Consumer complaint received 2022-08-25
Company: BANK OF THE WEST
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Dear Sir/Madam of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, I fell victim to a multilayered operation orchestrated by XXXX XXXX XXXX and a scammer called XXXX XXXX XXXX the Company ) and lost XXXX USD of my hard-earned funds. I advised Bank of the West of this fact on XX/XX/XXXX and I havent received any satisfactory response so far. Their sophisticated, manipulative, aggressive emotionally/psychologically driven sales tactics specifically tuned in to my personal circumstances was a deliberate and vicious financial crime on me as a vulnerable and unsuspecting individual. I also understand now that there is a multimillion-pound  industry out there with such Company operating to effectively steal people 's money using these tactics. Bank of the West had a duty to exercise reasonable professionalism, care, pay due to regards to the interest of their customers and follow good industry practices ( GIP ) to keep customers accounts safe. This includes identifying vulnerable consumers who may be particularly susceptible to scams and looking out for payments which might indicate the consumer is at risk of financial harm. Since XX/XX/XXXX, I have been attempting to resolve this matter with Bank of the West, but they have failed to settle this matter satisfactorily. I have been dealing with Bank of the West in good faith and am deeply disappointed in how they have handled this matter thus far. 
find it baffling and reprehensible that my money has been so egregiously misused in a fashion that violates their principles, which call me to defend my rights. This is poorly thought out and vaguely defined nonsense. I doubt they care however since nonsense is what renders unscrupulous businesses financially successful. 
Accordingly, I respectfully insist that Bank of the West covers all overdrafts ( XXXX USD ) on the account. This is fair and reasonable given I was given no appropriate warning about the possibility of a scam. I have been a loyal customer of Bank of the West and have never had any difficulties of this kind before. 
FURTHER POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION Despite the regulatory and statutory requirements Bank of the West shall abide by as a licensed and regulated financial institution, instead of detecting patterns, drawing certain conclusions, and taking actions accordingly, Bank of the West may have insufficiently performed some hasty and haphazard review of the transaction ( s ) regarding the suspicious activities, but it seems that rather than being careful, methodical, and vigilant, they took no notice of what was happening. 
Please be noted that I will not in any way quietly tolerate the consequences of Bank of the West actions ( or more precisely, the lack thereof ). It is perfectly obvious that they could have, and should have, utilized various risk-based examination procedures and techniques, all of which are within their purview and could have entirely prevented this disastrous outcome. 
As previously advised, they should have known, suspected, or had reason to suspect that the transactions ( or pattern of transactions ) : involve funds the ultimate purpose of which was to fuel an illegal enterprise ; is intended to disguise funds the ultimate purpose of which was to fuel an illegal enterprise, in an attempt to avoid and thus violate regulations ; is intentionally designed to defraud your customer ; serves no legitimate or lawful purpose ; and involve the use of your services to facilitate criminal activity. 
There are so many other ways in which measures related to fraud prevention and mitigation could have been useful. Further factors that should have been taken into consideration include, but are not limited to, the following : The timing, volume, frequency, and nature of the transactions in question ; The abnormality of such transactions against the background of your experience with me as a customer and other entities associated with the transactions ( if any ) ; The suspicious nature of such transactions based on my overall risk profile including vulnerability and identification and research of high-risk services/products ; Systemic filtering mechanisms, whether manual or automatic, for the identification of unusual activities ; and Periodic evaluation of the usefulness, appropriateness and effectiveness of anti-fraud programs, and other associated policies and procedures. 
There are some recommendations to organizations for protecting customers from financial harm that might occur as a result of fraud or financial abuse ; and gives guidance on how to recognize customers who might be at risk, how to assess the potential risks to the individual and how to take the necessary actions to prevent or minimize financial harm. 
These recommendations are established as a general principle, the organization should deliver a service that : 1 ) Takes a proactive approach to minimizing risks, impact and incidences of financial harm and it sets out systems and tools for the prevention and detection of fraud and financial abuse. As a general point, it says organizations should ensure that all systems are developed using technologies and methodologies that are effective in the prevention of fraud and financial abuse, through authorized and unauthorized payments, thereby minimizing the risk of financial harm to customers. As regards to the detection of fraud and financial abuse, it says the organization : A ) should have measures in place across all payment channels and products to detect suspicious transactions or activities that might indicate fraud or financial abuse. It then lists the following examples of suspicious activity on customer accounts : a. multiple cheque books; b. sudden increased spending ; c. transfers to other accounts ; d. multiple password attempts ; e. logins from new devices, multiple geographical locations ; f. sudden changes to the operation of the account ; Unusual transactions are transactions whose amount, characteristics and frequency bear no relation to the economic activity of the customer, exceed normal market parameters or have no apparent legal justification. 
g. a withdrawal or payment for a large amount ; h. a payment or series of payments to a new payee ; i. financial activity that matches a known method of fraud or financial abuse. 
B ) organizations should have a process in place to ensure that staff make contact with the customer to verify the financial activity, challenge its authenticity, explain the nature of the suspected or detected fraud and discuss an appropriate plan of action. 
Bank of the West could have done more at the time of the payment to warn me of the risks of scams Taking steps to educate their customers about scams Taking steps to identify higher risk payments and customers who have a higher risk of becoming a victim of scams Providing effective warnings to customers if the bank identifies a scam risk Taking extra steps to protect customers who might be vulnerable to scams Talking to customers about payments and even delaying or stopping payments where there are scam concerns Acting quickly when a scam is reported to it Taking steps to stop fraudsters from opening bank accounts Banks and other Payment Services Providers ( PSPs ) do have a duty to protect customers against the risk of financial loss due to fraud and/or to undertake due diligence on large transactions to guard against money laundering. In broad terms, the starting position at law is that a firm is expected to process payments and withdrawals that a customer authorises it to make, in accordance with the Payment Services Regulations and the terms and conditions of the customers account.

