Consumer complaint received 2023-06-04
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I was the victim of fraud and my bank, Bank of America has denied my claim. 

This situation occurred on XXXX XXXX, 2023 when I thought that I was speaking to a representative of XXXX and was helping to verify my account and a friend 's account so that she could complete a refund for a purchase. 

After a brief conversation with my friend the " XXXX '' representative ( s ) hacked her phone and was controlling it remotely, he then sent a message from her to me with a " verification '' link. Thinking that it was legitimate I clicked it, as the conversation continued the " representative '' said that he was going to send a prompt to my phone to screen share what he was doing to verify the accounts and process the refund. I became suspicious and tried to text and call my friend from my landline ( I was speaking to the " rep '' on my cell phone ). As I was texting my friend the " representative '' told me to stop pressing keys on my phone or he could not finish the transaction. At this point I realized he could see my phone, then seconds later I realized that not only could see what I was doing, but he had control of my phone and had my Bank of America app open and began to take out a cash advance on my credit card and transfer money with XXXX to a contact that I did not know. I tried to close the app, but I couldn't, I tried to shut my phone off, but I couldn't. He kept pressing keys and I had no control of the phone. 

After a couple minutes I was able to hang up the phone, and then went to the police station to file a report. I then went to my local Bank of America branch to report this in person. I was told I needed to call the bank to report it. I reported and filed a claim with both the credit card division ( for a fraudulent {$5000.00} cash advance, and fee ) and the checking account department for two XXXX transfers for a total of {$3500.00}. I had the credit card closed, and opened a new card. I had the checking account frozen, and transferred my money ( excluding the remaining {$1500.00} ) to a new checking account. I asked BOA to report the XXXX contact as fraudulent and they said they would report the number to the bank it was associated with. I have no written confirmation of this. 

There were then two attempts on the frozen checking account to withdraw money from XXXX. They were declined because the account was frozen, but Bank of America did not notify me or flag this as fraud. I did receive a notification the transaction was declined because of insufficient funds, which does not make sense. 

I sent a copy of the police report for the credit card dispute. I did not immediately send it for the checking account as they did not ask for it, and I ( incorrectly ) assumed the credit card complaint would be forwarded to the same fraud department and they would have access to it. The checking dispute was denied, I have appealed and sent a copy of the police report. The credit card dispute was also denied, and I have also appealed. 

Additionally, I have also filed a fraud report with the FTC.

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