Consumer complaint received 2020-12-28
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Government benefit card
Issue: Problem with overdraft
Sub-issue: Overdraft charges

Complaint:
I submitted a fraud claim on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX for fraudulent transactions totaling XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX there was a {$1000.00} atm withdrawal from XXXX CA and XX/XX/XXXX there was another for XXXX. At the time of the transactions I was in the hospital one day and when I went to go pick up medicine and pay for it my edd Bank of America card was not working. I checked and saw the fraudulent transactions and immediately called BOA to file a fraud claim. Everything went smoothly. I was granted the temporary credit and once the investigation was concluded I received a letter in the mail stating I could keep the temporary credit indefinitely. On XX/XX/XXXX however, BOA debited that amount back to them, {$1400.00}, and after spending hours and hours on hold ( totaling over 15 hrs on hold ) I finally had an escalation submitted on XX/XX/XXXX. I came across unprofessional and unhelpful boa agents who did not know what they were doing and giving me inaccurate information. That same day I sent a fax to a number given to me by an agent and they said that department would contact me back to see if they received my fax. They did not. She said to send a fax with a letter explaining my situation and with proof that it was not me who committed the fraud withdrawal. Luckily in my case I did have proof. I had hospital discharge papers. I sent those to that fax number and they had private health information along with personal demographics. Since they did not contact me at all I was worried about who I sent these papers to and this is a HIPPA violation of some random person received this fax and not BOA. Since XX/XX/XXXX I did not hear back from bank of America until recently in XXXX they started sending me letters. One letter said they froze my card because of fraud ( this was the new card I had received and I never reported fraud through this card ) and I had NO problems with EDD ( my identity was verified ) and I kept receiving my benefits without a problem so this was not an EDD Issue. I received another letter ( BOTH had no dates on them ) saying they unfroze my card, which was weird because I had not called them asking why my new card was frozen this occurred in XXXX. Since the letters were not dated I was not sure when they were sent out. I then receive another letter dated XX/XX/XXXX stating that BOA has not heard from me about my claim since they debited back that amount and that I had until the XXXX to contact them with more information. I call as soon as I read it and ask to speak to a supervisor. Last time I asked to speak to a supervisor the agent told me she did not have one ( very false ). This time when I asked the agent transferred me to customer service and then I had to wait again to be transferred back to the fraud department and explain myself yet again to another agent. This agent finally transferred me to her supervisor and the supervisor was also no help but she did make me worry even more about my problem. She did tell me that she was able to see all the calls Ive made since XXXX and the notes and that my claim was still open and an escalation was made XX/XX/XXXX. She told me she did not see this letter being sent out from her side or the back office which was the dispute solutions department. I told her how is that possible when Im holding the letter in my hands. She then tells me to fax a letter explaining my situation and I told her I already did all that and now that shes telling me to fax again I asked that this is concerning because I might had a HIPPA violation due to me sending my hospital discharge papers to this fax number on XX/XX/XXXX that I was given to by a BOA agent. She then begins to read the letter I sent and that the dispute department did in fact receive it. So then I ask, how am I receiving this letter from the dispute solutions department saying that they havent heard from me since they took my money but that she just confirmed that they did in fact receive it in XXXX. She stated again and again that she just doesnt see that letter from her end but that shes not saying she doesnt believe me and thats all she kept saying. She was no help and I feel helpless at that fact that I cant get my unemployment money back. I am 8 months pregnant and been so stressed out because of this and has caused emotional damage at this point. They STOLE MY MONEY AND REFUSE TO GIVE IT BACK. I asked why cant they do what they did with the first investigation where they concluded I was not at fault, why not check the atm cameras, why arent my discharge papers enough proof. She did not give me an answer. I had to go months without my EDD benefits because every time I got them they were being credited towards that negative balance I had XXXX. Bank of America forced me to use all my savings because of this. I need help please. Bank of America refuses to attend to my claim. Its not my fault that it is so easy to hack their prepaid card system and that they dont invest enough in our security. Please look into this complaint immediately. Im getting more stressed out as my due date approaches.

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 non-monetary relief