Consumer complaint received 2021-06-26
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
Attention : Executive Re : ID Theft, Fraud, Gift Card Fraud, Payment Fraud, Account Take Over From : XXXX XXXX XXXX Card # XXXX ( Identity Theft, Account Take Over, Gift Card Fraud, and Payment Fraud ) Dear XXXX Fraud Team : Myself and my family are victims of Identity Theft, XXXX XXXX XXXX and Payment Fraud! 

We are in contact with all of our bankcards companies as all were hit by this ring of fraudsters. 
Let me provide you with some context : 1. My laptop was stolen from my XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX, FL XX/XX/XXXX. At this time, the XXXX contacted the XXXX Police and both they and the police questioned all employees who had been in out of my room. They report that they did not believe any were involved in the theft, closing the case for the XXXX. 
2. I met with the XXXX XXXX, providing him an account of what happened and that the next day, after going out for dinner the night before, the Laptop came up missing, along with the backpack and other items that were in the bag. ( This report is in with these docs ). This caused my initial incidents of fraud. This all needs to be handled, as do the bounced ACH payments since they all came from BofA, XXXX XXXX ( with BofA XXXX, XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( with others ) where I dont have any checking or savings accounts! This was not at all me and I have proven as much. In fact, if your bank wants to have me on the phone or needs XXXX party authorization, you may have it and you can verify this all yourself as well. Before This all started, I had a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, I am XXXX XXXX XXXX, and I dont play around with my credit at all! 
3. I contacted XXXX upon having my laptop stolen had them promptly place a lock on my XXXX account, asking if anyone had attempted to access my cloud account in the previous XXXX hours ( during hotel and police investigation ). I was informed yes and that someone was in it at the very time we spoke. I then asked if they could identify an XXXX address but they could not and that it appeared it may be an unsecured public Wi-Fi. At that point they terminated access knowing it was not me that was in my XXXX account. After purchasing a new computer, I reset my cloud but purchased an upgrade for Secured XXXX  which requires XXXX XXXX, picture of myself from my computer at the time of login, and a thumbprint scan that is available on my XXXX XXXX. This may sound like overkill, but I do not want this to over happen again. This new service costs me $ XXXX and in the long-run I know it will be worth it! 
This is where the fraud gets worse. Note : I am a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ), and a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX via ( XXXX ). I am not going to go into my job details, but I spend a lot of time on XXXX XXXX and/or XXXX working with various banks and authorities to track down and stop major XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX rings. The police ( reports included or you can order updates ) and I believe these fraudsters came after me hard due potentially to finding out what I do for a living ( trying to teach me a lesson ) and stop me from investigating rings of bad people. 

XXXX. From XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I was in XXXX XXXX on a job assignment. This is when the bulk of the fraud took place! The police believe the fraudsters were watching me through the XXXX XXXX, through hacks into my network and through calls I regularly make through my computer XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX for XXXX, etc. ) XXXX. The fraud started to hit early in my stay in XXXX XXXX and the police/my XXXX XXXXXXXX both believe I was spoofed ( first I heard of this practice was from the police ). The reason for this is that one of the police investigators texted me XXXX times and it didnt come through. Then he texted my wife and it did. Finally he texted me again and nothing! He then asked that we call my XXXX  XXXX ( XXXX XXXX. We spoke to a Rep and one of the things he remarked on was that I had recently removed my XXXX calling. I place it on or off depending if I am traveling abroad for work. He said, It says here that you were to be in XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ) for much of XXXX and XXXX? I told him I was and that I had recently returned so I shut it off. Then he said, There is some strange activity while you were gone because there are calls received/outgoing in the XXXX and texts being received in the XXXX as well. Then he said I think you have been spoofed! The cop nodded in agreement and said, I see this all the time. I had heard of this but never actually seen it first-hand and now it was happening to me! The Rep sent me to their fraud team and they added some additional controls to help stop this but admitted they are not perfect but should help a bit. One of the Technicians said, These guys are so technical and always seem to be one step ahead of us.

