Consumer complaint received 2022-08-29
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: SC
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
Wire Fraud Incident Report Claim # XXXX Bank of America XXXX XXXX XXXX Customer for 31 years Wire Fraud Victim The following is what happened day to day : Tuesday XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX I, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX on my Laptop when all of a sudden multiple screens starting popping up on my laptop with loud volume commands not to cut off my lap top and to contact XXXX. There was a phone number posted and I called that number. That person identified herself as XXXX XXXX and even gave me her badge number XXXX and that she was located in XXXX office of XXXX. She even directed me to the XXXX Website to show me that XXXX was indeed an office location. She went on to say that my XXXX address had been compromised and that this was a serious problem but they could fix the problem..she said it might take some timeprobably overnight but that they could restore my computer. She did not ask for a fee. 
She than asked me if I banked on line and who I banked with. I told her Bank of America. She than asked me to check my account on line to see that every thing was ok. I did that. And when I did I saw that {$14000.00} had been withdrawn from my savings. Almost everything I had. I told XXXX about that and she recommended that I get in touch with the Fraud Department of Bank of AmericaXXXX and that she could put me straight through to that office. 
She put me on hold and than the phone began to ring and a man who identified himself as XXXX XXXX with Bank of America Fraud Division. 
He said he could help me but that he would have to speak with his supervisor about everything and that he would get back to me the next morning. He even gave me a badge number. He also gave me a direct line to him ( he said for security reasons ) That number was XXXX. He assured me that they could recover my savings but it might take a few days. He asked me to call him the next morning ( XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ) about XXXX XXXX and I did. 
XXXX XX/XX/XXXX- I called XXXX as instructed and he told me that to recover my savings I would need to go to a branch bank and wire the same amount {$14000.00} to a person. He said that by doing this I was helping Bank of America catch these scammers and it would also insure me of getting my money back. When I told him that per my online banking screen that I no longer had that much money to wirehe said not to worry that they were going cover that wire with the banks money and that I would get my money back within a day or 2 at the most. He gave me the instructions. I went to the branch and following his instructions wired the money to a person by the name of XXXX XXXX to a XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX even insisted that I get a receipt and than asked me to take a picture of that receipt and send it to him. I did as instructed. He said he would update me the next day by XXXX XXXX 
Thursday XX/XX/XXXX When I did not hear from XXXX by XXXX XXXX I called the number he gave me. It was now a non-working number. I than tried to call XXXX XXXX at XXXX in XXXX and found out she did not exist there. I had been scammed and robbed of my lifes savings. 
I immediately reached out to Bank of America and they put me through to the real Fraud Division where I reported everything that happened. The said they would attempt to put a hold on the transfer but would not guarantee anything. 

Conclusion : These scammers were able to penetrate my savings screen with a screen that indicated that {$14000.00} had been withdrawn on XX/XX/26 from my savings account. Therefore, I hold Bank of America responsible for this security breach in to my account. It is perfectly reasonable for me as a customer to rely on what the savings screen indicated. I know now that the money was still in my account but that was not the indication on my screen. I feel very strongly that Bank of AmericaXXXX should credit my saving account for {$14000.00} as soon as possible. Their security was breached and caused me to believe that the money had been withdrawn. 

If Bank of America does not reimburse me within a reasonable amount of time ( 1 week ) than I will forced to do the following : 1. Go on National television and tell what happened so that this does not happen to someone else. Unfortunately, this would reflect on BofAs Security and would not be could PR for the company. 
2. File a law suit in Federal Court and ask for a jury trial.

3. It is very important for the BofA Fraud Division to know that this issue is not just going to be another case that they can ignore or put on the shelf. I feel very strongly about Bank of Americas culpability here and this is my Life Savings! I would have never proceeded with what I was asked to do had it not been for the Scammers screen they we able to up on my savings account. 
I have reported this incident to the FBI. 

Please take care of this as soon as possible. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

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