Consumer complaint received 2022-04-09
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Check cashing service
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
My name is XXXX XXXX ( SSN : XXXX ), Bank of America account number XXXX XXXX XXXX and consumer ID number XXXX. Below is my dispute on this account to remove the inaccurate information about the supposed fraud on my record : On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a phone call from someone who claimed to be my employer from over the summer. I worked as a XXXX  XXXX on the border of XXXX and XXXX XXXX This unknown caller gave details about work such as the location, names, and referenced the fact that I had not been present or paid for the second half of the last pay period. They said that they hadn't paid a few employees, including myself, and they were trying to get on that as soon as possible. Since I had been waiting on that check, this call was not surprising. The only thing that they said that was confusing to me was that they wanted to send me the checks for 2 other employees ( which they named and were actual employees, working at the same XXXX ), and wire it to them in order to save time because they could only process one payment per week. Because they expressed an urgency, and I was under the impression that this was my boss, I cashed all three electronic checks via Bank of America 's mobile app that same day. 

The next day, XX/XX/XXXX, {>= $1,000,000} was withdrawn from my account in order to put my account on hold. I made a call to my bank, Bank of America, and they let me know of this and told me it would take 48 hours in order to do a full investigation on the fraud found. That day, I called back the number of my supposed employer and the other end just beeped, likely because the phone had been disconnected. I reached out to my employers via email and they told me they had not reached out. I made an appointment with the Bank 48 hours later, on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX at the Bank of America in XXXX. I showed up for my appointment 10 minutes before and explained my situation in full, including the fraud, and they told me it would take an hour to do an evaluation, and that the bank was closing too soon to complete it. They agreed to give me an appointment the next day on Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX at another location on XXXX XXXX. I, once again, explained my situation in full, including the fraud, but this location explained that they do not do fraud investigations on weekends, and sent me away once again -- still without my money. 

I called the fraud line on the following Monday, explaining my situation in full for the third time, as instructed by the manager at the XXXX XXXX location. I was passed around different departments for several hours before being told that they had not yet begun the investigation because the hold was placed on Friday, when it was, in fact, placed on the previous Wednesday. I waited two more days before calling again and they still weren't finished with the investigation. 

A full week and a half later on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, I called and they let me know that I was guilty of fraud, so my account would be shut down on the XXXX, and I would be unable to take action until then. I went back to the Bank of America in XXXX on Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX to file a complaint about the situation and how it was being handled, explaining the fraud once again, but I was turned away because I was no longer a customer, after I had been forced to close my account. 

The same day, I also called Bank of America to handle this situation and I was turned away from help, but after hours on the phone explaining my situation to everyone I spoke to, they agreed to send me the check with all the money on the account that they closed. I thought this was the end of the situation, but I was wrong. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received my check and 3 days later, before I had the chance to put the money in an account at another bank, I received a letter from Bank of America. This letter notified me that I would never be able to open up a bank with them ever again. This was not any new information. That being said, the letter also said that I would likely have trouble opening up a bank anywhere in the US for the next 5 years, because they reported my fraud to both XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX. Both of these security systems oversee many US banks, and would prevent me from opening a bank account if I applied. I reached out to XXXX, who launched their own investigation after I submitted additional information. They reinvestigated, and found that the results were inconclusive a few weeks later on Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX. The individual I spoke with expressed the need for additional supplementation, like an affidavit or a police report. The person on the phone said that I would receive a letter including information on how to go about this process in the mail in a few days. When I received the letter a week and a half later, on Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, it did not include such information. I reached out on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX of the following calendar year to state my confusion, to which the person I spoke to expressed that they were never sending such information. I spoke to an officer from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX the same day in the hopes to overturn the ruling made by XXXX. 

At this point, I am reaching out to XXXX XXXX XXXX, because they have not fully resolved the problem with the information provided. XXXX has removed their false information, however, XXXX  refuses to remove the flag for *fraud* because it does not hold me personally accountable. That being said, the language and style of presentation on my consumer report does not properly represent the situation. I would like for this situation to be rectified.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation