Consumer complaint received 2019-12-14
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: IL
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: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
My Bank of America credit card was used for 2 fraudulent purchases on XX/XX/2019 : One at a XXXX for {$1000.00} and one at XXXX for {$430.00}. These purchases were not made by me and I have no knowledge of who made them. Bank of America has rejected my fraud claim on the grounds that an EMV chip was used and therefore the physical card was used for the purchase. This reason for rejection is illogical and invalid as I have informed Bank of America on multiple occasions that I have a missing credit card both before and after the fraudulent transactions occurred. Events are as follows : ~XX/XX/XXXX : I applied for and was approved for a new credit card with Bank of America ~XX/XX/XXXX : I call  Bank of America and inform them I have not received my credit card. They ask me if the card was lost or stolen and I respond by stating that the only information I have is that I have not received it. They say the will send me a new card expedited with the same account number. Phone records show me calling Bank of America on this date. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I receive the replacement card via XXXX and activate the new card. I have still not received the original card. 

XX/XX/XXXX : At XXXX XXXX CT I receive an email from Bank of America entitled Security Alert : Unusual Credit Card Activity Detected. At XXXX XXXX CT I receive a voicemail from the fraud department asking me to call them back. I did not receive these immediately as I was at work. After checking my account, I notice the mentioned fraudulent charges. At XXXX CT, I place a call to Bank of America confirming that the charges are indeed fraudulent. During the call, the agent even states to me that an individual identifying himself as me, but calling from a different number, had called Bank of America earlier in the day to remove the fraud alert but was rejected. They ask me if I know how the fraud could have occurred and I explained the same as I have explained here. I.E. That 2 copies of my card were sent by Bank of America and I only received one of them, meaning the missing card could have been intercepted and used. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Three fraudulent credit card applications are placed in my name with other banks. This is not directly related to Bank of America but I mention it as I believe it was committed by the same perpetrator. I have contacted the Credit Bureaus and respective banks to report the frauds. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I am informed that Bank of America has rejected my fraud claim on the grounds that an EMV chip was used for the transaction. This reason for rejection is invalid as I have a missing card as I had already explained to Bank of America representatives on both ~XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. 

I have Informed Delivery with the USPS and the original card never appears there indicating that it did not even make it to the point where the Informed Delivery images are taken let alone make it to my mailbox. 

I have been a Bank of America customer for a decade and am absolutely dismayed at their handling of this issue.

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