Consumer complaint received 2023-01-08
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NJ
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Dear Sir or Madam, This complaint is regarding Bank of America fraud claim number XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I saw the seller 's ad of a used XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX for sale for a fraction of its market price on popular XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. We then communicated on XXXX XXXXXXXX  called XXXX She claimed that she was defrauded by her ex boyfriend, and lost all her saving and now owes large amount of credit card debt. And that's why she had to sell her designer items at a very low price in order to sell them fast. I believed her, and sent her {$600.00} via XXXX. In the following several days, instead of shipping the coat, she made excuses of why she could not ship the coat and offered another XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX bag to me for total of {$8000.00}, which is also a fraction of the market price. She kept pushing me to make payment fast, otherwise she would sell the items to others because she was in desperate need of money to pay her credit card. I sent her {$3500.00}, {$3500.00} and {$1000.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX respectively, as there is a {$3500.00} daily limit for XXXX transfer. 

She claimed that she shipped out all XXXX items on XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX, Illinois and provided me with a XXXX shipping label with tracking number XXXX with expected delivery on Monday XX/XX/XXXX. On the shipping label, the name of shipper is XXXX XXXX, the shipper address is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. However, the package with the tracking number was not delivered to me on Monday XX/XX/XXXX, but to a warehouse facility called XXXX XXXX XXXX located in the same town of my address. 

I visited the warehouse on Tuesday XX/XX/XXXX, and the package is actually a XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXturn package of teabags. I also visited the UPS customer service on XX/XX/XXXX, and the representative scanned the barcode on the shipping label that the seller provided, it turned out to be inconsistent with the tracking number XXXX. The actual tracking number shown by the barcode is XXXX, and the shipper is XXXX XXXX, the shipper address is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX. And the package had never actually been dropped off at XXXX. The XXXX representative confirmed the shipping label was forged with PDF editing tool by erasing the actual tracking number and adding another tracking number with the delivery address in the same town of my address. I then disclosed the evidence to the seller and told her that I would sue her for forgery of shipping label and fraud. I filed internet crime complaint with FBI on XX/XX/XXXX. The seller admitted fraud. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from Bank of America XXXX XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX stating that although the transfers were completed according to my instruction, they were researching my claim with the other party in an attempt to recover funds. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent a letter with supporting evidence regarding this matter via XXXX to the mailing address of BOA XXXX XXXX XXXX On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from BOA stating that they were unable to approve my claim because the transfers were made according to my instruction, and they were unsuccessful at recovering the funds. They did not provide any information about the receiver of the funds. 

Enclosed please find the following supporting evidence : Letter from Bank of America XXXX XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX Letter from Bank of America XXXX XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX The shipping label with tracking number XXXX that was provided by the seller The tracking details for tracking number XXXX The photos of XXXX XXXX XXXX warehouse and the actual XXXX return package with tracking number XXXX that were taken on XX/XX/XXXX Copy of business card of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX who is willing to be a witness and provide written statement regarding the actual package with tracking number XXXX upon request Photos of XXXX Customer Service XXXX in XXXXXXXX XXXX showing the actual tracking number for the barcode of the shipping label provided by the seller is XXXX, the shipper is XXXX XXXX, the shipper address is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and the package had never actually been dropped off at XXXX XXXX FBI internet crime claim filed on XX/XX/XXXX Based on the foregoing evidence, it is evident that the seller has forged the XXXX shipping label, and has never actually shipped the 4 items that I have paid {$8600.00} for. These actions fully constitute fraud. The names and addresses of the seller and the actual shipper are all fake. I would greatly appreciate if you could work with the XXXX XXXX bank to disclose the actual identity of the seller/recipient and recover funds as soon as possible. Once the XXXX recipients real identity is disclosed, further legal actions may be taken against her/him.

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