Consumer complaint received 2023-08-23
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem accessing account

Complaint:
1. I have been a reputable consumer of Bank of America for almost two decades. 
2. Right after I filed a complaint against a bank employee named XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/2023 my account has been blocked as an act of personal revenge and abuse of power. If there was any suspicious activity in my account the bank should have referred to me and should have asked me if I recognize the suspicious activity. However, nothing of this sort has happened. Conversely, my account was blocked immediately and no communication has been made to me. Since that day I have been denied access to my account on online banking, mobile app, and all phone representatives have denied me access as well. 
3. Since then, and for more than a month, I made dozens of telephone calls in order to get access to my account and to urge the bank to take action and rectify its behavior, for no avail. 
4. In all such calls, the bank representatives asked to authenticate me using a single method - sending a text message to a phone number which I reported many years ago that is no longer mine. Over the years I have reported this information about my phone number dozens of times to the bank, including at least three times in person - twice in XXXX and once in XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. I have been promised that the phone humber has been removed from my profile and the bank will never ask me again about it. This was not true. The bank decided to make this number the ONLY (!! ) method to authenticate me. 
5. Because I live outside of the USA I do not have the option of visiting a financial center of Bank of America, which makes the ability to effectively authenticate me remotely crucial. 
6. In my calls I insisted that Bank of America rectifies its misbehavior in two ways : ( i ) by looking at the underlying ( false ) reason for blocking my account ; and ( ii ) by allowing me access to my account in a method that is different from the phone number which I reported the bank that I no longer have. The bank has consistently failed to take any action to correct its fundamental mistakes. The last call was made today, XX/XX/XXXXXXXX, and I communicated this information to a supervisor named XXXX, employee number XXXX 
7. Despite blocking my account the bank has recently received a wire transfer into my account in an amount of XXXX USD, making things worse, and holding more of my money without allowing me access. 
8. By performing the above series acts of misconduct the bank has breached four basic duties : ( i ) by blocking my account as a personal revenge the bank abused its power against me. No system of internal control detected anything, and no system of internal controls has responded to all the red flags that I raised in dozens of conversations with the bank employees ; ( ii ) by sending security codes to a person which it knows is not me it knowingly compromised my account security ; ( iii ) by not allowing me access to my money the bank has violated its basic duty to allow its customers access to their money ; and ( iv ) perhaps the worst of all - all my numerous inquiries, dozens of calls, long hours of conversations, have been encountered with rude representatives, who hung up on me once I detailed the facts above, and who have consistently failed to take any single action to correct any of the acts of misbehavior that the bank consistently and pervasively conducted.

9. This scandal exposes deep, comprehensive and systemic weaknesses in the bank 's system of internal controls, abuse of power, lack of the slightest ability to fix serious mistakes, and overall complete disregard of its duties to its customers. Under such extreme circumstances Bank of America should not be allowed to continue to provide commercial banking services.

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