Consumer complaint received 2022-10-18
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NM
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
This complaint is focused on fraudulent access and activity via my online banking account. Money was fraudulently transferred from shared savings account into my secondary checking account on Friday, XX/XX/2022. I received a call from a number that appeared as Bank of America on my phone saying that there was a large transaction trying to take place from XXXX, Texas. While on the phone, they sent me a text for verification just as BofA does. During the time I was on the phone, a new payee was created in the name of XXXX XXXX person unknown to me ) via my XXXX and {$3500.00} was then XXXX transferred to this unknown person. As this was happening and while I was on the same call, I received email messages from " Online Transfers from Bank of AmericaXXXX regarding activity on my account '' stating that a " XXXX XXXX has been added to your list of payees in Online Banking '' and then one that said my transfer to XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$8000.00} was submitted and then one that said it was successfully completed. This person is also unknown to me and I did not authorization adding this person as a payee nor did I authorize {$8000.00} to be transferred via Wire Type : Book Out ( BofA notation -- the BofA representative that my mother met with as she is the shared person on the savings account and therefore also compromised so she went into the BofA banking center on several occasions had no idea what Wire Type : Book Out was and had to look it up ). 

At that very moment the {$11000.00} was gone from my account without my authorization. The {$6000.00} from savings that was fraudulently transferred into the checking + the {$3500.00} fraudulent XXXX transfer + the {$8000.00} fraudulent wire transfer = {$11000.00} stolen. 

Once I realized the monies had been stolen, I was left on hold, bounced from one person to another, from one Fraud department to another and back again over and over again from Friday to Sunday. Finally on Monday when I found someone to help me after being on the phone for 3 hours and 45 minutes, his supervisor stopped him from helping me because it was " outside of his job ''. This was after he had to call me back because they are only allowed to be on one call for a specific amount of time. I was told on more than one occasion throughout Friday - Tuesday that our call had taken up the allotted time and that someone would call me back or that I'd need to be transferred, thereby starting the cycle again. 

I am submitting this complaint to you because until XX/XX/XXXX I could not be assured that fraudulent activity had been properly addressed and a claim filed. No one, in 5 days of phone calls, hours and hours could/would help me. 

If my Bank of America accounts are reviewed one can see the many many times I tried to get help from Bank of America Fraud Departments. 

Thus, I am submitting this complaint because Bank of American does not have a fraud department that operates efficiently, and I left wondering if my accounts are secure and if I will ever get our money back.

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 monetary relief