6. As you will see there are a bunch of charges at places like XXXX  and XXXX XXXX. I have been told by one creditor that the fraudsters even called in pretending to me. This is creepy! Then I heard from my wife that XXXX had called both her and my daughter to verify my identity???? Yes, they really called my XXXX XXXX! They both validated my identity, my XXXX didnt know what for, but my XXXX figured that since I was in XXXX  the bank was just performing due diligence. All around very strange though. Anyhow these fraudsters ran up a bunch of debt on all of my bankcards using gift-card fraud! 
7. As has been validated by my itinerary attached, I came home on XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX to an absolute mess I found out about on XX/XX/XXXX. I went though everything and all of my major cards had been hit! I couldnt believe what I was seeing and it scared me! I couldnt believe the banks and the stores had allowed this and knew it was going to be a pain for me in the near future, so I called all my credit card companies, reported it, and they sent out new cards. I also gathered a ton of evidence and completed my XXXX XXXX XXXX but this one for fraud. Bank of Americas card number is included at the top of this letter. 
8. I next filed fraud warnings on all three bureaus and placed a freeze on all of my familys credit files, including my XXXX yo! When I found out that someone was impersonating me, I quickly filed a report with the TX Attorney General, the Federal trade Commission and filed another police report but this time for Identity Theft. All of this has been kept up to date with the officers and agencies I contacted. I also disconnected everything from XXXX, etc. but was shocked and mortified because I have always been very careful! 
9. I next contacted the Texas XXXX XXXX and made arrangements for my entire family to get new XXXX XXXX and due to XXXX we had to drive as a family, XXXX hours each way to take care of this right away. The cost of each license was {$48.00} per person x XXXX people = {$190.00}. We were all supplied all new XXXX numbers and had new pictures taken. Finally, I also contacted the Passport office in XXXX, making an appointment, during XXXX restrictions again, got new pictures of each of us completed, and headed to their office in Downtown three days later. I had to ask for rushes on them because I wanted to be sure my family was as safe as possible. The cost for each is as follows XXXX XXXX  XXXX and XXXX for myself and my XXXX {$140.00} each x2, passport book for my son {$110.00} x 1, Passport book for my minor daughter {$110.00} x1 and 4 x {$60.00} for the expedited fees ). The total for this is = {$740.00}. We all now have new Passport numbers. Keep in mind since these are replacements and new passport numbers, we only get the remaining number of years left, so mine, for instance, is due for renewal in 4 years, rather than 10 years. Lousy but I feel a bit safer now. I can say this, if we were allowed to change our Social Security Numbers and adjust our birth certificates, I would have done this as well. Of course, this is not possible. 
10. Then the evidence I collected, and the processes I followed, were gathered and given to every creditor, whether I had an open account or not! So, you know, as of today I have sent my evidence to BofA 8 times via fax including this letter and evidence! BofA still has not indicated that they received our information, so I am faxing it again. I also noticed that BofA added back these fraud items. First of all they are not from me or my family, 2nd why has nobody contacted me for proof, and 3rd how can anyone make decisions without the documentation showing proof I could not have done this? This is so terrible and I lose sleep over it nightly. I also found the banks separate departments can not read each-others notes and unless requested, another department is not privy to any of the documentation I had sent in. This has made the process horrendous and now more fraud in different areas has taken place! The XXXX closure team??? has now closed my card because they just dont have access to the notes, nor do they have access to the documentation and there have been so many errors in the process along the way! Your team still hasnt been able to let me know if you have received my docs and what is actually taking place. 
11. The reason that I have been given for closure of my XXXX account with BofA is that I have had too many returned ACH payments. I knew that when I contacted the bank and I let you know what was transpiring. This is ludicrous since you all seem so disparate and dont appear to have a good communication process when items of such importance are handed off. I am scared now that my information is circulating the bank or in trash cans so that others can make things even worse than they have already gotten. This is a very nerve-racking issue and I want it solved as it pertains to me and my family right away. Today I also contacted the CFPB to get involved to help because not many appear to care and I feel like I am being treated as a criminal, when in fact I am far from it! 
Finally, these are the items I am including with this letter : Remember I am handling ID Theft, Fraud, Payment Fraud and Account Take Over and have proved all of these items with one to all of my creditors per my documentation trail that I have provided over and over. Nearly all of the Fraud took place while I was in XXXX XXXX for work XX/XX/XXXX XXXX, a smaller amount in XXXX and again in XXXX, including my Credit Union XXXX XXXX XXXX, and XXXX account takeovers. The thieves cleaned out my checking account at my credit union and kept posting fraudulent ACH payments to my XXXX, XXXX XXXX and XXXX accounts, compounding the issue! THESE PAYMENTS ARE NOT AUTHORZED BY ME AND DO NOT COME FROM ANY BANK ACCOUNTS I AM A XXXX ON! 

I am supplying all of the following docs 1. Police report from XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX. XXXX Police report cards ( front and back ) and if you want copies, you can order them as they have been updated 3. My XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXX ( I was not here during the vast majority of fraud period! XXXX 4. The XXXX XXXXXXXX 's names, badge numbers and email addresses - All will testify for me as needed but they would like Bank of America to resolve before I have to go there. I love my relationships, but they need to back me up in my time of need! 
5. Texas Attorney General Report 6. Credit report portion showing I filed my ID theft and fraud with all 3 bureaus ( included my wife and my kids as well ) 7. Report log and letter from the FTC I would like a call from leadership on all of this! I want my credit/credit lines restored and Im pleading for assistance as I have always been a customer in good standing! The Fraudsters came after me this hard because of what I do for work and the pattern is so obvious. My job is not that of a normal banker and thats obvious! The thieves are trying to take me out so that I stop going after them. Closing my accounts is not the solution! You will get my government credentials removed, and I will have to file bankruptcy, all because of bad people! I am not going to let fraudsters of any sort ruin my excellent credit history in the long-run, and if I must go to court with Bank of America ( dont want this ), I will allow a judge to see everything in black and white! As for the payments returned to my account on, I have contacted the authorities and done all I can as a consumer. All I asked is Bofa stand behind me in this time of trouble and it has been one heck of a nightmare that continues. I ask that you allow me to do what I do as a professional and go after these fraudsters together! All I am asking is for help and assistance to help clear all of this up since NONE of the ACH returns came from any of my accounts. This is simply fraudsters doing everything they can to ruin me and right now BofA is allowing it! 

I am far from being a fraudster, never having issues of this magnitude as a consumer to deal with, and I have just been caught up in situations beyond my control. From what I can see, I have not done anything wrong. Its evident to myself, my wife, the police and my attorney that I have been defrauded and then not assisted by so many people, after finally being able to really do my job with my major travel bans being lifted in XXXX due to Covid, and therefore cracking down on some large fraud rings with local, national and international authorities. All I ask is to be understood since I am hurt very badly at this point! 

Place yourself in my shoes for a moment. I have had to be provided prescriptions for XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX because of all of this, and trying to get it under control. To this point Bofa and others are making it worse, not better and you have not communicated with me at all unless I call you! I really need assistance here since I have great supporting documentation and an excellent timeline of all events that I can present to anyone. Due to all of this stress, I am sure I have been confused or misspoken a few times, especially as what was thought to have happened changed as evidence was received. This is awful and trying to go through every area as I have come to learn about it has been increasingly stressful as a consumer and the bank is not helping me clear this all up. Gosh darn it! This fraud, etc. has not been perpetrated by me and I need to be able to function again as a normal human being! Please HELP ME!

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief