Consumer complaint received 2023-04-27
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: WA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
This concerns both checking AND savings accounts. On XX/XX/22 I answered a call on my phone which showed the caller ID as Bank of America. The man told he was with the fraud dept of BofA, his name was XXXX XXXX, and his Employee ID # was XXXX and that he was working with the FDIC because my identity had been stolen and they needed me to take money from my accounts to secure my money from the hacker who who had my identify and they would protect my money and open a new safe account. He had my account numbers and amounts in the accounts. He then had me withdraw on XX/XX/22, the amount in one of my savings accounts of {$18000.00} and then on XX/XX/22, the amount of {$8000.00} from my checking account. He then had me convert the cash to bitcoin and what I couldn't convert to bitcoin ( evidently there's a limit per day ), I was to purchase gift cards. I then sent the receipts for the bitcoin and the gift card numbers and he would open a new account and I would also earn interest of 6 %. XXXX XXXX Bank of America letter attached showing I sent him the total amount of {$26000.00} and that plus {$2000.00} in interest would net me {$28000.00} ). 
YES, it was a scam and I fell for it! 
I now know that most scammers target those over XXXX ( I'm XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and they catch you off guard and sound so urgent that you don't have time to think rationally. 
I have been told that any time a person withdraws an amount over {$10000.00}, the bank must notify the IRS and also that the bank should have you sign a form stating the reason for your withdrawal of such a large amount of cash. 
NOTE : I have been a customer of BofA for over 50 years and NEVER have I withdrawn such a large amount of cash at one time in those 50 years until XX/XX/22. This should have raised an alarm to the bank! XXXX I withdrew both amounts one day apart from the same branch! 
Over the weekend when I had time to reflect on what I'd done, I realized there was something very wrong. Monday morning XX/XX/22, I went to the BofA XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, WA XXXX where I had withdrawn the money and told them what had happened. They didn't seem too concerned about what happened to me, just told me to call their fraud department and report it which I did. They took the info but did nothing other than tell me that BofA would never have called me and asked me to do what I had done. I went home and then called the bank branch and made an appointment to speak with XXXX of their bank managers who could see me the next day. I went in on Tuesday XX/XX/22 and spoke with XXXX XXXX, Financial Center Manager and Assistant Vice President and explained what had happened. She said she was sorry but the bank had no responsibility to ask me what I was withdrawing the money for, their only responsibility was to report the withdrawal to the IRS. She expressed no sympathy for me other than " Sorry, we have no responsibility to you ''. 
I am embarrassed and humiliated that I was so naive as to believe this XXXX XXXX was who he said he was but my called ID DID show the call as coming from Bank of America. ( I have since learned that scammers can make your caller ID look like whatever they want it to look like ). 
I also made phone calls to BofA 's fraud department and got transferred several times trying to report this loss. I spoke to a XXXX XXXX, a XXXX XXXX, and a XXXX XXXX. I was given phone # XXXX of XXXX and XXXX and all that happened is they kept giving me another name to call and I got nowhere! 
I have receipts for the bitcoin I purchased and all the gift cards with numbers that I purchased but to attach them all would be very time consuming. However, if needed, I can provide that.

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