Consumer complaint received 2021-12-13
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX Complaints Manager, Bank of America Corporation, Bank of America Corporate Center, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, NC XXXX Date : XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Email : XXXX Tel : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX CC : Branch Manager XXXX Bank of America Financial Center , XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, MN XXXX XXXX. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Customer Assistance, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, Texas XXXX and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, Iowa XXXX Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing in reference to an Automatic Push Payment fraud of XXXX that took place on my XXXX bank account in XXXX XXXX ( a/c number XXXX sort XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in the XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX ) on XX/XX/XXXX where I was made to transfer monies to a woman 's account called XXXX XXXX in Bank Of America. 

Her account details are as follows ; XXXX XXXX XXXX, Bank Bank of America, Bank Address XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, MNXXXX ( XXXX ) Home address XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, MN XXXX, A/C No. XXXX, Routing no ; XXXX Sort code ; XXXX Swift code ( foreign ) XXXX XXXX. 

The money went outside of the XXXX jurisdiction to the XXXX, XXXX XXXX account ; XXXX XXXX in a Bank of America XXXX branch that was a front for the criminal who was operating it. I was instructed by the man who alleged he was XXXX XXXX the lead singer from XXXX to send XXXX through this account and the account operated as a front to launder the money he stole from me. 

The definition of Money laundering is the process by which the proceeds of crime are processed ( 'washed ' ) through the financial system to disguise their illegal origin. Money laundering involves : an underlying, profit-making crime ( e.g., tax evasion, fraud, theft, organised crime, drug trafficking, embezzlement ) ; an act to conceal, transfer or convert the proceeds of crime ; and the person involved knows or ought to have known that the property is the proceeds of crime. 

This fraudster alleged he was XXXX XXXX the lead singer from a band called XXXX. I undertook due diligence and got a copy of a passport and drivers licence from this man, but they turned out to be fake. I could not determine that until the XXXX reviewed them and told me they were fake. I also got a solicitor ( Lawyer ) in XXXX where I live, to draft a loan agreement/contract between me and XXXX XXXX to protect myself, but the XXXX have advised me the fraudster falsified XXXX XXXX signature therefore this agreement is null and void. I would have given the bank a copy of this document if they wanted to review it for anti-money laundering legislation and check the address, he supplied on his drivers licence which, when it was later checked turned out to be an office building and not a residential address. 

An XXXX XXXX the XXXX police are currently investigating this case and will be liasing with the XXXX police through XXXX shortly. This man who alleged he was XXXX XXXX led me on for several months, sent me fake XXXX drivers licences, passports and images and also he video called me in XXXX and it was the real XXXX XXXX in the video call and asked me to give him this loan of the XXXX as he was having financial difficulties and he needed the loan for a private project of production of a film he was developing that the record label would not finance. He alleged XXXX XXXX was a woman his manager trusted and I thought she was linked to the record label. I was completely duped into believing this was XXXX XXXX from XXXX but I had the sense to get a solicitor in XXXX to draft a loan agreement. 

As I said the fraudster did live incoming video phone calls with me and it was XXXX XXXX from XXXX in the video calls, but the XXXX have informed me the scammers edited the video which they ripped from XXXX XXXX extensive social media cache. He also sent me multiple images of XXXX XXXX, his family and he sent me audio recordings of XXXX XXXX singing. The fraudster ripped all this data from social media and the internet. 

Under XXXX and XXXX law banks operate as designated persons XXXX Bank as a designated person/institution is required to comply with The Criminal Justice and Money Laundering and Financing Terrorism Act XXXX to XXXX. The obligations of designated persons are that they must ; Carry out risk assessments in respect to their business ; Apply customer due diligence ( for example, identify customers or beneficial owners ), Report suspicious transactions to A XXXX XXXX ( the Financial Intelligence Unit ) and the Revenue Commissioners, and have specific procedures in place to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. They must do customer due diligence on incoming and outgoing transactions to stop money laundering. They must check the end destination of funds if the funds are going out of the jurisdiction. 
I want to know what checks Bank of America had in place to stop international money laundering. 

