Consumer complaint received 2020-03-10
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MD
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
1, My account was hacked by unknown person/s who stole my personal identity to commit several unauthorized XXXX XXXX and cash transaction transfers on my debit account! I have been a customer of Bank of America for more than 20 years and have always handled my accounts in a responsible manner. 

2, I went to the Bank of America local branch to withdraw some money and found out my account was fraudulently compromised and the balance was almost at a XXXX ( which never happened before ) because of many UNAUTHORIZED XXXX XXXX transactions made out of my account which totaled $ XXXX ( over XXXX XXXX dollars of regular deposits from my retirement funds and social security ). 

3, On XX/XX/XXXX, a staff at the local BOA branch contacted fraud dept on my behalf about the fraudulent transactions which the bank should have noticed as unusual, out-of-the-norm, all-of-a-sudden, cash app debits coming out of my account in such aggressive manner. The bank did NOT attempt to contact/notify me to put a hold or freeze my account instantly ( for account security and protection ). I also was not given ANY temporary credit. On the recorded line of BOA ( on same day mentioned above ), the customer service rep ( name already provided on email ) informed me that the alert features that would have notified me properly of suspicious transactions was disabled and not activated in their system for technical/unknown reasons which were NOT due to any fault of mine! Till now, there has been no shared information as to why my account was not protected. However, the rep restored the feature back the same day which allowed me to detect another attempt by the fraudster/s of {$1000.00} AFTER the notification via text was active ( just as it should have been done in the first place to prevent the fraud ). I also responded to that same alert stating in quotes NO, I did NOT request any code, it is FRAUD ''. Because of the alert, I was able to contact another rep to return the {$1000.00} to my childs account ( where it belonged ) and freeze my account ( until the investigation is completed to my satisfaction ) to prevent further fraudulent activities. 

4, In order to transfer any money from my account, a code must be sent to my phone as the authorized owner/with the only access. Yet, the scammers made more attempts on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX  and XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX, but could NOT get the codes the bank already sent to my personal phone. Despite this, the scammers were still able to transfer {$1000.00} from my childs account ( a dependent of minor age and beneficiary ) to my checking account. How could this be logically possible for anyone to bypass text codes provided by the bank ' to gain access to do all the cash transfers without being in possession of my actual phone which was NOT lost or reported stolen? The bank refused to explain how this could have happened and did not communicate with me how the fraud transactions occurred on my account. Therefore, I reached out to the local police department and filed a report. The detective said the bank has the power to reach XXXX XXXX despite the fact that the bank already said they could not reach XXXX XXXX as a third-party vendor. I have personally made diverse efforts on multiple occasions to contact XXXX XXXX but was unable to login, create an account, or communicate with any representative. 

5, The situation caused a great inconvenience to not be able to access my own account or to use my own debit card! I was never advised till this date how someone could have been able to obtain my account number and conduct these dubious/suspicious activities without being detected or intercepted by the bank when Im the ONLY person who has complete custody and access to my debit card at all times! 

*I 've done the best I could do by trying to communicate with Bank of America , filing a police report, and contacting the vendor without success to get my questions answered or case resolved till this present date. In addition, I contacted the governor 's office who referred me to Consumer Protection Bureau.

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 monetary relief