without you having a clue. That's a problem, because you generally need to report bank account fraud within 60 days to be entitled to protection.
Finally, if you have a dormant savings account whose interest rate you aren’t monitoring, you may be losing out on higher returns at another bank.
How to protect yourself
To avoid any of these consequences, it's a good idea to keep a running list of all of your open financial accounts, from checking and savings accounts to old 401(k)s. You should also set a monthly calendar reminder to log into each account and monitor its activity.
Another thing it makes sense to do is consolidate a dormant account into an active one unless there's a specific reason for keeping it open.
Let's say you have $2,000 sitting in a local bank from where you grew up, but you now live 300 miles away. There's probably not much benefit to keeping that account open, so you might as well close it out and have that money transferred into an account you actually use.
If you have a bank account you don't use often that you expressly want to keep, and you don't want it to become dormant, set up a recurring deposit into that account so it stays active. It could be something like $10 per month just to ensure that there's regular activity.
Keep in mind, though, that while it can be beneficial to your credit score to keep an older credit card open even if you don't use it anymore, the same does not apply to an older bank account. Closing a bank account shouldn't impact your credit one bit, so there's little sense in taking the risk of keeping money in an account you hardly ever use or look at.
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Maurie Backman has been writing professionally for well over a decade. Since becoming a full-time writer, she's produced thousands of articles on topics ranging from Social Security to investing to real estate.
