Debt Collectors: How Do Debt Collectors Find Your Bank Account

My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: California I'm trying to find out exactly how a debt collector can find your bank account. One guy told me that if you're in collections, you can't even open a bank account because if you try to, as soon as they enter your name in their computer, a "flag" will come up telling the bank that you are in collections, and they will refuse to open an account for you. He said that banks are "linked" with collection agencies, and that they share information with each other about bank customers and people who are in collections. He said that collection agencies have access to the customer databases of all banks, and that banks have access to the databases of all collection agencies. Another guy told me that you can open an account if you are in collections, but that the account will soon be found out by the collection agency because the collection agencies are constantly"trolling" bank databases looking for the people who owe them money. Is any of this true? I have a friend who lives in Tijuana but keeps his money in a bank in San Diego. He owes about $20,000 on credit cards but has never paid anything. He says they tried to seize money from his bank account years ago but he only had about $100.00 in it at the time. They tried to collect much more than that, and as a result my friend got an overdraft charge of $35.00. He stands to inherit about a half a million dollars in a few years and is worried that if he loads a lot of money into his account, a "flag" will go up and it will all get seized by the collection agency. Could this happen?

Debt Collectors: How Do Debt Collectors Find Your Bank Account