The transfer of a large amount of money {$25.00} XXXX when converted from euros from a random woman in XXXX did not flag any suspicious markers on the account. I contacted XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX when I finally realised this man was a fraudster and that he had stolen my money. They contacted Bank of America XXXX branch but I am informed that your bank advised them that you could not get the money back as this woman XXXX XXXX had come into the branch and closed her account and withdrawn ALL the stolen money. 

I want to know how the Bank of America bank teller did not question this activity as being suspicious when they could see the transfer had come in from XXXX and that this was a large amount of money to be closing the account and then withdrawing in cash and then reverse the transaction back to the XXXX account. 

Anything over XXXX is meant to be examined in XXXX and XXXX law. Please explain to me how Bank of America failed to stop this money going out of this money launderers account and that she was allowed to close the account without questions asked and withdraw the monies in cash. 

I would like to know what the laws in XXXX and the XXXX are at a national level in terms of countering and deterring money laundering. I want to know what risk assessment Bank of America did on this woman XXXX XXXX when they opened her account and were the documents she supplied to open the account and proof of address genuine and authentic or were they fake? 

The XXXX legal Framework on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism states ; It is essential that gatekeepers ( banks and other obliged entities ) apply measures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. Traceability of financial information has an important deterrent effect. The XXXX XXXX adopted the first anti-money laundering Directive in XXXX to prevent the misuse of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering. 

It provides that obliged entities shall apply customer due diligence requirements when entering a business relationship ( i.e. identify and verify the identity of clients, monitor transactions and report suspicious transactions ). This legislation has been constantly revised to mitigate risks relating to money laundering and terrorist financing. 

XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX Under XXXX & XXXX law the bank teller in XXXX Bank XXXX also failed her duties to stop money laundering as she was a designated person and The Act places obligations on designated persons to guard against their businesses being used for money laundering or terrorist financing purposes. Section XXXX of the XXXX Act defines the term designated person as any person working in XXXX in any of the following capacities : A credit or a financial institution ( this includes funds and fund service providers, money lenders, insurance companies, money transmission or bureaux de change businesses, An Post and virtual asset service providers ) unless specifically excepted. 

I now have a complaint in with The Financial Ombudsman in XXXX to investigate what XXXX XXXX did wrong and I have reported this matter to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX but I believe Bank of America is also culpable and liable in this matter. I am at a loss of XXXX. 

Unless the XXXX XXXX ( XXXX police ) can work with the XXXX police and track this woman XXXX XXXX down through Bank of America giving the police access to her personal data and identity and proof of address documents and then track this fraudster through her my money is effectively gone. I dont accept that. Both banks, Bank of America and XXXX XXXX have to review this matter and refund my losses as quickly as possible please. This was an Automatic Push Payment scam in XXXX and the XXXX banks have signed up to an APP code since XXXX. Please advise what codes Bank of America follows in regard to Automatic Push Payments scams/fraud or whatever you call it in the XXXX. 

Furthermore, The XXXX anti-money laundering framework was further strengthened by the Criminal Justice Act in XXXX which amended the Criminal Justice ( Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing ) Act XXXX giving rise to changes in a number of areas including, among others and banks are required to follow and apply the following ; Customer Due Diligence ( CDD ), Requirements for enhanced policies and procedures for detecting and preventing money laundering, and Requirements for the retention of documentation overseas ( subject to specified conditions ). 

XXXX XXXX did not ask me for any of the documents I had received from this fraudster including a falsely signed loan agreement in XXXX XXXX name, fake passport in XXXX XXXX name, and fake XXXX drivers in XXXX XXXX name so they could retain these documents even though he was overseas. 

Both XXXX XXXX and Bank of America bank tellers and bank staff in the anti money laundering unit are supposed to be professionals. They are meant to undertake due diligence in regard to anti money laundering and the fraud unit in Bank of America and XXXX XXXX should have picked up on this in the XXXX days they had between the transfer of the money from XXXX to the XXXX. 

