Consumer complaint received 2023-12-19
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: GA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I was unfortunate to be scammed by someone claiming to be an SBA loan officer. My business loan was under re consideration thru the SBA portal and came thru and then the portal closed in XX/XX/XXXX. This SBA loan officer told me I could get my loan by paying {$2000.00} directly to a XXXX account. and will be put on a priority list and I sent {$500.00} initially and they loan officer started becoming very threatening and aggressive and thats I realised it was a scam. This happened on XX/XX/XXXX. The loan officer had a lot of Aliases. I contacted my banking institution and for over 3 months till XXXX I received letters stating. 
As you requested, we completed a re- evaluation of your claim. Our research included the information you provided with your claim, your account history, and we have made our decision We recommend you contact the person you sent the funds to directly for further assistance. Based on this your account wont be credited. I was told the fraudsters bank is XXXX. I reached out to my Congress/ Senator and was told the following. This is from an article they sent me and they told me my bank should refund me the funds from XXXX who is the scammers bank. This has happened to a lot of consumers and particularly Bank of America and other big banks profit from fraudulent XXXX transactions. 

Big banks own and profit from XXXX, but are failing to make their customers whole for both authorized and unauthorized fraudulent activity on the platform, despite their claims that it is safe and that they have a XXXX liability policy for fraud. 

This new report comes after months of Senator Warren urging the big banks to provide this data. 

Text of Report ( PDF ) Washington, D.C. Today, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren ( D-Mass. ), a member of the Senate Banking , Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee ( BHUA ), released a new report revealing rampant fraud and theft on XXXX. This new report contains the findings of Senator Warrens investigation of XXXX fraud data provided by banks. It finds that fraud is growing on the platform and that the banks are not refunding the vast majority of defrauded consumers, breaking their promises to their customers and potentially violating federal law. 

In a hearing before the BHUA Committee on XX/XX/XXXX, Senators Warren and Bob Menendez ( D-N.J. ) called on big bank CEOs to provide information on the volume of and procedures for addressing fraud on their XXXX platform. Senators Warren and Menendez received a commitment from several CEOs that they would provide the requested information to Congress. While XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, and several other banks still refused to make key information about fraud public, several other banks did provide the information. 

New internal data from the big banks shows that their platform XXXX is rampant with fraud and theft, and few customers are getting refunded -- potentially violating federal laws and consumer rules. Despite their CEOs ' promises to the Senate Banking Committee, XXXX and XXXX XXXX have still not turned over complete data, and I'll keep fighting for stronger consumer protections and to hold all these banks accountable for abuse. said Senator Warren.

The report findings show that : Fraud and theft are rampant on XXXX and are increasing. The big banks that own XXXX market the product by telling their customers that the platform is safe and secure. Bank of America tells its customers that XXXX is a safe and easy way to send money fast. Similarly, XXXX XXXX tells customers, XXXX is fast, safe, and convenient. XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX parent company, brands itself as innovative, collaborative, and trustworthy. But XXXX Bank reported that the number of fraud and scam claims from customers increased from XXXX in XXXX, to a pace of over XXXX in XXXX. Similarly, XXXXXXXX XXXX reported XXXX fraud and scam claims on XXXX in XXXX, and that its customers are on pace to report nearly XXXX claims in XXXX. The four banks that reported the relevant data received scam and fraud claims in excess of {$90.00} XXXX in XXXX, and are on pace to receive scam and fraud claims in excess of {$250.00} XXXX in XXXX. 
Banks are not repaying the vast majority of cases where customers were fraudulently induced into making payments on XXXX. Overall, four banks that provided data reported over XXXX cases of scams cases where customers reported being fraudulently induced into making payments on XXXX involving over {$210.00} XXXX of payments in XXXX and the first half of XXXX. In the vast majority of these cases, the banks did not repay the customers that were defrauded. Overall the three banks that provided full data reported repaying customers in only 9.6 % of scam claims, and repaid only {$2.00} XXXX, representing 11 % of payments.

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