Consumer complaint received 2022-08-19
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NC
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem

Complaint:
On Wednesday XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, I attempted to make an online wholesale purchase from a vendor for my business in the amount of {$180.00} ( US ) The purchase was declined due to " suspicious activity ''. Bank of America sent me a text asking if I used card and to reply YES or NO. I replied YES. Response from BoA was " Thank you. If your transaction was declined you'll need to reattempt this charge as the initial transaction never processed ''. I attempted again with no result, so I used another card. 

I also received an email from BoA at XXXX with same message " Suspicious activity '' please call this number ( XXXX ) XXXX. I attempted to call the Bank of America service line and waited 45 minutes with no response. 

At XXXX I received a text from phone number ( XXXX ) XXXX " Give us a call Bank of America security department '' ( sic ) which I did NOT return or reply to. 

At XXXX I received a call from phone number ( XXXX ) XXXX identified as Bank of America which I answered but call was dropped after 10 seconds while I was driving. No information was exchanged At XXXXXXXX XXXX I received a call from same number ( XXXX ) XXXX identifying herself as " XXXX '' from Bank of America calling about my suspicious activity alert. No information was exhanged as call was dropped while driving. 
At XXXX XXXX I placed a call back to above number. Gentleman had my account number ( credit card ) and information about vendor I attempted to place earlier order from ( XXXX ). We discussed at length WHY was my card flagged, he replied it was a " glitch in the system '' when I replied YES to text at XXXX. He knew last 4 of my social security ( I did not give him number ) and cell phone number. He then said my checking account was locked as well along with my debit card. Gentleman represented he was speaking to someone at XXXX XXXX XXXX on side. During the course of conversation, XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( my phone carrier ) texted me at XXXX asking me to provide a PIN number to BoA. At this time, my phone was transferred out of my hands and BoA Gentleman phone call. I received an email saying my phone had been " ported out '' to another carrier. 

At XXXX I received a text from XXXX XXXX XXXX informing me my phone had been transferred to another provider. I attemped to call number listed ( XXXX ) XXXX and was locked out of my account ( they would not acknowledge PIN, email, etc... ) At XXXX I received an email saying my number has been transferred and was no longer associated with my User ID. 

At XXXX received email from Bank of America saying my User ID had been looked up. I immediately forwarded email to " XXXX ''. I received a second email from BoA informing me my password was reset. ( not by me ) Also forwarded email to " XXXX '' At XXXX I received email from Bank of America saying " You're ready to start receiving money using your mobile number '' ( not authorized by me ) At XXXX I rec 'd BoA email saying " You've added XXXX XXXX XXXX '' SEND MONEY ( also forwarded to " XXXX '' ) at XXXX I filed a complaint with Federal Trade Commission Report number : XXXX At XXXX I received email notification of > You sent {$2000.00} to XXXX XXXX sent from account ending in XXXX to XXXX Message : payroll XX/XX/XXXX Immediately forward to XXXX >You sent {$1800.00} to XXXX XXXX sent from account ending in XXXX to XXXX Message : payroll XX/XX/XXXX >You sent {$1800.00} to XXXX XXXX sent from account ending in XXXX to XXXX ( all forwarded to XXXX ) At XXXX >You 've added XXXX XXXX At XXXX >You sent {$1900.00} to XXXX sent from account ending in XXXX to XXXX Message : pay roll >You sent {$1800.00} to XXXX sent from account ending in XXXX to XXXX Message : pay roll XX/XX/XXXX ( forwarded all to XXXX '' ) At XXXX >You 've added XXXX XXXXXXXX At XXXX Your payment to XXXX couldn't be completed >You sent {$2000.00} to XXXX sent from account ending in XXXX to XXXX Message : payroll >You sent {$1900.00} to XXXX sent from account ending in XXXX to XXXX Message : payroll At XXXX >You sent {$1400.00} to XXXX sent from account ending in XXXX to XXXX XXXX All forwarded to XXXX ) During this time I spent 56 minutes on hold with Bank of America Fraud Department waiting for someone to answer . The woman who ( finally ) helped me only closed my credit card account and sent a new one. She could not tell me that my card was declined or why. She said their record said I had replied YES to first text. She then was unable to transfer me to the FRAUD department for business checking. At this point, there were no other withdrawals being made and I was not going to wait another hour on the phone> THURSDAY XX/XX/XXXX : After 2 hrs at XXXX XXXX XXXX  store to restore number to XXXX XXXX XXXX and me, arrived at Bank of America XXXX, NC XXXX. XXXX ( asst manager ) assisted me with calling Fraud Dept. Claims were made about each individual XXXX transaction and account was " frozen '' for withdrawals and given deposit only status. I run an online retail business and need deposit access. I was told a " Credit '' for the {$14000.00} would be applied after 5-10 business days of initial investigation. But was not guaranteed a FULL REFUND of my monies which were obviously stolen. 

FRIDAY XX/XX/XXXX : Bank of America email stating " Your account may have insufficient funds '' and a negative balance of the remaining $ XXXX not hacked. 
Another round of 1hr waiting on hold for Bank of America to pick up and 8 phone calls to XXXX XXXX to speak with XXXX were not answered. 


During this time I was on the

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