Despite being a busy wife and mom, Jenee Simmons says she always finds time to stay on top of her finances.
She was checking her account last year when she noticed several charges that instantly made her panic.
The transactions were from a Pep Boys and Chevron in California, charges Simmons said she never authorized.
"I immediately called the bank and got in contact with the fraud department," she said.
Simmons said Bank of America canceled her card and told her the funds would be returned back to her account.
"I was thinking that was the end of it," she said.
But it wasn't. She saw new charges from the same places and her account was drained.
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"We couldn't pay our electric. It was hot outside," she said. "We got a mortgage. We need food. It's kind of at a standstill."
Simmons said her local branch told her corporate failed to put a hold on her account.
After that, she thought the problem had been resolved, until she noticed more charges.
She said she kept reporting them, but ended up with letter from Bank of America determining "no error" had occurred and they're "unable to credit her account."
"Your heart drops because you're in debt for something you didn't do and the bank's not going to help you," she explained.
And after receiving more than $12,000 in charges, Simmons got NBC 5 Responds on the case.
"As soon as I got a response back from you guys, the bank called me the next day," Simmons said.
She said after looking into her case, a representative confirmed the charges from Pep Boys and Chevron were fraudulent.
A spokesperson for Bank of America tells NBC 5 they won't discuss the case for "privacy reasons," but did tell us "we have connected with the customer and resolved the fraud claim."
She had $12,800 restored to her account.
"All I can recommend to people is keep an eye on your bank account," she said.
Those are lessons Simmons and her husband are teaching their girls early on.
Here are Samantha Chatman's Solutions for keeping your bank account safe:
-If you ever spot fraudulent activity, let your bank know immediately.
-Consider signing up for alerts so that you'll know as soon as a suspicious transaction is made.
-You may also want to consider having a backup account, funds you can use if your primary account is ever compromised.
