Consumer complaint received 2018-10-11
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MD
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Cashing a check

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I posted my car for sale on XXXX as well as various other car sites to sell my car. I am a recent college graduate seeking full-time employment and selling my vehicle seemed like a quick way to gather some money. A buyer reached out to me via XXXX expressing interest in the vehicle and gave me a number to text. Eventually I see the message and send the buyer a text message letting him know the car is available and that I have a current bid of XXXX for the vehicle. He then tells me that hell buy my vehicle for XXXX and to take it off the market. 

On Thursday XX/XX/XXXX, I was told that he would be sending a check for the car and a payment for the movers that will be at my apartment by Friday or Saturday and I'll be all set to move forward. However, the check did not arrive until Tuesday XX/XX/XXXX. The check was for a total of {$5900.00} and appeared to be a XXXX check from a company in Texas and I immediately had taken it to the nearest XXXX to verify its authenticity, which was on XXXX XXXX in XXXX Maryland.The XXXX however could not verify the check and advised me to take it to my local bank to confirm. I then proceeded to the nearest Bank of America on XXXX XXXX XXXX I'm XXXX Maryland, where I went inside to speak directly with a teller and explain the situation. I asked if there were and precautions or anyway to make sure the check is authentic and I was told to deposit the check and see if it processes, and if it does, it should be fine. After speaking directly with a teller, I followed their advice and deposited the check. I waited until the next day to see if the check went through and the funds would show in my account and they did. 

From there I let the buyer know, and proceeded with the process. From there, he wanted me to deposit a total amount of XXXX in the mover account which was Wednesday XX/XX/XXXX. I was told that the moving company will give me a call Thursday and they were scheduled to pick up the car Friday morning at XXXX along with a few other vehicles. Later on that evening, he asked me to take out more money and buy him XXXX gift cards with the rest. With me being a eager college grad and a first time car seller, I did not initially come off as anything major being wrong. I also spoke with the buyer on the phone and noticed he was not American and from prior experience with working with non-americans, most don't completely understand American culture/nature and I took that into account as well. I also did not want to offend the buyer as I was desperately trying to sell my car. 

Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, he called me that morning and told me that he was buying the car for his dad but his dad just passed away so he needs me to send the money back and to keep {$300.00} for any inconvenience. He repeatedly called and texted me from two different numbers, none which correspond with the area code on the location of the check, which was a major red flag after everything else that occurred. I then proceeded to let him know that the sale was final and the car was still available for pick-up if he would like to sell on his own and he did not respond or answer any of my calls afterwards. That Friday XX/XX/XXXX, I attempted to use my debit card at a car wash prepping it for possible sale and my card declined. After checking my account, my balance was in the $ -3,000+ and I immediately called the bank to figure out what was going on. I reached the bank for assistance and they let me the know that check had been held back after already being " processed '' by the bank. After explaining everything that happened to them, the only result was that I would have to pay the remaining balance off. From there, I immediately filed a police report and the bank still could not help. I am currently waiting to hear back from the XXXX police department on their progress on resolving the matter. 


Below I've attached all the information that I have on the buyer and the situation : XXXX ID : XXXX Phone Numbers Used : XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX " XXXX '' XXXX   account information : Bank Name : XXXX XXXX Cash deposit Account : XXXX Account Name : XXXX XXXX XXXX Police Case Number : XXXX I've also attached images of our entire dialogue from beginning to end as well information about where the check was sent from and the check in general.

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