Consumer complaint received 2022-06-10
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I received a text from a Bank of America-generated number that told me to confirm or deny a XXXX transfer of {$3500.00}. I responded " NO ''. As soon as I responded, the Bank of America customer service phone number ( XXXX ) called me so I answered. I was prompted by, who I thought, was a Bank of America associate telling me that in order to reverse this transaction of {$3500.00} I had to manually transfer the {$3500.00} back to my account using my phone number. So I followed his instructions and did two separate transactions of {$1500.00} and {$2000.00} ( since I didn't have {$3500.00} total in either my checking account or savings account ). After transferring the money, I waited for the next instruction and was abruptly hung up on. I quickly realized this was not right and called the Bank of America customer service number to speak to a real associate. After being on hold for around 2 hours, I was told I did the right thing by calling right away. The associate continued to open two claims for the two transactions. After speaking with him, he told me that all I could do was wait and would probably hear back around the 10th business day. 13 days later, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email saying that my {$1500.00} claim was denied and that I would not be credited. I received no update about the {$2000.00} claim but can assume that would also be denied. So basically after waiting for 13 days, I only received an update on one of my claims and I was told I was not getting my money back. After meeting with a Bank of America representative at a local branch, she told me that I should file a police report so I have documentation of what happened. She also explained to me that it is difficult to get the money refunded because I made the transfer myself. I reiterated multiple times that I was scammed into transferring the {$3500.00} dollars. I called Bank of America yet again to tell them that I want the analyst to look at my claims again and after waiting an hour, the associate seemed confused with my situation after I explained it to numerous associates. The letter I received via email explaining why my claim of {$1500.00} was denied did not make sense and actually told me to try and contact the person I sent the money to ( which how is that possible when I got scammed from the Bank of American number ). They also proved a number I could call to ask for all documentation that the analyst included in their decision to approve or deny my claim. However, when I called that number I was told I need a subpoena from a lawyer in order to get access to these documents. As of right now, I filed a police report and completed an IC3 complaint form as well. However, all Bank of America has done is tell me a million different things and that I simply need to wait.

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