Consumer complaint received 2023-02-09
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
My complaint is about two fraudulent XXXX transactions that were done from my checking account in Bank of America on XX/XX/XXXX. I was at work and I received notifications from BOA app that two recipients ( unknown to me ) were added and then two XXXX transactions were done at XXXX and XXXX XXXX from my checking account for {$97.00} and {$66.00}. I opened my BOA app, I found the two transactions status still pending. I checked recipients and I didnt find these two recipients on my list. During my lunch break after XXXXXXXX XXXX, I went to a nearby BOA branch to ask them to stop the transaction as the status was still pending at that time. The employee told me there is nothing they can do and asked me to contact customer service. I called them and I was on a long waiting until my 1 hour break ended and I had to hangup without speaking to anyone. 
Later in the day, I called and submitted a claim with number XXXX. After a month I was told it was denied and the reason is that the bank believes that transactions were done from my phone. They sent me a very brief report of the investigation that only has 5 previous XXXX  transactions done from my phone which doesn't explain anything. I do use zelle from my phone but where is the proof that these specific 2 fraudulant transactions were done from my phone. 
I asked to escalate and reopen the claim, they refused. I called the fraud department again on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXXXXXX XXXX PST and spoke to XXXX XXXX asking for more details about the investigation they did and what proof they have that these transactions were done from my phone. She confirmed that these were done from my phone ( I was at work and my phone was with me during the time of the transaction, nobody else had access to it ), she also said that the bank sent text messages ( which I didnt receive ) with a verification code to confirm the transaction and when it was verified, the transactions were completed. She also suggested that my phone is compromised. I asked for a detailed report about all of that, what proof is that the transaction was done from my phone, what time messages were sent, when were the codes entered, she said it will be mailed to me. 
I called apple care to check if my phone was compromised. ( I have XXXX XXXX XXXX with always the most recent update of the software, I am very cautious with spam messages, emails and calls, nobody else has access to my phone or my private laptop which are the 2 only devices I use to access my bank account ). My phone is working perfect, there are no signs of hacking. XXXX care agent asked me few questions then asked me to navigate the phone, at the end he mentioned that most likely it was not compromised based on the navigation but he cant be 100 % sure so he didnt send me a confirmation for that, he just sent me an email on how to keep my phone safe. 
I also contacted my phone carrier asking if there was a call forward or message forward setting activated on my phone. My carrier is called XXXX, they denied any call forward and said they dont have text forward service. I also asked if there was a second sim card for the same number, they also denied. Lastly I asked for a history of the communications from my number to check if I received any messages I am not aware of. They sent me the report ( attached the text message report ) and as I expected, there were no text messages received from the bank on XX/XX/XXXX at the times of the transactions ( XXXX and XXXX XXXX ). 
I waited for the detailed investigation report to see what proof they have that these transactions were done from my phone and what are the procedure of the investigation but I didnt receive the report although the agent said it takes XXXX hours for the report to be released and mailed. So I called again on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to XXXX XXXX located in Texas at XXXX PST and asked for the same request but again didn't receive anything, and again I called the third time on XX/XX/XXXX around XXXX XXXX PST and Until today XX/XX/XXXX I havent received anything. 
I believe the fraudulent activity was due to a security breech from their end and they did not do a proper investigation and just decided to blame it on me that transactions were done from my phone. 
The reason why I believe so is that they have not sent me the detailed report I asked for so far. The communication report I received from my carrier doesn't show text messages from they bank as they claimed. My phone was not compromised. Where are the recipients?? there is no record for them in my account. why transactions were pending for a long time, XXXX transactions are always executed immediately. Where are the confirmation codes. Why they don't want to reopen the case and do proper investigation. 

Documents attached : - The initial brief report of investigation that does not provide enough information or details on how were these transactions done from my phone - A record from my phone carrier ( XXXX ) with the text messages received in the 3 months period from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX ( it doesnt include the phone numbers, only date and time ). Notice on XX/XX/XXXX I received only 1 text message at XXXXXXXX XXXX  while transactions were at XXXX and XXXXXXXX XXXX - The email from XXXX XXXX  to follow up after my call ( the agent mentioned that most probably my phone was not compromised but he can not guarantee so he emailed me only a link for safety )

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