Consumer complaint received 2021-03-24
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NV
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Government benefit card
Issue: Trouble using the card
Sub-issue: Problem using the card to withdraw money from an ATM

Complaint:
Each week Tuesday morning I go straight to the same Bank of America ATM and pull out as much of my money is the ATM let me take out leaving less than {$10.00} every time and then I drive to my bank and I deposit it into my bank account. I do not trust that a wire transfer will get it into my bank account, and I have nothing but time with no job so I figure I might as well manually move the money I have been doing this every week without fail since XXXX when I was furloughed from my job. 
Now it is a year later and on Tuesday XX/XX/2021, I go to the ATM to pull out my money as usual and see that I only have a balance of {$4.00} and I was confused because I do did recall seeing the email alerting me to the deposits of {$450.00} and the {$300.00} and so I get back in my car and I look on my Bank of America app to see the transactions on my card and it shows me that {$750.00} was in fact taken out of my account through a XXXX XXXX ATM on the other side of town a XXXX XXXX ATM that I have never been to. So, I call Bank of America to report that money has been stolen out of my account. Later that I did research through the website and saw that it is a standalone ATM machine at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX, NV XXXX that sits in the middle of a parking lot. 
I would assume that if Bank of America looked at my pattern of transactions that I take the money out of the only the same ATM each week at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, NV XXXX and do not even use my card online or even for regular transactions except for the occasional drive-through order with the remaining balance left on my card less than {$10.00}. The only way that I used my unemployment Bank of America ATM card is at the same ATM machine at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, NV XXXX. I am always very careful, and the card has been in my possession the entire time. There is nobody at all with access to my card or pin. Leading me to believe a skimmer has been used to steal my bank information from that ATM machine. 
When I talk to somebody at Bank of America, she tells me that there's going to be an investigation to see if I get the missing {$750.00} that was stolen from my account paid back to me, she said that they would send me a new ATM card and turn off my old ATM card and she said that when I received the ATM card in the mail to activate it and check the balance. I then received the card on Thursday XX/XX/2021 and call in to activate it when I was told that my card account was blocked. 
I then spoke to a different young lady that told me that I would have to call the unemployment line to report the fraud and I asked her if she was mistaken because this was a situation that happened through Bank of America 's card and has nothing to do with my unemployment claim and I was told something completely different the day I called to report my card stolen. I asked her if I could speak to somebody else because I felt like she did not understand my situation and she said I could not and told me I would have to call unemployment so I ended my conversation with her and called back to speak to somebody else where I was told the same information over again and told that I would have to call the unemployment line again. I ask her for the actual number that I am supposed to call to report the fraud and at that point she then proceeds to hang up on me. 
After trying several times to get back through to Bank of America I finally got ahold of a lady who gave me a contact number which was in fact the same number that everybody else uses for unemployment XXXX. No one I spoke to at Bank of America told me about the actual number for specifically for fraud XXXX. No one I spoke to at Bank of America told me about the websitXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ) where I would have to upload my driver 's license and social security card front and back before an investigation could even be started it would be helpful if one person at Bank of America had all this information together saving some time. When I get through to unemployment it took me almost 3 hours on hold the first day and another day of 540 total calls to get through to confirm they received my copies of my ID and Social Security card. When I finally got to speak to someone, I was told that I would have to call back in two weeks to see if any progress was made in the investigation into my fraud case and in two weeks I could find out if they were ready to release my identification to Bank of America to tell them to release the block on my account. This was after Bank of America told me that their investigation would take 25 days at least. 
This does not seem right that Bank of America is punishing the person who was stolen from and blocking me from receiving my NEEDED my unemployment benefits. That was my only source of income. I am a single Mother with a Mortgage and bills to pay and no money to pay them. I have been desperately applying for work since XXXX with no luck and now I can not sleep at night in fear of how long this investigation will take. Bank of America says they are here to help on the letter they sent saying my claim has been closed. Which I believe is very poorly worded and not helpful or comforting at all to someone who lost their only source of income with no relief or timeline coming from Bank of America or XXXX. I understand that there is a lot of fraud investigations in the state of Nevada during this pandemic. My question is why after an entire YEAR XXXX and Bank of America have not figured out a better way to help people who are already struggling instead of pretty much kicking us while we are already down. 
All I can do now is keep filing unemployment, fill out endless job applications, write letters like these and pray. 
Please Help.

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