But, where the consumer made the payment as a consequence of the actions of a fraudster, it may sometimes be fair and reasonable for the bank to reimburse the consumer even though they authorised the payment. 
Bank of the West could have protected me from this ; unlike me, the bank knows about the existence of such scams and how you prey on vulnerable victims like myself, taking advantage of lack of knowledge, awareness, and circumstance. Despite the irregularities in my spending and such untypical patterns, not a single contact had made me question what I was doing. The treatment from Bank of the West is compounded by trauma and anxiety and has left me in the awful situation I now find myself in. 
Although it was not Bank of the West that scammed me, they had many obligations to protect my Financial Interest- which they did not uphold if you take a quick look at the bank statements you will realise how the transactions were absolutely out of the usual pattern, there was suddenly increased spending, multiple transfers on a single day, payments for considerably large amounts, series of payments to a new payee and of course financial activity that matched a known method of fraud or financial abuse. 
All of the above points were not considered by Bank of the West when I was victimised, and no actions were taken to prevent that victimisation. Of course, I appreciate that they might want to act in good faith and uphold my requests to transfer these payments but the code sets out that organisations should have a process in place, to ensure that ( i ) staff make contact with the customer to verify the financial activity, ( ii ) challenge its authenticity, ( iii ) explain the nature of the suspected or detected fraud and ( iv ) discuss an appropriate plan of action. 
Anti-Money Laundering Requirements for Financial Institutions and Other Designated Businesses 3.1 What financial institutions and other businesses are subject to anti-money laundering requirements? Describe which professional activities are subject to such requirements and the obligations of the financial institutions and other businesses. The following are subject to the requirement to maintain risk-based AML Programs XXXX Banks, including savings associations, trust companies, credit unions, branches and subsidiaries of foreign banks in the United States XXXX and Edge corporations. 
Broker-dealers in securities. 
Mutual funds. 
Futures Commission Merchants and Introducing Brokers in Commodities.

Money Services Businesses 3.4 What are the requirements for recordkeeping or reporting large currency transactions? When must reports be filed and at what thresholds? 
Currency Transaction Reporting Financial institutions ( defined as financial institutions under the BSA regulations ) must file CTRs with FinCEN on all transactions in ( physical ) currency in excess of {$10000.00} ( or the foreign equivalent ) conducted by, though, or to the financial institution, by or on behalf of the same person, on the same day. 31C.F.R. 1010.310315.

It is prohibited to structure transactions to cause a financial institution not to file a CTR or to file an inaccurate CTR by breaking down transactions into smaller amounts at one or more financial institutions over one or more days. 31 C.F.R. 1010.314. 
Customer Due Diligence Pursuant to regulatory requirements, which became effective XX/XX/XXXX, as part of their AML Programs, certain financial institutions ( banks, broker-dealers, mutual funds, FCMs and IB-Cs ) must implement formal risk-based CDD programs that include certain minimum elements, including customer identification and verification ( under a Customer Identification Program ), obtaining information about the nature and purpose of a customers account, ongoing monitoring of customer accounts, obtaining beneficial ownership information at a 25 % threshold for legal entity customers and identifying a control person for legal entity customers ( with certain exceptions ). 
There also is a specific BSA requirement to maintain CDD programs for non-U.S. persons private banking accounts and foreign correspondent accounts. The same covered financial institutions as for CDD programs ( banks, broker-dealers, mutual funds, FCMs and IB-Cs ) must maintain a CDD program for non-U.S. private banking accounts established on behalf of, or for the benefit of, a non-U.S. person and foreign correspondent customers and an enhanced due diligence ( EDD ) program for those relationships posing a higher risk. These programs must be designed to detect and report suspicious activity with certain minimum standards. These requirements are based on Section 312 of the PATRIOT Act and are often referred to as Section 312 requirements. 31 C.F.R. 1010.610 ( due diligence for foreign correspondent accounts ), 1010.620 ( due diligence for private banking for non-U.S. persons ). 
3.9 What is the criteria for reporting suspicious activity?

Financial institutions and other businesses subject to the AML Program requirement ( except Check Cashers, Operators of Credit Card Systems, and Dealers in Precious Metals, Precious Stones, or Jewels ) are required to file SARs with FinCEN under the BSA ( and for banks, under parallel requirements of their federal functional regulators ). SARs are required where the filer knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect a transaction conducted or attempted by, at or through the financial institution : involves money laundering ; is designed to evade any BSA regulation or requirement ; has no business or apparent lawful purpose or is not the sort in which a particular customer would engage ; or involves the use of the financial institution to facilitate criminal activity or involves any known or suspected violation of federal criminal law.

See, e.g., 31 C.F.R. 1023.320 ( c ) ( SAR requirements for broker-dealers ). Generally, the reporting threshold is {$5000.00} or more. For banks, if the suspect is unknown, it is {$25000.00} or more. For MSBs, generally, it is {$2000.00} or more.

In summary, I respectfully request Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to review my points above, given your influence and obligations to provide : The duty of care they owe me as my bank.

The position I hold as loyal customer and their own intellectual knowledge, which has been overlooked in this case ; to be applied in a professional manner being justified as part of their banking services to their customers.

They should have noticed it in my transaction history that I have not done any transaction nor released such a large amount of money in foreign currency since I became their customer.

Desired outcome : Bank of the West has to put things into the right perspective for me by reversing the total amount of XXXX USD paid to scammers as I have suffered a great loss because of this fraud, it had affected me personally, emotionally and financially. 
Yours sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation