Consumer complaint received 2017-11-26
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: FL
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
I 'm hoping someone can help. I have had 4 incidents of fraud against my account resulting in approximately {$5500.00} in loss. 

I have been told that the submitted claims have all been denied. 

I notified Bank of America ( XX/XX/XXXX ) as soon as I saw the first incident ( occurred XXXX XXXX ). I had the expectation that Bank Of America would secure my account and prevent any further breach. 

Additional withdrawals occurred two on XX/XX/XXXXXXXX and one on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Withdrawals were made from checking and savings accounts. 

I am XXXX XXXX, and while I can still converse over the phone, it is not easy for me. I tell whomever I speak with on the phone she I am hearing impaired, and I has to rely on them to help me. 

After feeling that I was not getting adequate service/ protection I visited a local Bank of America branch location to where I work in XXXX VA. They placed a call to fraud/ Security and we repeated the process, and still no adequate resolution. 

I should n't have to even bring this up to get decent customer service, but I will mention here that I am a XXXX Veteran, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I have worked as a XXXX XXXX and an XXXX XXXX. I am not stupid, nor am I careless. My husband is an XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX with over 26 years in service. 

The fraud occurred using ( apparently ) cloned debit card/ stolen PIN- I assume I fell victim to skimming, or possibly from one of any number of XXXX breaches that have impacted the consumer retail sector. 
The perpetrator ( s ) apparently ( statements made by Bank Of America call center representative XXXX ( spelling? ) used the cloned debit card with the skimmed PIN as a form of identification to make withdrawals from the several checking and savings accounts associated to my profile. These withdrawals are handled as checks because they are conducted at the teller, not at the ATM. Bank of America has denied our claims of fraud without ( apparently ) requesting/ reviewing security tapes and without examining my whereabouts at the time of the withdrawals. 

I believe from what call center people have told us, the first three withdrawals happened at the teller counter at locations near XXXX, the fourth incident occurred in XXXX. 

I can assuredly tell you that I was not in XXXX, or in XXXX at the times of these withdrawals ( or any other time in this year ). I can provide employment records to prove it. I am still in possession of my debit card, and I have never disclosed my PIN to anyone. 

One person at the Fraud call center told us that the pattern of usage indicated several balance inquiries on the account in XXXX just prior to the first withdrawal. I received no alerts or notifications until the first attacked account was at XXXX balance. 

I feel that Bank of America has abused the trust of a loyal ( 28 years ) customer and has neglected the security of my account. 

I will also mention that XXXX in Credit Card fraud is a superstar. During one 3 hour call we ( my husband was on a three-way call to help communicate in calls after the first ) we were transferred at least 7 times. After an infuriating hour dealing with XXXX XXXX in Check Fraud we were transferred to XXXX, she heard our frustration and listened to the problem and worked to find us a solution. She made several additional calls and remained connected with us until she had XXXX briefed in and prepared to assist. These were the only two people during several phone calls and many many hours on the phone that seemed to even pretend to have any decency or human compassion. 

During XXXX exceptionally painful call XXXX XXXX, supposedly a Supervisor in the Check Fraud department, told us " if you ca n't handle it, maybe you should take all of your money out of the banks and put it into a safety deposit box. '' He insisted that as a " supervisor '' there was no-one " higher than him '' to escalate our concern/ complaint to. 

We are at the point where we really do n't know what else to do. 
I have also filed a complaint with the Florida State Attorney General Office. 

We maintain multiple accounts at multiple bank providers, as a security measure to prevent a full account drain if we were ever breached. We generally do not use our debit cards to make purchases and we try to make cash withdrawals from bank location ATMs. I believe we generally follow reasonable and prudent individual security measures. 

In speaking with our other banks we have been told that it would have been reasonable to expect Bank of America to secure the account and prevent any further transactions against it. To issue provisional credit, and to recognize that the account owner did not facilitate theses withdrawals. 

We do not fault the bank for the first breach- it happens. We fault the bank for not making every effort to secure the account once we notified that we had an unauthorized withdrawal. We fault the bank for not examining the merit of the case before issuing a denial of liability.

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