Consumer complaint received 2019-12-02
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NC
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed

Complaint:
{$8700.00} were transferred out of my Bank of America account from XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX in increments between {$500.00} and {$1000.00} via XXXX without my authorization. I dont know for certain how it happened, if my device was hacked/spoofed/cloned or if my device was used while I was distracted or asleep. Either way, Bank of America and XXXX, the service they tout so highly and auto enroll every account holder into, know precisely where the funds went to and refused to open a fraud investigation and claimed the best they could do is ask the banks and their account holders to voluntarily return the money. 

While every representative I spoke with in their Recall department, the department responsible for asking other banks to voluntarily send the money back or provide explanation why their account holder wont, was extremely courteous and agreed that this is unacceptable, I cant just accept that this is the best the bank can do. I was informed that the account holders where my money was sent to were asked to return the funds and they did not respond and due to that Bank of America cant do anything else for me. 

Those folks not responding should all by itself raise all types of alarms! This isnt a case of a purchase dispute over a laptop or motorcycle, which I know BoA/XXXX  doesnt get involved in. However, even in those situations you would have a response of well, I sold this person a motorcycle and thats why they sent me money. Here we dont have any response because there is no response to be given and the funds where transferred out of my account without my authorization and I just dont see how Regulation E or another banking regulation doesnt apply here to protect me against unauthorized transactions. 

Furthermore, just to illustrate Bank of Americas handling of this situation, it was suggested by representatives in their very own XXXX/Recall department that I should open a Fraud investigation with their Fraud department as they would be able to apply more pressure to the folks my money went to and they would be able to reverse the funds if no good explanation was provided by the recipients. I was then transferred to the Fraud department, this was XX/XX/2019, and spoke to a female representative in Maryland, cant remember the name, but it should be noted on my account and that call should be recorded, who informed me that she couldnt help me because I had done XXXX transactions in the past to those folks, which is true, but not for the types of amounts that were done without my authorization. When I informed her of this, she said that I received text messages of each transaction and I shouldve responded then if there was something wrong. When I told her that I never received any text messages she asked me to wait a moment while she typed away on her computer to look up more details and then came back with oh well, maybe you didnt get text messages but you shouldve got emails. How can I be told that text messages were sent by this representative and when I informed her that I never received any to just get an oh well and shrug of the shoulder, I guess we didnt follow proper protocol. This flippant and nonchalant attitude was just not something I was ok with, so I politely asked to speak to a manager or supervisor in order to open an investigation and pursue all options on the table to recover my funds. She asked me to hold and instead of transferring me to her superior in the fraud department, sent me back over to their Recall department who of course wasnt able to help any further and who themselves thought I should speak to the Fraud department. The agent there suggested that I wait to see if they may be successful in recovering my funds and go from there. 

I received a pretty substantial settlement a few months ago after seriously hurting my back at work, which forced me to resign from my job of 16 years and has now left me XXXX. I have to take pain and sleep aids just to make it through the day or night, so I cant say for certain if my phone was used while I wasnt all the way awake or coherent, but that doesnt change the fact that : 1. These transactions were not authorized by me 2. No explanation was provided by the folks the funds went to explaining why they are entitled to those funds, which should make it clear that there is no good reason and my funds were stolen 3. Bank of Americas own employees, three different ones I spoke to, in the Recall/XXXX  department thought I would have a better result with their Fraud department, but yet their Fraud department was the one who initially on or around XX/XX/XXXX when I called the first time to report this activity sent me over to the Recall department and then again on the XXXX refused to open an investigation despite this not just being a XXXX dispute, but actual unauthorized transactions. 

4. On XX/XX/XXXX the representative in the Fraud department described in the text above, stated I received text messages of these transactions suggesting that was my chance to respond and safeguard my money. When informed that no text messages were received she conceded that and said well, maybe we didnt send text messages but you shouldve gotten emails. I mean, are you kidding me? Thats just not acceptable! Either text messages were sent or are supposed to be sent and they werent, which is bad or there is no consistency which is even worse for account holders at Bank of America faced with problems. 

5. I received a letter from Bank of America dated XX/XX/XXXX, informing they are unable to approve my recent claim and suggesting I pursue this directly with the persons I sent the fund to. This is just untenable to suggest again that I sent the funds and to take care of it myself. 

6. Bank of America failed to safeguard my account, allowed transaction amounts atypical for me to get processed, apparently didnt follow protocol to send text messages to confirm transactions, accepted a non-response from the recipients as sufficient and acceptable, and did not pursue all options to recover funds via a fraud investigation. 

While I received a decent settlement, I cant just write off close to nine thousand dollars! If it was a couple of hundred, it would be easier to swallow, but not this! There are countless stories and examples of folks getting scammed via XXXX, their account info compromised, phones hacked and cloned, internet modems or routers hacked or just being victims of identity theft. It cant be incumbent on all of us to fight our own battles with scammers when banks have vast resources to protect and recover account holder funds. 

Ive since bought a new phone, changed passwords everywhere and will refrain from using online baking as much as I can.

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