Consumer complaint received 2023-05-02
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: FL
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I posted my resume and contact info on the website XXXX, in addition to other career assistance websites with the hope of getting a job. On Wednesday, XX/XX/2023 at XXXX I received a text message in the messages app on my phone stating that XXXX XXXX thought that I would be a good fit for a remote position at the company. The person texted said the her name was XXXX XXXX and her number is XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX. She told me about the position and directed me to have a XXXX XXXX consultation with the hr manager who would be conducting the interview. He said his name was XXXX XXXX, aged XXXX and his number was XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX. I thought it would be a video call on XXXX XXXX, but it was in fact an interview held through the virtual chat system on XXXX XXXX, so I was never able to call or see him at any point. After an extensive interview conversation, he offered my a position with company and seemed very professional. He sent me 2 checks via mail with a letter from the financial department saying that they would tell me how to utilize the checks for the company. He also sent me an employee contract/ letter detailing more about the role, the company, the salary and the benefits that they would offer and I was to sign that, scan it and send back to him. I received the checks and was told to deposit the first XXXX at my nearest ATM so that I can move forward to buying the extensive list of equipment that they would be sending me. So I deposited the check on the XXXX of XXXX and waited for it to be cleared with the bank before going any further. The check was cleared with the bank on the following Saturday. Because the check cleared, I thought that was the signal that it was all legitimate and it removed the doubts that I had. So I followed the instruction of XXXX XXXX and sent out through 3 XXXX payments to separate individuals ( XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX ) who he claimed to be vendors of {$950.00} each. I became suspicious when he would elaborate on their companys name or any contact information for those individuals. I then called the Bank of America on XX/XX/XXXX to get some assistance because I thought that even though the check was cleared, it felt strange that I had to be sending the money to vendors that I had no information about. I was advised to not send out any more money and to visit my nearest bank. So I paused my communication with the so called XXXX XXXX and went to the bank the on XX/XX/XXXX to see what could be done about this situation. I was told that they were sorry, but I had to talk to someone in the claims department because they can not assist me any further with this. I spoke to approximately five different people representing Bank of America and XXXX explained that the only reason I continued contact with the XXXX XXXX was because the check was cleared. They repeated that they were sorry about this situation however they can only do a scam tracker and would not be able to ensure that the money is returned or any other solution. They said that even though the check was cleared, after further investigation it was found to be a fraud and returned after all of the transactions already occurred. The last person I spoke to filed a claims report for me in the company, but said that it would be unlikely that the bank would offer any financial assistance for this situation, but they will conduct the scam tracking. While I acknowledge that I should have followed my uncertainty with the employer asking me to make purchases, the only reason I pushed that aside was based on the assumption that when the bank clears a check, it would conducts its due diligence before the hold is released so that when a check is cleared they would not then go back and return after previously clearing it. In all of my conversations, the bank refuses to take any responsibility or offer any help that could actually assist me in this situation. So I am in a conundrum.

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