Consumer complaint received 2023-12-17
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MD
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Tuesday, XX/XX/2023 I am an XXXX and was in XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX At XXXX I received a call on my cell from Bank of Americas main number, XXXX. The representative on the line said they were from the Fraud Department at Bank of America. 

They informed me that someone was trying to obtain a new debit card and send a XXXX  payment, and asked if I approved such a transfer. I told them I did not authorize or want any such transfer or a new debit card. I was not aware there was a XXXX account attached to my business account, had never used XXXX on this account, and that this was indeed fraud. 

The representative knew my complete account numbers as well as my contact information. At no time did I share this information with them. 

I was told the XXXX amount would not be sent. It would currently show in my account as pending and within 24 hours it would show being declined. To verify my identity, they texted me the number XXXX XXXX XXXX and requested I read it back to them. This is the same texting number used by Bank of America and the text looked identical to the ones I have received from Bank of America. 

Wednesday, XX/XX/ At approximately XXXX, I saw a payment of {$14000.00} had been taken from my account. I immediately called Bank of Americas main number XXXX. I was transferred to the Fraud Department. They told me I had been scammed, and they would launch an investigation. They had me change my log-in and passwords on all of my accounts, which I did. They provided a case XXXX XXXX. They said it could take up to 30 days to complete the investigation before I was notified as to the outcome. 

Since Bank of Americas XXXX Fraud Department was not yet open, they asked me to call back later in the day to speak with the XXXX Fraud Department. The agent with the XXXX Fraud Department they told me the money was in a XXXX XXXX bank account and they had internal protocols in place to freeze the money at XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank of America finished their investigation. They stated it was a XXXX payment of {$14000.00} to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  At this point, I thought I would get the money back. I believed this because it was fraud through Bank of America, at no time had I authorized a transfer of funds, the XXXX Fraud Department had identified the location of the funds and bank protocols would be followed to freeze the funds. 


Friday, XX/XX/ Bank of America returned their findings regarding my case XXXX XXXX 

Based on our research, weve determined that your claim cant be honored for the following reason : Our investigation found that the transaction in question was completed using a device that is consistent with previous valid account activity. 

I immediately contacted Bank of Americas Fraud Department. Their rationale for denying the claim was since the scammers used my trusted device, they would not cover the loss, nor report this fraudulent activity to the authorities. 

I contacted Bank of Americas XXXX Fraud Department to learn they never made the effort to reach out to XXXX XXXX to freeze the payment, as I was told they would. 

I want to clarify at no time did I authorize a transfer of funds through XXXX and at no time did I share account information with the scammers. 

My understanding is that Regulation E, part of the federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act, requires banks to refund consumers for fraudulent transactions on their accounts. It requires them to cover unauthorized transactions.

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