Consumer complaint received 2021-03-03
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: FL
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Foreign currency exchange
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On the fateful day of XX/XX/XXXX as I did my usual reading of the investment news as well as the market general, I went on XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to watch how the market was trading and get tips on investment as I'm new in the business world of stock investment. 
I went ahead and read the comments about the topics XXXX was discussing from other investors, that's when I saw numerous comments on XXXX XXXXXXXX  currency. 
several people on the platform had recommended Mr. XXXX as the best XXXX  broker and will give one all the necessary information about trading with XXXX. I was so nave and less knowledgeable about the XXXX  currency as a whole and looked at this as an opportunity to learn and trade. 
I went ahead and contacted Mr. XXXX and he advised me to send him money so he could start on my portfolio, that time XXXX was trading for around XXXX , he told me it was the best time to invest and I will yield a lot of profits than stocks. 
he said he is going to help me make money as I'm currently unemployed and need money to survive as well as support my family. i was so happy thinking I had found a genuine person. He asked me if I could invest XXXX . that's was half my life investment so it was a lot. I told him lets start small and when all goes well then I can add more. I had told him I can invest XXXX , he said its okay. on XX/XX/XXXX I sent the money using XXXX to XXXX ( XXXX ), he created an account for me using their company website XXXX trading .the XXXX $ was reflected and then after a few hours a profit mining was deposited on to my portfolio and I received an email from the company. 
he then requested me to reinvest as XXXX is moving up and I will yield a lot of profits. 
he told me to send more XXXX $ to top up on my investment which i did. 

on XX/XX/XXXX i sent the XXXX $ using XXXX to XXXX ( XXXX ), on each day i received a profit mining from my trading. with the excitement of making such good profits, I started to trust him not knowing its all a lie, I asked him when can I withdraw the money, he said he had made the investment till XX/XX/XXXX that's when I will be able to get my profit mining 's. 

On the XX/XX/XXXX, he suggested I make another reinvestment on my account and on that occasion I was curious, he sent me different other peoples portfolio he was working upon and how he made money for the name. I was again convinced, I made transactions using both XXXX and XXXX ; I made transactions on XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX $ and XXXX $ using XXXX. he sent different wallets to me and told me to use XXXX to make the deposits there. 
On the XX/XX/XXXX he told me to make the last reinvestment of XXXX $ .that time my profit was high and so convincing. I was so convinced and nave. I did make the payment using XXXX too. 

I checked my profit and it was XXXX XXXX it was a few days to my withdrawal date. i was so excited, i contacted him and he said his busy but he will get back to me, the day arrived for me to withdraw the funds. I tried to reach out to him but he wasn't responding to my texts. On the XX/XX/XXXX I realized he had blocked me, I rushed to the company profile and contacted the support team. Where I communicated with Mr. XXXX XXXX. 
I told him I have been trading with Mr. XXXX for a while but I have noticed I have been blocked and I haven't received my profits. He then told me Mr. XXXX had been fired as he had missing funds in his possession and reassured me I will get my funds. He told me he will take me through all the steps to get my money back. 
he said I have to pay XXXX  % commission for the funds to be released. I received an email from the company telling me that I have to pay XXXX $ for my funds to be released as that's the commission from the company for making me profits. it seemed so legit and reasonable. I went ahead and made transactions of XXXX {$3000.00} $ and XXXX respectively using XXXX and XXXX. he said that was the safest way their company does transactions and said not to be worried as I will get all my funds. he even sent me videos as proof of people allover USA to confirm that they all got their money. 
- XX/XX/XXXX transfer of XXXX $ using XXXX to XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX transfer of XXXX $ using XXXX to XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX deposit of XXXX $ using XXXX After making the payments, he assured me as I will be getting all my money in no time .I waited for days and no deposit was made to my account. I contacted him and he said the funds kept reversing, I contacted Bank of America and the customer service representative told me no attempt of funds deposit was made to my account. I was shaking and in fear that I had lost all lifetime savings. I contacted Mr. XXXX again and he said the issue was on their side and he will rectify it. after a few minutes he texted and told me I had pay to XXXX $ as taxes for the profits to be released. he said my profits are a lot and that's why the big taxes. I sent the money via XXXX on the XX/XX/XXXX. hardly was I done, he texted the next day and he said the company miscalculated my taxes and I need to pay additional XXXX $ using XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I was angry but I had to get my money. He asked me to be patient which i tried to be. 
I waited for the funds to be transferred but in vain. he then suggested I open a XXXX account and share my wallet so that the funds could be transferred to my account. I tried a lot of the apps to download from XXXX to XXXX XXXX but finally opened an account with XXXX. I shared my wallet with him as bank transfers seem not to work out. When I tried to access my XXXX trading 's portfolio, my account was deleted and I received an email from the company too. I asked XXXX and he denied about it and said he had no say in it, i was so divested cause i didn't know how to get my funds back. My greatest fear had come true. i had lost all my money. 
At that time i noticed a fraud transaction on my Bank of America account from XXXX amounting to XXXX , i contacted the fraud department of Bank of America where the funds were credited. later that day i received a fraud alert, i responded Yes to it for the transactions due to language barrier and miscommunication. I had requested a friend of mine to translate for me the message, where she asked if i know the transactions, i told her yes because one was a fraud which i saw on my account and the other is a scam.. She told me to reply XXXX, which i did.so when i contacted the bank about the fraudulent transactions and the scam from XXXX trading company and XXXX respectively they said i accepted the fraud alert, i tried to explain that i didn't understand the message well and i had a language barrier. But all my claim was denied Being from XXXX its hard most time to communicate here in America. 

I contacted the bank again but the claim was still denied. that's when i reached out to you to help me as that's my whole life savings. how will I and my family survive in this pandemic. 
I took screenshots of the company and communications made for reference and incase you need receipts I have them all. 

please refer to the information below for more information ; fraud/scam company ; XXXX XXXX  Contact numbers ; Mr XXXX - XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX Mr. XXXX XXXX + XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX NOTE ; additional charge fees were made every time I made a XXXX  transaction

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