Consumer complaint received 2023-04-13
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I was selling an item on XXXX XXXX when an individual told me they were keen on purchasing my item and would collect later that day, as they were busy they were keen to make the payment so their 'husband ' could collect later that day and so I didn't sell to someone else. The individual asked for my email address so they could XXXX me the funds. I agreed- but did not feel comfortable as despite having XXXX associated with my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, I had only used this service once as a test and was not overly familiar with how it is used. It also took several business days for the funds to show on our accounts. BoA had also provided little to no advice on how to use XXXX when I joined them as a customer in 2022. 

After various back and forths the individual had notified me that they had received a bounce back email, and that I also should have, from XXXX that highlights that a sale transaction could not be completed as this required a business account. I did in fact receive an email that appeared to be XXXX and even had similar domain name. The email stated that first business account transactions required a minimum amount, which indicated that the buyer would have to overpay and me refund them the distance. Unfortunately and stupidly I did do this - thinking I was refunding them the amount. When making the transaction I did not receive a warning from XXXX. I immediately sensed something was wrong and rang Bank of America straight away and asked if the payment could be reversed as it was still 'processing ' in my account. Unfortunately they told me they could not do so. They notified me via email 9 days later that my claim was unsuccessful and they would try out of 'courtesy ' to locate my funds to the recipient bank - and that I would hear back within 60 working days. 

I relocated to the XXXX from the XXXX in 2022 and so am used to instant bank transfers that show as soon as a transaction has taken place. I am not used to bank transactions taking several days to process, unfortunately this was a factor that made me give the scammer the benefit of the doubt that they had sent the money. I feel Bank of America has really let down consumers protection with regards to the XXXX within the BoA app with very little education material on how this process works. I am bitterly disappointed that despite the transaction taking days to process - for some reason this can not be reversed?! When conducting their investigation Bank of America never asked for any evidence at all to aid their decision and this was all conducted orally- which leads me to think how can the bank be judging this in a professional unbiased manner? I also was fooled by the authenticity of the email I received and so with this fear greatly for the security of banking in the future with undoubtedly more sophisticated scams taking place in the future through mimicking someone/AI. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I certainly will look to stop banking with Bank of America if they can not resolve this.

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