Consumer complaint received 2018-07-03
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: FL
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: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
Dear Sir or Madam : On XX/XX/XXXX, my credit card company Bank of America sent me a text message alerting me to suspicious charges to my account. I logged on to my account and found that ten charges were made to my account from XXXX XXXX   ranging from {$4.00} to {$99.00} on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX for cash for an app. I selected these as fraudulent. Please see the file labeled fraud claim.

XX/XX/XXXX-  {$4.00} XX/XX/XXXX- {$9.00} XX/XX/XXXX- {$99.00} XX/XX/XXXX- {$99.00} XX/XX/XXXX- {$74.00} XX/XX/XXXX-  {$99.00} XX/XX/XXXX- {$49.00} XX/XX/XXXX- {$99.00} XX/XX/XXXX- {$99.00} XX/XX/XXXX- {$99.00} My XXXX XXXX   account was hacked because I never authorized these charges for the game. While my child plays this game, he can only purchase items with my permission. I have parental controls on his smart phone preventing him from making purchases without my permission. To purchase anything, he must get my permission which entails me inputting in my password. I then get an email from XXXX XXXX confirming the purchase. Over this two-day period, I never input my password for purchases into my childs smart phone ( he doesnt know my password ), and I never received an email from XXXX XXXX confirming the purchase. Once I canceled my credit card, I received emails from XXXX XXXX stating that purchases did not go through on XX/XX/XXXX. The person was still attempting to purchase items with my card number. I received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX stating " we're researched your claim and issued a credit ( s ) to your account for the fraudulent charges ( please see XX/XX/XXXX letter ). I confirmed this by checking my account online and finding all ten charges were credited back to my account. OnXX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from Bank of America stating after a review of details you provided, weve determined that no fraud has occurred. As a result, youll be responsible for the balance on the account in accordance with your Account Agreement ( please see XX/XX/XXXX letter ). The bank never contacted me asking for details. The only action I took was checking these charges as fraudulent on my online account.

I spoke with a representative from the banks fraud department and was told that since I bought items from XXXX XXXX  in the past, the bank determined that I made the charges. I have purchased items from XXXX XXXX in the past, but never ten over a three-day period that totaled over {$800.00}. ( This logic suggests that if my credit card was stolen and the person made charges at XXXX ( where I shop ), I would be responsible for these charges. ) In order to have the charges credited back to my account, I had to provide proof that I didnt make the charges.

Thus, I contacted XXXX XXXX who informed me that I had to contact the app developer XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX  informed me that I had to contact XXXX XXXX. After online chatting with both companies and getting nowhere, I asked for XXXX XXXX to determine where the XXXX XXXX that was purchased with my credit card was deposited. They were unable to do that. I have attached a copy of my email correspondence. XXXX XXXX   stated that they were unable to help me with the charges because I was contacting them more than 60 days after the fraudulent charges were made. Since I didnt meet their policy, they couldnt do anything about them.

I contacted Bank of America the week of XX/XX/XXXX and explained the situation with XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX. I asked for my claim to be reviewed again. The person I spoke with noticed that there was an eleventh charge made on XX/XX/XXXX that I failed to select as fraudulent. She added that one to my claim. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from Bank of America stating, weve researched your claim and issued a credit ( s ) to your account for the fraudulent charge ( s ) ( see XX/XX/XXXX letter ). One charge of {$99.00} was credited back to my account on XX/XX/XXXX. The remaining ten charges were not.

On XX/XX/2018 at XXXX ET, I spoke with a representative from the fraud department ( XXXX  from Delaware ) to ask why only one charge was credited back to my account. She stated that she didnt understand why and opened my claim again.

On XX/XX/2018, I received a letter from Bank of America stating, our decision hasnt changed to the original claim of ten fraudulent charges ( see XX/XX/2018 letter ).

Im requesting your assistance with this claim because my efforts to work with Bank of America have failed. I believe my complaint against Bank of America is valid because of the following points : Bank of America contacted me via text about the fraudulent charges.

I did not make the charges because of the parental controls set on my childs smart phone.

I have never charged this much to XXXX XXXX in my purchase history.

XXXX XXXX has locked my account because we closed your account after we noticed potentially suspicious activity, such as unusual transactions or access from a new location.

One fraudulent charge ( {$99.00} ) was credited back, but the other ten charges made during that time were not.

Due to Bank of America re-opening my claim up two months after I filed it ( and thought was resolved ), any assistance from XXXX XXXX was not possible due to not meeting their policy.

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