Consumer complaint received 2019-02-07
Company: BANK OF THE WEST
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
I was hacked and 72 transactions that came out of my account over 3 days were not noticed or flagged by Bank of the Wests fraud team and that removed XXXX out of my bank account. Banking failure, not customers. 
As soon as I found the packages on my doorstep, I called the bank immediately. I then spent an hour and a half going through each transaction line by line with a agent from BOTW, then was told to go to the branch to sign documentation and get my claim rolling. I then found out my previous nights chat was wasted as it was nowhere to be found and I had to do the whole line by line process over again, for another hour and a half. This is a failure and not customer friendly. Also, when I was at the branch, the agent stated that I have never seen anything like this in my life. He also added up and we did it together the sum lost was XXXX XXXX dollars. 
I was then asked by XXXX XXXX my contact at Bank of the Wests fraud department to go over the same transactions again, right after doing the very same procedure the night before. Bad practices. 
I was originally told that my money would be returned via the hack after 5-7 days. I was asked if I had enough money to hold me over until then, knowing full well that this bank had every penny I had. After 3 weeks of non-communication, I was told that the bank decided to hold all my funds for even longer, another 30-90 days. I found this out not via my contact person from the fraud team, but after I decided to call the fraud departments XXXX number. 
Why this money had not been returned after 9 months is unacceptable to anyone in the financial community, as I was told by many other bank officials about this. Bad practices. 
Due to the lack of communication from the bank to myself, and the bank fully aware that it had all my money, it did nothing to help me pay my bills, nor expedite the problem. This turned into such a long process that I had to get a personal loan against my house due to BOTW failure to flag the 72 transactions, failure to process this claim quickly, failure to communicate with you customer in a timely manner and failure to care one way or the other after myself deposited millions into your banking institution. 
The outcome was a mere {$2200.00} returned due to XXXX XXXX explaining to me she just got a managerial job and didnt have time to do the claim, after 90 days! The supporting documentation by XXXX XXXX explains a {$6000.00} motorcycle, and my file of my transactions adds up to more than {$2200.00} and the agent at the bank and I came up to XXXX XXXX. 
There was also monies from the 3 other accounts that were frozen but I can not get that info. If there wasnt, why freeze all 4 accounts? 
And why was my claim shredded before I went to the bank after finding out the final result? Banks can not shred claims. Illegal. 

Regarding the cashiers check. The bank signed off that this check was verified after watching the controller place a phone call and then telling me it was. 
The bank held me off until the bank collected the funds. 
The bank directly texted back and forth with the owner of the cashiers check. Involvement. 
A officer of the bank, called me and told me the bank had collected the money and everything was fine and to come down and wire the cashiers check signer his money for transportation of the purchased XXXX XXXX. If an officer of the bank tells a banking customer that the funds were collected, then its the banks fault for anything after that fact. 
A bank after depositing funds into a account can not withdraw funds from a account per OCC Law, and that is exactly what happened to me. Illegal. 
After the banks controller called me, and only because he told me the funds were collected, did I make checks out to the workers on my property, and the very same branch and controller paid those checks out in cash. Banks failure misleading the customer. 
I had a Mastercard that the bank used to lower my debt from XXXX to XXXX, without me ever verifying it or using it. It still has the tape over the top you have to peel before using. Illegal. 
Due to the banks failure to verify, confirm collected funds, a officer calling me to give me the green light, and due to negligence, Ive been sent to collections, have a chex systems value to absorb, have not been able to get another bank account, and have sold all my assets such as my XXXX XXXX Ive had since I was XXXX, have had my credit score destroyed, and all my money withheld by the very same bank that took in millions from myself, is not being pro-active on this subject. Pain and suffering. 
I have had accounts hidden, I have been harassed, I am now wondering where XXXX XXXX went in 3 years and will find out since there are so many changed bank statements, so many wired funds to who knows where, the fact that XXXX the bank president was fired, the fact the controller was fired, the fact this smells of XXXX XXXX. 

Ive been asked to present this to you by the media outlets, they gave me the information to get this to you. I hope they are correct in thinking you can help. 
Thank You.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation