Consumer complaint received 2023-01-24
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
Complaint against Bank of America as they refused to assist me with both Credits Cards that were impacted in a fraudulent event, leading to another complaint submission : On XX/XX/XXXX I was contacted by an official XXXX number informing me that I was the main subject of a money laundering operation and that my profession as an anti-money laundering analyst strengthened their suspicion. I would later come to find that these individuals were not whom they said they were a defrauded me for {$23000.00} total between 3 accounts at BofA ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Checking account ). While on the call a number from XXXX XXXX Police Department came through which the fake XXXX rep told me to answer as they were 'working with local law enforcement '. The local police number confirmed what the XXXX rep had told me and when I was skeptical of their claims they then issued me an arrest warrant with instructions of how to handle the situation while under investigation. This included putting my funds into pay vouchers to avoid my funds being frozen which would be returned to me at the end of the investigation period if I was found to be innocent. The next 2 days consisted of them surveilling me and forcing me to convert my funds into pay vouchers via XXXX as well as the majority of my credit limit on my cards so a potential perpetrator would not be able to do so themselves. XXXX, they said, is XXXX of the companies whom law enforcement has an arrangement with for these circumstances and would allow for me to be refunded. As I continued to grow frustrated with the process I contacted XXXX Police Department on XX/XX/XXXX around XXXX directly and asked for XXXX XXXX XXXX the fraudster claimed to be, and I was told there was no XXXX XXXX and that I would need to contact XXXX Police Department to inform. I spoke with police on XX/XX/XXXX and they walked me through what I needed to do to try and mitigate the situation the best I could and also contacted XXXX  to alert. On XX/XX/XXXX I filed a police report, contacted the financial institutions which were impacted to report fraud, canceled cards, changed user names & passwords etc. 

My complaint is specifically for Bank of America whom I initially contacted on XX/XX/XXXX to report fraud. After BofA made me inform XXXX different departments of fraud for my checking account, Debit Card and XXXX XXXX. I was told that the process would take a week and they would reach out to discuss next steps. A week passed and I heard nothing back. I checked the other financial institutions I contacted to report fraud and they had all refunded charges and issued me new credit cards, except for Bank of America. 
I then contacted Bank of America again on XX/XX/XXXX for a status update and checking/debit departments said that there was no update, but they would expedite to a XXXX hour update window ( which I never heard back on ), and then transferred me to the credit card department to see if there was a status update there. The credit card department then said I never filed a fraud case, then backtracked to say they did see that I called in to notify, but even though I was deceived and defrauded ( which by legal definition is fraud ), I would not receive any credit back ... when it hadn't even been investigated yet. I then asked how have they left my XXXX credit card accounts I filed fraud on and requested new cards wide open for XXXX weeks and they said it was a mistake and they would do that immediately which was egregious. Then, after I had been defrauded for every XXXX I have I had to sell my only vehicle just so I could eat and pay bills. Upon deposit of the check from selling my vehicle, Bank of America only cleared 40 % of the check inexplicably leaving 60 % of the check on hold. After the 7 days it took to have that check clear, it turns out I couldn't access a XXXX of it. The reason I couldn't access it was because BofA somehow managed to close my account unbeknownst to me, without ever issuing me a new account, leaving the only funds I had to my name stuck in a closed account. Since then, BofA has continued drag this out to a degree I never thought possible. 
At this point, I have now filed multiple claims with Bank of America, a police report, multiple complaints to the CFPB and multiple complaints to Bank of America, and yet instead of assisting, BofA has managed to make this incredibly agonizing situation increasingly worse. The credit cards I will be referencing are XXXX which has now been resolved & XXXX which is the original card fraud occurred on & the newly issued card which replaced it. Upon my initial CFPB complaint, BofA had a representative named XXXX XXXX e-mail me on XX/XX/XXXX to state she would be my point of contact and she requested I reach out to her to confirm my contact information. I then e-mailed her on XXXX separate occasions to no response, and I called her XXXX separate times and left voicemails that were also never returned. Her e-mail states her hours of operation are XXXX - XXXX XXXX, yet I would sporadically get calls after XXXX XXXX, she would leave a message, and then not pick back up. I then receive a letter regarding account XXXX stating I was somehow responsible for the charges, but nothing in regard to XXXX. After relentlessly calling XXXX XXXX to try and understand what is happening to no avail, I eventually opted to pick up a random number after XXXX XXXX  knowing she has been actively trying to avoid me, and it was her. During that call, which did not go well, she told me she was only working on XXXX of the XXXX credit cards I filed on even though I filed claims for both with BofA, as well as complaints to CFPB on both cards. After having no rationale answer for why she was only working on XXXX card and not both, she agreed to work on both XXXX & XXXX as it was not only an error on her end, but it was all in regard to the same situation, the same transaction types, near identical amounts, nearly everything was identical on each card. Then what transpires is that I receive a letter from BofA stating that they completed they're investigation on XXXX and they were happy to inform me that the temporary credit that was extended to me is now permanent as fraud was identified. Now, I have XXXX XXXX telling me she is working on both cards, yet XXXX is fully resolved as fraud was identified, but XXXX which was involved in the same exact situation was inexplicably deemed not fraud and they rescinded my temporary credit and stuck me with a {$6500.00} balance on XXXX. I then repeatedly call XXXX and leave messages which once again are never responded to leaving to to call BofA directly. They then tell me they don't see that XXXX did anything to incorporate XXXX into the XXXX investigation and were profusely apologizing for the inconvenience & situation as a whole. I told the rep the entire situation & that this is not acceptable as I will now incur late fees/interest etc. all while the balance and " missed payments '' will adversely affect my XXXX XXXX. She concurs and said she would put it into a 'dispute ' status so those things don't happen and ensured I wouldn't be charged, and I had to file yet another complaint with the CFPB to have the investigation re-opened. I then call again about a week later and then rep I received helped me re-open the investigation in late XXXX XXXX, yet I have heard nothing back. In the meantime, BofA lied about about me not being charged and has assessed late fees and interest charges to my account while under investigation ( which now stands at a balance of {$6600.00} ). Furthermore, they started reporting missed payments on these fraudulent charges to the credit bureaus while the case is still under investigation, and then had the audacity to send me a letter that they have cut my credit line on XXXX down from {$17000.00} to {$6900.00} which again has, and will continue to horrendously impact my XXXX XXXX an gives me even less options to try and get out of this mess. When I called about that all they did was apologize once again, acknowledged that it was entirely improper to do that, but ensure me there was nothing they can do unless I wanted to apply for another balance increase ( another XXXX XXXX hit ), but that I XXXX be subject to having them swap credit from XXXX account to XXXX and it essence, accomplish absolutely nothing. At this point, Bank of America is just as harmful and callous as the criminals who originally stole my life savings and destroyed my life, only difference being that Bank of America has tortured me for a much longer period of time than the criminals did.

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