Consumer complaint received 2022-04-06
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NH
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: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
I have had this credit card for approximately 7 years with Bank of America. 

On the morning of Thursday XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed these two charges called " ACH PAYMENT REFUND '' that were dated XX/XX/XXXX ( they must have came in overnight ). One was for {$3300.00} and the other was for {$3000.00}. 

I did not initiate either of these transactions and have no idea what they are. My credit card has been in my possession this entire time. I did not lose the card. I do not understand how someone got the information. 

I called the Bank first thing in the morning on XX/XX/XXXX and informed them that these refunds were fraudulent. The first woman I spoke to informed me that these were essentially refunds to payments I made on my card and were sent back to a/my checking account. She was able to give me the Routing number and last four digits of the account number for one of the charges ( the one totaling {$3300.00} ). Those numbers matched my checking account. But she did not give me the information about the other {$3000.00} charge. 

I was then told that there was an issue with their computer system and to open a fraud claim I needed to call back in a couple of hours when they might be resolved. 

I called back in a couple of hours, I told the fraud department that I did not initiate either of these charges, and was then told that they recognized them as fraud but were unable to speak to me about this matter any further and that I needed to go to a Bank of America branch with two forms of ID. 

I was able to secure an appointment for Thursday XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  I entered the bank branch with my driver 's license and passport, and met with someone, and she then called the fraud department with me next to her at the desk. We were told that over the past couple of days, someone had called Bank of America 15+ times, trying to impersonate me trying to get a refund to their checking account. It appears that Bank of America granted the request. I did not see any sort of notification through the app asking me if this was me initiating these transactions. It appears that BofA granted these {$6300.00} worth of fraudulent refunds against my account with extremely minimal concerns as to security and oversight. The bank told me a new card would be issued to me and that they have entered a fraud claim and would investigate this. I was told that if this would not be resolved in 1-3 business days, the bank would notify me. 

Later, on Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, the {$3300.00} showed back up in my checking account ( even though, again, I did not initiate the charge ), but the {$3000.00} is still missing. 

I called again on Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX. I again explained my situation and was told that these fraudulent charges were accepted as fraud and the bank would investigate, and that I would not be liable for any of these payments, or any interest accruing on the amounts. I asked about the existing fraud claim that was opened on the XXXX, and was informed that a claim was not actually opened ( contrary to what I was told ), and the woman I spoke with was going to open one. She told me that because of the type of fraud, it may take up to 45 days to find and refund my {$3000.00}. 

I called again on XX/XX/XXXX and was given the runaround and finally placed on hold. I waited for 25+ minutes and had to return to work so I was forced to hang up. 

At this point, my account is still {$3000.00} higher than it should be, and this person defrauded both myself and Bank of America, and my account is on the hook for these funds. I have spent more than 10 hours trying to get this resolved. 

I have my credit card account set to autopay and I do not have an extra {$3000.00} to pay towards my bill while this is pending. I am afraid of being charged interest on this fraudulent balance and then I will have to go through this entire process again. I do not feel that BofA is putting forth a good faith effort to get this resolved. 

I have extensively searched the CFPB complaint database and have noticed at least 14 other complaints over the past 18 months with the same exact scenario as above. Almost all were resolved with the bank compensating the customer. 

This is a lot of money for me and it's starting to make me nervous.

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