Consumer complaint received 2017-03-22
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: VA
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX a counterfeit check in the amount of {$3300.00} written out to XXXX from a XXXX was deposited in to our account ( # XXXX ) at a Bank of America location located on XXXX in XXXX, MD. on XX/XX/XXXX another counterfeit check was deposited in the same amount at the same location from the same company. XXXX nor I, XXXX made either of these deposits nor did we endorse the checks. We were not made aware that they were counterfeit until XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX Bank of America sent the following text message to XXXX stating the following : In order to continue using her card she would need to verify 2 transactions : XX/XX/XXXX-ATM Withdrawal- {$800.00} ( Declined ) ; XX/XX/XXXX-XXXX Late Fee - {$10.00} ( Declined ). If you attempted both of these transactions, reply YES. If you do not recognize one or more of them, reply NO. XXXX replied NO as she did not recognize the {$800.00} transaction. Bank of America then contacted her by phone and she informed the Bank of America representative that she did not make the {$800.00} withdrawal nor did she have that amount of money in her account. At the time of this text and call we were not made aware of the deposits that were made on XX/XX/XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX. We were also not made aware of the additional withdrawals, one in the amount of {$2500.00} and another in the amount of {$800.00}. These both took place at a Bank of America ATM with Teller Assist located in XXXX, VA. Of which the ATM states that the availability of funds my not be available for immediate withdrawal. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I logged in to my account to verify my direct deposit, it was not until then that I noticed the two suspicious deposits in the amount of {$3300.00} each, one made on XX/XX/XXXX and the other on XX/XX/XXXX. I became confused and transferred funds in the amount of {$3300.00} from account # XXXX to my savings account # XXXX. I contacted Bank of America and explained the suspicious deposits and my mistake on transferring the funds. I was instructed to transfer the funds back in to account # XXXX of which I did and was told a claim would be placed on the deposits. On XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX I received letters stating the deposits where returned unpaid and the reason was due to altered/fictitious checks. I contacted Bank of America on several occasions asking why was a hold not placed on the XXXX checks that were deposited and why they had withdrawals on the same day. I also inquired why the {$800.00} withdrawal was declined and not the other withdrawals. I questioned why Bank of America did not stop activity after speaking with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX when she informed the bank that she did not have the first attempted withdrawal amount in her account. This should have raised a flag on her account. I informed them that a police report was filed and provided them with the name of the investigator, XXXX with the XXXX Police Department. The report control number was also provided, XXXX along with the investigator 's telephone number, XXXX. I also explained that XXXX may have been a victim of identity theft as she had applied for a job on campus which later appeared to be fraudulent. Bank of America has been very difficult to contact and not once have I been able to speak to the person in charge of my claims. I have been a customer of Bank of America since XX/XX/XXXX and had 4 other accounts not including the one I am making a complaint on. Bank of America took money from those accounts in the amount of {$87.00} to cover the fraudulent outstanding balance in question during my claim process. They allowed someone to deposit fraudulent/counterfeit checks and withdrawal from our account without placing a hold on the checks. Every check that I have deposited has always had a hold placed on them. Ther

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