Had the fraud units in Bank of America and XXXX XXXXXXXX probed this transfer and phoned me like my XXXX bank regularly does when checking for fraud on high amount transfers I would have explained I did not know this woman and had met this man who identified as being XXXX XXXX online and who asked me to give him the loan and transfer the money to XXXX XXXX account as he alleged she was a woman he trusted who worked for the record label and as he was a celebrity he could not give me his account details. 

In their professional capacity as a bank teller, I expect Bank of America to also protect me and to do proper checks on transfers and extrapolation of large sums of money in cash. The teller did not do this and has failed her duty of care and by asking XXXX XXXX more questions she also was professionally negligent. 

XXXX bank did not ask for any evidence or proof of what a large amount of money of XXXX was going from an XXXX  account to a XXXX account for and how I knew this woman or who she was but nor did Bank of America ask questions of XXXX XXXX as to who I was, XXXX XXXX a random woman from XXXX that transferred {$26000.00} to her account. 

Had the banks asked I would have advised I was giving a loan to a man, and this was an account belonging to a woman ( XXXXrd party ) he asked me to transfer the money into. That would have set off alarms for the bank as being money laundering. 

I want to know what fraud checks Bank of America did before they released this money in cash to XXXX XXXX. How did the bank teller not question a large sum of money coming into the account from a random woman in XXXX and then all of a sudden XXXX XXXX was closing her account and withdrawing cash. 

The Bank of America teller should have asked for proof of what the money was being used for and what the source was in line with anti-money laundering legislation and were obliged to ask for more information in relation to the source of the funds and what the money was used for over a certain amount. The risk level of each bank determines it, and I am pretty sure Bank of America have risk levels in place in their anti-money laundering unit. 

I would like the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the XXXX to please determine what are Bank of Americas policies in terms of risk assessment and managing risks around money laundering and what due diligence/controls their staff are meant to undertake in regard to fraud and complying with the anti-money laundering legislation. What compliance framework/policies did Bank of America have in place and what controls to prevent this type of activity occurring. 

This was an Automatic Payment Scam were I was made transfer money from my account in XXXX to an account in Bank of America owned by XXXX XXXX in XXXX, XXXX which was an account operating as a front for this scammer. This was a big amount of money going out of the account in XXXX transaction and it should have raised red flags. 

No checks were done on who I was by Bank of America when I was in XXXX. The bank teller did not ask XXXX XXXX how she knew XXXX XXXX a random woman in XXXX or who I was. 

I trust the bank tellers and bank to be aware and be professional and flag fraud checks they are the ones with the knowledge, and they did not do enough to stop this random payment being flagged and going out of the account from XXXX or thereafter from the XXXX account in a large closing down withdrawal of cash it was money laundering how did Bank of America staff not get suspicious and stop this transaction happening when she tried to withdraw {$26000.00} in cash. 

As I have stated The XXXX XXXX ( XXXX police ) in XXXX are now investigating the criminal aspect of this matter and are working through XXXX to liaise with XXXX police. I trust that Bank of America will comply and assist this investigation and give the police the bank account details. Proof of address and identity documents and anything else they have on her, of XXXX XXXX quickly, as we have already lost a lot of time. I have only identified XXXX woman on XXXX who goes under the name of XXXX XXXX and she is a XXXX XXXX XXXX. Please can you confirm if this is the same woman you have records for in Bank of America so that the police can move quickly. 

As it stands The Financial Ombudsman of XXXX is now investigating this monetary aspect of this matter but I believe that Bank of America also needs to take joint responsibility for this matter. They should have reversed the incoming monies back to XXXX or checked it more succinctly to confirm it was not money laundering. I am at a loss of XXXX please do the right thing and come to some agreement with XXXX XXXX in XXXX to jointly refund me my monies due to your failures as banks to apply money laundering laws effectively. 

I await your reply. Please feel free to send me your response via both post and my email address as I understand it is more quick then post. 


________________ XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ; XXXX XXXX XXXX

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