Key insight: No federal law obligates banks to reimburse customers when they lose their savings to scams. No federal law obligates banks to reimburse customers when they lose their savings to scams. Maas' lawsuit, notably, is being pursued not in federal court, but in the Superior Court of Essex County, New Jersey. Using falsified PNC bank statements, the fraudster convinced Maas that he had been refunded — but by $300,000 too much. The obligation to intervene when a bank customer is being scammed does not exist in U.S. law — but in Sluder's view, it should.