Consumer complaint received 2018-07-17
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: TX
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I received a phone call from XXXX at XXXX. A man had called me saying he was from Bank of America and that there was fraud being committed on my account. With fraud happening once before on the same account I continued with the call. He followed the exact same protocols that Bank of America does. He asked me if I had my debit card in hand with me, I replied yes. He then stated that someone in Florida swiped my card and that they probably made a duplicate of my debit card. Then he asked if I made a transfer to a name that I did not recognize, and I responded, No I do not know who that is. He said that the person in Florida made a hotel reservation and that if he shows up to the reservation that they will call the law enforcement and at that point I can press charges. After I stated that I did not make a transfer and I had my debit card in hand with me he then claimed that he was going to notate and try to stop those transactions before the money is removed. Keep in mind that I had checked my account about 3 hours before this phone call because I had pulled out {$40.00} dollars and no money was missing. He said he was going to send me verification codes and if I can repeat them for him. So, I did cause once again thats the exact same protocol that Bank of America does. After that he had told me to cut up my debit card because they were going to overnight me one and I should get it no later than XXXX XXXX. I did not cut up my card because I wanted to make sure I had my new one in hand first. He then gave me a claim number and a tracking number. The next morning, at XXXX XXXX I tried logging into my Mobile app and I was not able to get in, so I had to change my password and of course a verification code was sent from the same number that was being sent from the night before. So when I logged in it showed that {$2400.00} was missing and at first I thought Bank of America was not able to stop the transaction in time but once I realized that I did not receive a new debit card by XXXXI checked my emails and in my emails is stated that my online ID was looked up at XXXX then I saw another email saying that my password was reset at XXXX so the verification codes that he was sending saying that those codes were to verify that its me so he can try to stop the transfers was actually codes to reset my password. There was then another email saying that a new recipient added at the name of XXXX XXXX at XXXX and two more emails saying that two different transfers had been made for {$1500.00} at XXXX and {$900.00} at XXXX. All of that was being done on that 20-minute phone call. So, once I realized what was going on I went online and looked up a BOA number and it was the exact same XXXX number that I received the night before. Once I called at XXXX XXXX and someone answered I noticed it was the exact protocol, I verified it was me and they asked why I was calling. I explained that a man had called the day before and said there was fraud being done on my account and was wanting to check the process. They lady I was speaking to was quiet for a second then said uhm. The second I heard her say that thats when I asked, There is no notation of fraud being committed on my account is there? She then responded, no mam. I then replied, Well then I am calling to make a fraud claim, and then I explained everything that happened. They told me that it will take up to ten days before I receive that {$2400.00} back into my account. We ended up closing that account because that was the second time I had fraud on that account because I planned to open up a new one, the man said he was going to freeze that account until I went into a branch and opened a new one. As soon as we hung up I went to a BOA branch not even 5 min away from my house. We opened up a new account and they said that if I had any more questions or wanted to check the status to call the fraud department. Ten days came, and I noticed that the money was still not back in my account, I called the fraud department and they said my claim had been denied. The reason they denied my claim was because they said I authorized that person to perform the transaction. Which I did not authorize anyone to make any type of transaction because once again I stated several times to BOA fraud department that someone called me from a BOA number saying that fraud was being done on my account and by the end of the call my password was changed, and money was taken. They have denied my claim twice already and we are trying to escalate further, those funds are rightfully mine.

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