Consumer complaint received 2021-01-31
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:
In early XX/XX/XXXX, I started to sell my mattress on XXXX. I was approached by a potential buyer who called herself XXXX XXXX the scammer ) via text message on XX/XX/XXXX, asking if it's okay to mail me a cashier 's check and when the check clears my bank, they'll have the movers pick the mattress up. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received the check XXXX {$1900.00} in total, see attached ) and deposited it. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX asked me to pay the mover before they come to pick up the mattress. Already suspecting, I called BOA at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX. The female BOA associate whose name is XXXX answered the call. Here 's when it got interesting : I literally triple checked with XXXX to make sure the check I deposited was a cashier 's check and made sure there is no possibility whatsoever that the money would be reversed. The BOA Associate named XXXX became a bit impatient and told me " I understand your question and there is no way the money can be reversed. '' I asked her the same question three times and her answer was the same. With the reassurance XXXX gave me, I sent {$1500.00} to the " movers '' via XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. Then on the same day, after some communications, XXXX told me she has a close family member got covid and can't buy the mattress. Then asked me to refund her the money. So I did on XX/XX/XXXX. Please note that all the XXXX transfers had notes saying exactly what the transfer was for. On XX/XX/XXXX, my check was reversed and I lost {$1900.00}. Please also note that I'm 100 % positive that BOA had the recording between me and the BOA Associate XXXX. Because on XX/XX/XXXX in the morning, I called BOA and the investigation department associate told me they were listening to the whole conversation and confirmed that what XXXX told me was false information and misleading. However, when I asked BOA to start an investigation, they do not ask for any evidence from me. Later, I contacted them in XXXX and XXXX, offering the complete chain of evidence. But every time they told me there is no online portal to do so and there is no need. XXXX XXXX XXXX has a portal to upload evidence for fraud. ) On XX/XX/XXXX, they sent a mail saying BOA are unable to approve my recent claim. I called one more time, trying to resolve the problem with them. Again I offered to send my chain of evidence. They didn't give me a way to do so. In XXXX, when I thought this is not going anywhere, I called BOA 's Reg E Department. The associate basically told me : " there is nothing we can do, what you can try is suing us in court. '' That was my last attempt communicating with BOA. Then on XX/XX/XXXX I received another " unable to approve your claim '' letter from BOA. ( Please note that the screenshots of the text evidences attached were took by me today and I am currently in a different time zone, hence there is a +16 hour time difference ; Besides, the scammer used 2 numbers to text me ) I would also like to declare that, if BOA suspects me conspiring in the scam just to take money from them, all my evidence says otherwise. You can see all the text exchange between me and the scammer and my careful notes on each XXXX transaction. You should also listen to XXXX 's response to my question. It was unprofessional and definitively misleading. If I were part of the scam, I won't have an overdraft protection activated the day the scammer reversed the check. Last but not least, BOA told me they will contact the XXXX XXXX  XXXX the check of the bank the scammer sent me XXXX and get response to me, there were none. After examining all the evidence I uploaded, I think it's fair to say this is a scam and BOA associate 's misinformation led to the scammer 's succeed. XXXX was a tough year for me and my family, with this scam, it made it worse.

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