Consumer complaint received 2021-09-07
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: TX
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
I was contacted on XXXX via direct messages by someone who claims to be a woman named XXXX XXXX. She reached out a possible " XXXX XXXX  '' to help me out financially. I was extremely skeptical at first because i've received messages like these before, and could very easily tell from the start that they were scams, but i was curious, and desperate since money has been tough recently, so I messaged back and forth with her via XXXX messages, and then later on XXXX. The next morning on XX/XX/2021 I received an email from her with a check containing {$1400.00}. I was still skeptical, but curious, so I attempted to deposit the check with the expectation that it wasn't going to go through, and that this was just another scam as well, but when I screened the check images in my online banking app they actually went through, and the money was deposited into my account the next morning on XX/XX/2021. I received a few more checks after this via email as well, and deposited all of them into my account with no issues at all, but then once the money was posted into my account she began asking me to send money via XXXX transfer to a man named XXXX for a donation to " orphanages ''. This threw me off a bit, but i was getting to keep some of the money so I ignored it. Once the money was sent she would pressure me to keep sending more, and if I refused she threatened to " make my account go negative '', so I would send more until she would stop, and then proceed to send me more checks. Then on XX/XX/2021, I received an email from my bank that the checks I had deposited on the XXXX were being put on hold, and the money in my account was all gone with a negative balance in my savings account of $ XXXX. Once I reached back out to " XXXX '' to try and find some answer for what had happened, because the money had been in my account that morning, she stopped responding to me, and I haven't heard anything from her since. I contacted my bank on the morning, XX/XX/2021, to file a dispute claim, because now all my money that I had in that account, before the checks or anything, is gone. They told me its a result of the XXXX transactions, and that I was scammed, and that the account I was sending the money to is most likely fraudulent. Once I made my claim with the bank, they froze my account without any notice, and wouldnt let me withdraw any money that had been deposited into my checking account either, and after that I filed a police report. After waiting 2 weeks, and constantly calling the bank trying to get updates on my claim where nobody could give me any answers, it took me threatening legal action for them to assign someone my claim to investigate. After that it took them another month to reach a decision today, XX/XX/2021, that they would not be crediting my account, and that they cant recover my lost funds either, and that Im now responsible to pay a debt for the money these awful people stole that honestly I can not afford. Regardless of the naive nature that I presented, because yes Im aware I was XXXX for believing these people, I am a victim of a scam/crime on me and the bank, that I was completely unaware of, and did not commit, and do not believe that I should have to be punished/further victimized by these people, and the bank.

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