Consumer complaint received 2020-05-03
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NY
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
Re : Bank of America Credit Card Account - Fraud Dispute On XX/XX/XXXX, the following charges were made using my Bank of America Credit Card Account without my approval, knowledge or consent : Trans. Date Trans. Amount Trans Description XX/XX/XXXX {$34.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX-XXXX NY XX/XX/XXXX {$42.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX-XXXX, NY XX/XX/XXXX {$0.00} XXXX XXXX # XXXX, NY XX/XX/XXXX $ XXXX XXXX XXXX-XXXX. XXXX-XXXX, NJ On XX/XX/XXXX at approximately XXXX, I left my office at XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX, New York, NY XXXX , and took the subway to the XXXX XXXX  area to meet a high school friend at a restaurant, XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, before going to the XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX , XXXX XXXX XXXX, NY , for a XXXX production of  the comedy musical " Tootsie ''. The shows running time was 2hours and 35 minutes. 

At XXXX, I received a text message " PRESS TEXT from Bank of America : Message for XXXX XXXX re : credit card # XXXX. To continue using your care, please verify these 3 transactions : XXXX XXXX # XXXX - {$2300.00} ( Declined ) ; XXXX XXXX XXXX- {$34.00} ( Approved ) ; XX/XX/XXXX XXXX   XXXX XXXX {$42.00} ( Approved ) If you attempted all 3 of these transactions, reply YES. If you do not recognize one or more of  them, reply NO. 

While in the theatre, I checked my cell phone and noticed the Bank of America alert. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX., I replied NO, and received the following response, Your credit card is restricted. To prevent additional unauthorized transactions, login at XXXX or call XXXX now to protect your account. '' When I arrived home later that evening on XX/XX/XXXX, I called Bank of America card services, waited on hold for an extremely long period of time, and finally spoke to a representative close to midnight. I indicated to the representative that I did not make any purchases with the card on XX/XX/XXXX, and that I was in my office in XXXX XXXX, New York during the entire work day, until evening, when I then went to XXXX XXXX, New York [ to dinner and the theatre with a childhood friend ], when I received the alert of charges and promptly responded that I was a victim of credit card fraud. She indicated that in addition to the charges in the text alert, a charge of {$3400.00} was also made, and that the purchases were made with a chip, and that she would note the dispute, a new card would be issued, and they would investigate. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Bank of America card services to follow up. I spoke with a representative who indicated that the purchases were made with a card 2 to which I asked him to make a note that the card I had expires XX/XX/XXXX, and if a new card had been sent, it must have been intercepted, but that I never received a replacement card if one was mailed. The representative indicated that he would make a note. I asked for something to be sent in writing regarding my dispute. He indicated that he would make a note and that something would be mailed, but that I did not need to return it. The form letter was just for my record and that the dispute number was the last four digits of the account, and that the account was closed and a new card number and card would be issued and should be received within 10 days. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a notice of a temporary credit for {$3500.00}, indicating that I could expect extensive research to be conducted on my claim. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX XXXX, I received an email Activity Alert : You Have a New Message about your Claim. I logged into my Bank of America online account to view the new message notification, a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, that indicated that my fraud claim was not approved. When I called Bank of America, the representative told me that I would have to call back on Monday Friday between the hours of XXXX - XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I mailed a certified letter to Bank of America to again disputing the charges. If the card was intercepted that Bank of America mailed and used is to make the disputed charges, these charges were fraudulently made, and not authorized by me. Moreover, if someone was otherwise able to make these charges, by some other technological means, there is no evidence that I made them or authorized such charges. It is reported and widely known that chips do/have not solved the problem of credit card fraud. There is no proof or evidence that I authorized or approved the charges in dispute because I did not. 

I have been the victim of credit card fraud, and dispute the above charges at issue. I disputed these charges as soon as I was notified about them, and within hours of the transactions. Bank of America reopened the fraud claim on or about XX/XX/XXXX to investigate my dispute of the transaction posted totaling {$3500.00} on XX/XX/XXXX [ FRAUD DISPUTE : ( 1 ) {$34.00}, ( 2 ) {$42.00}, and ( 3 ) {$3400.00} ]. 

After a number of follow up calls ( XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and in XX/XX/XXXX ), yesterday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, again " declining my fraud claim '' and requiring me to make payments. 

Currently, the only outstanding balance on this account is {$3500.00}, the amount fraudulently charged to my account. 

Bank of America is refusing to credit my account for charges that I clearly did not make and did not authorize. Importantly, their fraud team did not stop the suspicious activity in real time, and are now trying to pass this off on me. I am a victim and no one at Bank of America has been helpful with elevating or escalating this situation for appropriate resolution of these fraudulent charges or acknowledgement of my rights under the Fair Credit Billing Act.

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