Consumer complaint received 2022-07-20
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Government benefit card
Issue: Problem with a purchase or transfer
Sub-issue: Card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase or transfer

Complaint:
At approximately XXXX XXXX today, XX/XX/XXXX, I notice an email from BoA at XXXXXXXX XXXX, stating Your profile information has been updated. I immediately called BoA. While waiting for BoA to answer, I login to my BoA account. There I can see that my email address has been changed to XXXX. Simultaneously, I receive a call on my cell phone from XXXX XXXX, at XXXX XXXXXXXX with Bank of America Regulatory Complaints. I collect XXXX XXXX contact information and tell him XXXX call him back. BoA card services answers my call. While speaking with card services, I change the email address on my account, which prompts a one-time passcode to my cellphone. While in my profile, I add fraud alerts to various types of transactions, including funds transfers. I then receive an additional email from BoA stating, Your replacement card is on its way. I tell the BoA rep about this and note that I had not requested a new card. The card services rep transfers me to a customer protection representative. The customer protection rep submits a complaint on my behalf regarding the fraudulent accessing of my account and the changing of my details. They then report the new card as stolen, and order me a different new card. The BoA representative suggests that I change my online account username and password. I change my password right away, but note that I do not see an option to change my username. The BoA representative tells me I need to speak to the web services dept, and puts me on hold. When this same customer protection rep returns to the phone call, they tell me that I wont be able to change my username because my account is currently closed, because the fraudulent ordering of the new card. Presuming that customer protection had done what they could to protect my account, I ended this call, because I still needed to call the XXXX XXXXXXXX. 

I call XXXX XXXX and get his voicemail. I leave a message. 

At XXXX XXXX, I receive an email from BoA titled Funds Transfer Alert Notification, and a text Your XXXX Debit Card ending in XXXX had a transfer request of {$3000.00}. *Of note - My card, the one I have in my possession ends in XXXX, not XXXX. XXXX is presumably the new card which had just been requested, I dont know yet. I immediately call BoA customer protection Additionally, at XXXXXXXX XXXX I receive another email from BoA titled, Your Funds Transfer Request Has Been Submitted. While waiting for someone to answer my call, I go to the BoA website, to which I am still logged in from my XXXX XXXX call. I search the site, looking for what Im guessing will be another fraudulent Transfer-to-Account, and delete it. I know that I have been able to access this information previously when there had been a fraudulent account on my profile, but I am unable to locate any such account. When I speak with customer protection, they put me on hold and attempt to speak with the transfers department, in attempt to remove the account to which the funds were fraudulently being transferred. When they returned, they tell me they had not been able to stop the transfer. I ask them to submit a complaint on my behalf, as well as annotate my account regarding what had just happened. They responded enthusiastically, telling me they had already started the complaint. Through my discussion with this helpful customer service representative, I learn that the reason I could not locate the account to which the funds were being transferred was due to the fact that my account had been temporarily closed at the point when somebody else first requested a replacement card. This details makes really makes it clear that the criminal party involved in this event knew exactly what they were doing as well as the order in which to do it. The customer protection representative agrees. The criminal somehow accessed my online profile, added the XXXX, changed the email address on file, then requested the replacement card, knowing that would prevent me from intervening in the transfer process, by means of temporarily closing my account and preventing me from logging in to the BoA site, or at least, limiting the information available to me there. While finishing still speaking with customer protection, the XXXX XXXXXXXX, XXXX XXXX calls me on my cellphone. Before I ended the call with BoA customer protection, the customer protection agent, who is on speaker phone and audible to XXXX XXXX, personally asks XXXX XXXX to take care of me and get me some positive results. I say that to point out, how both BoA customer protection representatives with whom I spoke during this episode, clearly agreed that this was fraud. 

I then discuss my case with XXXX XXXX. As far as I can tell, XXXX XXXX seems to be my final chance to appeal the denial of my existing claims. Of note, I ask XXXX XXXX, if I will need to submit an additional claim with BoA regarding todays fraud. He responds by being surprised that a claim had not been submitted already by any of the BoA representatives I have spoken with this evening. He then sys that he doesnt know, and that he will address todays fraudulent transaction along with the previous four. So, Im unsure as to whether I will need to file an additional claim with BoA. I tell XXXX XXXX that I dont believe I would be able to file a claim right now in any event because, as I have been told multiple times, I can not file a claim while my account is closed. Again, XXXX XXXX seems surprised ash this information, but doesnt not refute it. We discuss my case for a while, and end the call. I am told to wait for a final judgment, which will arrive via email, possibly within thirty days. 

I have zero reason to believe BoA is going to overturn their previous judgements. Not because there isn't enough information to prove that they should, but because they have already denied these clearly accurate claims of fraud twice. I have not been told on what basis these judgments have been made. I do not believe BoA is legitimately investigating my case.

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