Consumer complaint received 2023-05-26
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
My wallet and phone were stolen from my car. The thief tried to make some large purchases that exceeded the checking account balance, so the transactions were denied. Thief then went on to somehow transfer a large sum of money from another account to the checking account to then make large purchase. Security of accounts is a major concern. Below is an excerpt of the letter I sent to BOA after my claim was denied : 'I received notice that my claim has been denied and closed, incorrectly citing non-aggressive spending behavior and for some reason citing XX/XX/23 when this theft happened in XXXX. There was clear error in the research conducted. Please reopen and take another look. 

On XX/XX/23, my phone was stolen from my car. Attached to the phone was a card holder holding my license, a XXXX credit card, and a BOA debit card. It was used to attempt several purchases, finding success with 1 large purchase at the XXXX XXXX. 

From my own research, it looks like the thief tried unsuccessfully to charge two different charges at the XXXX XXXX. One for XXXX XXXX and some odd dollars ( should be in your notes ) and the {$8600.00} charge. 

The alarming part from a security standpoint is this next part : a transfer of {$15000.00} was made from the account ending XXXX to the checking account XXXX. In the transaction details, it states that the transfer was made via phone. I am the executor of my recently deceased fathers trust. The account ending XXXX is kept to pay legal fees to settle his assets. Please tell me how its possible for a thief to access this account merely by a phone conversation. The thief had my phone and ID, so in theory, 2FA could be sidestepped as the text bubbles with the code are viewable and he would have access to basic info like DOB, address, etc. I would like to think that there would be an extra layer of security ; requiring the last 4 of social or mothers maiden name ; something that isnt easily accessible in order to conduct a transaction this large. There should have been more flags raised. You record calls. Please look into the call made that day to make this transfer. You should find plenty of evidence the person making this call wasnt me. 

The above mentioned transactions were declined because my checking account balance wasnt enough to cover the transactions. Its my guess that after the transfer, the thief was able to reauthorize the latter purchase of {$8600.00}, as this was eventually the lone processed transaction. 

There were initially 3 charges totaling {$19000.00}. {$2600.00} ( I think ), and then two subsequent identical charges of {$8600.00}. The fist two charges fell off the ledger as they were declined. I recently called to adjust the claim amount to the amount that was processed : {$8600.00}. If theres any way to pull up old declined transactions, you should be able to see an alarming spike in aggressive spending behavior. 

I was able to lock my accounts and cards when I got to my laptop. Attached are some other attempted transactions that were declined, again, showing abnormal aggressive spending behavior. 

I also have proof of cancellation and renewals of my XXXX card as well as a drivers license. 

The branch manager at your XXXX location can confirm ( you should be able to see on your end as well ) that I open all new accounts at BOA in order to curtail further fraud. '

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