Your debit card gets hacked. Real money — your rent, your groceries, your week’s paycheck — gone overnight.

You call your bank expecting help, and they hit you with that robotic line:

“We’ve investigated and found no error.”

Translation? “We’re keeping your money.”

Not so fast. Federal law says otherwise.


⚖️ The Law That Forces Banks to Pay

Debit card fraud is governed by the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) and Regulation E, and it’s one of the few consumer laws with real teeth. It requires your bank to:

  • Investigate quickly — generally within 10 business days. If they need longer, they must provisionally credit your account while they look into it.

  • Provide a written explanation and the documents they relied on if they deny you. A one-line “no error” email doesn’t cut it.

  • Limit your losses if you report within 60 days of your statement date — even if you missed earlier fraudulent charges.

  • Pay your lawyer’s fees and costs if you have to sue and win. That’s the EFTA’s fee-shifting hammer — the reason we can fight for you at no out-of-pocket cost.


🚫 Why Banks Keep Saying “No”

Because every “no” keeps your money in their pocket. The system rewards delay, denial, and confusion. Banks bet that you don’t know your rights — and most consumers don’t realize they can make the bank pay.


💣 How to Flip the Power

  1. Put it in writing.
    Send a written dispute titled “Regulation E Error Resolution Request.” Include dates and amounts. That forces the statutory timeline.

  2. Ask for their proof.
    If they deny, demand the investigation materials. They must produce them on request.

  3. Track their clock.
    Ten business days to decide or issue provisional credit. Up to 45 or 90 days total if they’ve credited you during the review.

  4. Report all fraud within 60 days.
    That cuts off your liability for later unauthorized transfers.

  5. Call a lawyer who knows EFTA.
    We enforce those deadlines — and if the bank broke them, we make them pay every dollar back plus our fees.


💪 Why Call Me?

Because our firm doesn't ask banks to do the right thing — we force them to.

We use federal law to recover your stolen funds, clean up your credit mess, and hold the bank accountable. And under the EFTA, they pay our fees, not you.

👉 Call Now. Don’t let your bank rewrite federal law. Make them pay — literally.

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Michael F. Cardoza, Esq.
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U.S. Marine & Consumer Financial Protection Attorney helping victims of ID theft and Credit Reporting errors.
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