Consumer complaint received 2021-03-23
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: AR
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Improper use of your report
Sub-issue: Credit inquiries on your report that you don't recognize

Complaint:
At approximately XXXX CST, on Monday XX/XX/2021, I received a notification from the XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX app on my XXXX. The notification stated that a hard inquiry was provided to Bank of America. I have not authorized any inquiry, nor have I applied for any new credit cards or loans, nor have I requested a credit increase from Bank of America. I have have not applied for any credit cards or loans backed by Bank of America that may be presented as a branded card ( for example a department store card, or a rent-to-own loan ). 

I immediately followed the steps outlined on myXX/XX/XXXX account dashboard and found that disputing an inquiry must be done over the phone, withXX/XX/XXXX The fruitless call that followed ended with the XX/XX/XXXX dispute center representative stating that no credit pull would be authorized without some type of certification showing that the pull is authorized, therefore, Bank of America must have had authorization and if I have issue with the inquiry on my report, I should contact Bank of America and request an investigation. 

I should also mention that I have not had an account with Bank of America in nearly 20 years. Their help line requested an account number and transferred me multiple times until I finally reached the " Fraud and Security '' department ( this was after several attempts and being disconnected while on hold ). When I reached a human being, they tried to look for any documentation of an application using my personal information, such as my social security number, and found nothing. I was advised to contact XX/XX/XXXXonce again, and when I did, was given the same direction as the first person from their dispute department. 

My second successful call to Bank of America yielded similar results. Because I have no account with Bank of America, there is evidently nowhere to look for an application. I requested to speak with someone from their fraud department. I was told the same again- because I have no account, there is nothing they can do. They did confirm that they could not find any sort of application or request for my credit report. The representative from Bank of America then denied that any inquiry was actually made, and suggested that XX/XX/XXXX was providing inaccurate information. My credit score did decrease immediately following the notification, so to me, it seems to be very real. 

Growing increasingly concerned that my identity had somehow been stolen, and perplexed at how XX/XX/XXXX could insist that Bank of America had received a " hard inquiry '' of my credit report, I'm now left to wonder who can provide me with assistance. I feel that XX/XX/XXXX specifically has failed to protect me, and that Bank of America has failed to exercise due diligence in ensuring there are no fraudulent attempts to steal a person 's identity.

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