Consumer complaint received 2020-01-09
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: FL
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
In XX/XX/2019 I received a text from a person that was interested in my wedding dress I posted in XXXX XXXX for sale. This person continued to ask me for details and pictures of the dress. I sent all this info to him/her by texts. He mentioned he was in the military and was away but that was interested and would arrange for pick up of the dress. 

on XX/XX/XXXX, I sent another text that I would have it dry cleaned and we would split the cost. The dress was posted for {$450.00} I believe, plus {$70.00} for the dry cleaning it, which we agreed on. He/She explained that the a check would be mailed to my attention but the amount was for {$1800.00} because it was gift from their in law for their wedding, so she/he asked me to credit the difference. Somehow, send the remaining back which was {$1000.00}. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another text indicating that the check was being mailed to me and I was given a tracking number. I confirmed with my mom that it was at home, but I was at work and would not be able to deposit it until next day. this person asked to send a picture of the receipt as soon as I made the deposit, and requested to deposit via ATM as it would be faster that way, to receive the credit in my account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I deposited the check. I sent a screen shot of the deposit from my Bank Statement. He/she then said we could wait until the money was available for me to proceed with sending the credit to her/him. 

XX/XX/XXXX, I made the transfer via XXXX from my Bank of America Checking account to his. He provided me with a name and email address : XXXX ; I trasnfered the " credit of {$1000.00}. to this account. 
Name : XXXX XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX, He sent a weird text that he/she needed my attention. I replied, yes, let me know what you need? But didnt hear from them at all. 

XX/XX/XXXX, I received another text, that something came up. This person said, She already had another wedding dress from her sister and didn't know she had this as a gift for her. So she didn't need my dress anymore. I said, ok, so, do you need the remaining of your money. Then I was told, to just to refund another {$200.00} and keep the rest because I was so kind to her and helped a lot. 

At this point I thought this was all weird. I contacted the phone number in the text and this person pretended he didnt hear me. I looked for the XXXX XXXX  envelope that was used for the check. There was a phone number and a name in there. I sent a text to this number and asked for XXXX, this was the name printed on the label. A man responded that his name was XXXX. I explained the situation through texts, he said that he had received numerous calls identifying themselves as XXXX XXXX XXXX. He didnt know anything about the dress or any wedding. 
That same day ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I contacted Bank of America. They took all my information and the information about the person I was texting back and forth. They asked for me to stop any communication and to wait for the claim to go on. They suggested making a police report. 

XX/XX/XXXX, I visited the Sherriffs office near my house. He explained all the paperwork I needed to bring with me for the report like a copy of the check returned. I returned on XX/XX/XXXX and completed all the paperwork as required. 

I made few calls every three days to Bank of America to see if something was done,. On my last call to them, about two weeks later, I was told the claim was closed because after so many attempts to the other party, it was impossible to get in touch. 

I asked what other way I could get my money back since this was a scam. They said only by subpoena. I said, ok but I would need an address to send a subpoena. They said they cant provide me with any information about this person. 

At this point, I decided to contact you to see if you could help somehow to resolve this situation. My question is, where did my money go and why is Bank America more helpful so we can stop these scams? What else I can do to get that money back? 

It took me a while to submit this claim because of the holidays and my mom was in a trip, so I had to take care of my son. So I was only working half day. Im returning to my full schedule now and wa sable to find time to gather all the information. 
I looked for this guys name in internet ; his name appears in XXXX or somewhere in there, not here. 
Thank you in advance.

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