Consumer complaint received 2023-05-06
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NC
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
My checking and savings accounts were closed by Bank of America after being a client for 20 years because of suspected fraud. I didnt commit any fraud but was scammed. This happened late last year. I do not have the precise dates or documentation as I discarded it not knowing that there was an agency that could help me. Bank of America must have all the records.

I deposited two checks from XXXX mailed to me by a company that supposedly owed money to a person who I met in a dating site and that I had been communicating by phone and text as he said he lived in a city two hours away. I can provide all the details as to how I has tricked and misused by this person but Im not sure if you need that information at this point. 

I deposited a check for {$5000.00} in my savings account that was mailed to me by a company in Illinois that supposedly owed to my friend. I first went to XXXX to cash it but was told I couldnt as I did not have an account with them. I even gave the check to an employee of the bank and asked to confirm if it had funds and with the check in hand she did and said there were funds. She never noticed or said anything about it not being a valid check so I went to a Bank of America ATM and made the deposit. 

I later checked my accounts online and it said that the funds would be available in 5 days. A couple of days later I saw in my account that the check had been returned but not because of NSF. The back of the check said something like returned by holder. I did not received any call or communication from the bank about suspected fraud. 

I contacted my friend who apologized and said he was going to call the sender and check what was happening. He later said his lawyers had contacted the company that wrote the check and that they had agreed to send a check for {$40000.00} as payment for the total amount of money they owed which included the {$5000.00}. 

Once I got it I tried to deposit it in the savings account but the ATM did not accept the deposit in that account but did accept it in my checking account. I didnt suspect anything and thought it was because my savings account had a very low balance. 

Again online the deposit showed as pending as it would clear in 5 days. Again I didnt received any call from their fraud department. This check was also returned. 

I tried in the next few day to check my accounts online but didnt have access. I tried resetting the password and it accepted the change but didnt grant access so I went to the bank and was told that my accounts had been closed. I explained what happened and that by then I knew I had been scammed. The employee told me she couldnt change anything so I asked to open new accounts but wasnt possible as I had been flagged. She suggested to call the fraud department.

I immediately did and explained the situation and told them I now suspected I had been scammed. The employee at the fraud department said that the checks were false and had not issued XXXX or the owner of that company. I told her I had not know that fact because nobody at Bank of America had contacted me warning me that the checks were false considering they suspected it and about 2 weeks had passed between deposits. That I hadnt commit any fraud and had not even tried to make any withdrawals or transfers because I wanted to make sure the payment cleared. I didnt understand how they could say it was fraud if no money had left my account and the bank had not been wronged in any way and that it was me who was the injured party. I also asked why, if they suspected fraud I wasnt contacted and made aware of their concern as they do with credit or debit cards. I was ignored and told that it was the bank policy and nothing could be done. 

About 10 days later I received letters from Bank of America stating that the accounts had been closed and attaching a check for the balance of each one. I was totally frustrated and angry because I had been wronged not only by the scammer but by the bank I had trusted for 20 years. 

I tried to open an account at XXXX, XXXX and XXXX XXXX but wasnt approved so I had to finally open an account in a small local credit union that doesnt check either the credit bureaus or the company that informs the banking community. 

I believe that Bank of America acted incorrectly and unfairly and that their actions caused my personal credit to be affected and wronged me. 

Please let me know if you require the complete details of the scam as well as personal information. 

Thanks for helping.

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