Consumer complaint received 2022-04-28
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NJ
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
My laptop was compromised with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. In the next couple of days, my XXXX, XXXX, XXXX accounts, XXXX were all accessed by unknown individuals and I received alerts from XXXX, XXXX and XXXX. That's when I decided to check my Bank of America accounts and realized several unauthorized transactions were made on XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX totaling {$63000.00}. 

Checking account XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$16000.00} XXXX XXXX credit card payment ; XX/XX/XXXX - {$14000.00} XXXX credit card payment ; Saving account XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$16000.00} Online transfer to Checking account XXXX ; XX/XX/XXXX - {$14000.00} Online transfer to Checking account XXXX ; XXXX XXXX credit card XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$21000.00} Balance transfer to XXXX XXXX ; {$650.00} Balance transfer fee ; XX/XX/XXXX - {$5100.00} Balance transfer to XXXX XXXXXXXX ; {$150.00} Balance transfer fee ; XXXX XXXX credit card XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$4700.00} Balance transfer to XXXX XXXX ; {$75.00} Balance transfer fee ; The transactions include Bill payments to other banks from my checking account and also Balance Transfers to other banks from my Credit Card accounts. I promptly called BOA on these unauthorized transactions on XX/XX/XXXX. I spoke with both the Checking/Saving fraud department and the Credit Card fraud department to file XXXX claims. And had to call back on XX/XX/XXXX to file the last claim as the rep said there's nothing they can do if the transaction isn't posted yet even though I did not authorize it. At this time, I also realized that the perpetrator added a filter in my XXXX so I didn't receive any confirmation emails on these transactions from BOA. 

While on calls with the Fraud reps, I repeatedly asked what information they would need to complete the investigations, and was told that there's nothing I would need to submit. 

I filed a police report with the XXXX XXXX Police Department on XX/XX/XXXX and received the report on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I went to the BOA at the XXXX XXXX XXXX and asked them to fax over the police report, my XXXX credit reports, and a timeline of event statement with evidence supporting my computer was compromised to the Fraud Departments. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, all XXXX of my claims were denied and when I called in to inquire more, I was asked to provide a letter from XXXX XXXX XXXX proving my laptop was compromised. The issue is on XX/XX/XXXX, I had already deleted all my recent downloads/cache/history/files and ran several antivirus programs to ensure my laptop is not compromised anymore. Had I was informed this is what is required from me, I would have taken my laptop to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX before clearing it. The rep apologized on the phone for missing to inform me earlier and said they are adding this requirement in their notes now. 

I took my laptop to XXXX and explained the situation to them, and they are trying to recover the deleted XXXX but said that they can't guarantee they will be able to do so as it was manually deleted. I then contacted the local FBI Cyber Crime unit and filed an Internet Crime Complaint online. 

Throughout this incident, BOA has shown that their cybersecurity and transaction monitoring are not up to par to other companies in the industry. They failed to alert me when there were suspicious logins to my account and also failed to recognize unusual activities that took place. Being a customer for XXXX  years, they have sufficient historical data on me to alert/confirm with me when $ XXXX left my accounts within a 2 day period to multiple new Bill Pay/Balance Transfer recipients. Moreover, the rep had told me that since my claims were denied, I can try contacting the recipient banks to have them reverse the transfers. I stated that I don't have the recipient account numbers or name to refer to. I was transferred around to different departments for hours and was ultimately told BOA can't give me this information. 

This has been a convoluting and frustrating process disputing unauthorized transactions that I caught within 2 days. It is extremely challenging to get guidance on the dispute process, especially when the fraud occurred on multiple accounts. The reps said there's no way for the fraud investigators to see the full picture as they are only able to see the claim they are assigned to.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief