Consumer complaint received 2019-01-15
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
Summary : A fraudster illegally withdrew {$4500.00} from my checking account at a Bank of America teller ( in person, according to Bank of America ) at a branch in XXXX   XXXX  XXXX. I live ~80 blocks away from this branch, and have a BofA branch within 5 minutes of my home. I have no reason to go to the branch in question. 

I filed a claim with Bank of America, who denied the claim on the following grounds : AUTOMATIC DENIAL because a pin and card were verified. I asked for a review of the decision and specifically asked them to check the video footage of the withdrawal. I also filed a police report with the XXXX and provided the police report number to Bank of America. After receiving this information, they denied the claim again, stating the same reason automatic denial because a pin and card were verified. 

The check fraud department confirmed to me that the video evidence had not been reviewed and the bank is refusing to review the video, stating We refuse to pull the video. Our policy requires that we ONLY PULL VIDEO FOR CLAIMS OVER {$5000.00}. There is nothing further we can do for you. 

I would like to receive back the {$4500.00} that was stolen from my account. Why does Bank of America allow fraud to go unchecked if its under {$5000.00}? 

A detailed timeline of events is below. 

XX/XX/XXXX I noticed a withdrawal of {$4500.00} on my online banking account. Neither my wife nor I had lost our debit cards or our PINs, and we had been home all day. I immediately called Bank of America to report the issue. Since the transaction was still pending they said I needed to call back after it cleared the next day. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called back and filed a formal claim. Bank of America said it would take ~3 months to review the claim, but did not provide any funds during the review. I was forced to bear the burden of the loss throughout the process. 

XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I called the check fraud department several times to check on the status and ask if any further information was needed. Nothing further was requested and no update was provided other than to say the bank still has more time to review the claim. 

XX/XX/XXXX I was notified that the claim was denied on the following grounds : automatic denial because a pin and card were verified. I explained to the check fraud department that the card was cloned and the PIN could have been obtained via a skimmer device. 

I asked if the video footage of the withdrawal was reviewed, which would be a very simple way of conducting the investigation. The agent told me that it was not clear that the video had been reviewed, but that she would escalate the review of the decision and add a note to my account my request to review the video footage of the withdrawal. 

Agent stated it would take another ~1 month to conduct the review of the decision. 

Mid XX/XX/XXXX I called to check in on the status of the claim. I received no update. 

The agent asked if I filed a police report and I said I had not because I wasnt told it would be required. Further, the police have no bearing on whether the bank reimburses me. I was told now ( for the first time ) that the police report is a critical part of the bank 's investigation and would go a long way to resolve the claim. I said I was happy to file a police report if that would help. 

XX/XX/XXXX I had left town for the holidays, but immediately upon my return, I visited the XXXX precinct and filed a formal police report. I provided this information, including the police report number, to BofA immediately. I was told the review was ongoing. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called BofA again because I had not received any communication from them regarding the review. I was told the claim had been denied for the same reason automatic denial because a pin and card were verified. 

I asked the check fraud department agent if the video footage had been reviewed. The agent told me that the video had not been reviewed but that she would ask the analyst reviewing the claim whether they could pull and review the footage while I waited on hold. After 5 minutes, she came back on the phone to tell me the analyst has refused to pull the video. BofAs policy only requires video evidence be pulled for claims over {$5000.00}. There is nothing more we can do for you. 

I informed the XXXX, which stated that this has happened multiple times with Bank of America. In other situations, they actually obtained photographic evidence of the perpetrator and BofA still denied the claim.

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