Consumer complaint received 2021-05-18
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX Bank Account Takeover On XX/XX/XXXX I was a victim of a fraudulent website caused by an XXXX data breach. I went online to check my Bank of America ( BOFA ) checking account ending in XXXX. As I checked my order from XXXX of {$39.00} I discovered another charge from XXXX XXXX for {$1.00}. So I went online to get XXXX XXXX number. The website showed me a number XXXX. I called that number and asked, Who am I speaking with? He said, XXXX. I asked. Are you with XXXX? He said, Yes. I proceeded to tell him about the {$1.00} amount on my order. He said, OK we will take care of it for you. Let me pull up your information. Then he said, Let me transfer you to the next person. 
After I was transferred I asked who I was speaking with. He said, XXXX. XXXX asked me to speak with you about the dispute. I told him, You are taking money from my XXXX account. Then I repeated the same statement to XXXX that I had spoken with XXXX about. The line went silent so I asked, Are you still there? Someone else came on the line and said, We are trying to figure out why you were charged extra. I asked, Who am I speaking with? He spoke with a foreign accent saying, My name is XXXX. Then the call dropped. Then I got a call from XXXX. I answered the call and the person said, This is XXXX. Sorry, we are still working on that charge. I see you have more than one account. Are you sure it didnt come from the XXXX account? I do not know how they knew that since I did not give them my bank account logon or password. I told him, I am not talking about that account. Very seldom do I use that account. He said, I dont see anything that was charged on XXXX. Then he said, In order to place that money back in your account we will have to XXXX a {$1.00} someone you know. He asked me if I had XXXX on my phone. I said, No. Then he said, If you know someone with XXXX then we will XXXX them a {$1.00}. Then we will XXXX  the {$1.00} and the {$1.00} back to your account. I said, I know my daughter XXXX has XXXX on her phone so I gave him her number so he could XXXX her that dollar. I called XXXX at that time and found out he was talking with her already. She said it was OK to XXXX her XXXX dollar. 
Then BOFA called me on my landline, but I missed the call. I called back and got a recording saying the next person will be with you shortly. XXXX was still on my cell waiting for me to finish my landline call. I was on hold with BOFA for such a long time with the recording repeating itself that eventually I hung up. While I was talking with XXXX a notice flashed on my cell phone from BOFA asking me if I was using XXXX to send {$3000.00} to XXXX. I asked XXXX to hold on because I am getting a message from Bank of America. He said, We are trying to get your money resolved. Dont answer the phone. I ignored him and brought up the text message from BOFA. Eventually I hung up on XXXX telling him, You havent resolved my problem. 
Later I called BOFA back on the last number on my landline. Because of the three hour time difference BOFA was closed. XXXX called me and because she saw {$9000.00} was XXXX to her from me. At that time they had XXXX the {$9000.00} back out of her account plus {$2900.00} personal funds out of her account. When she cried, Youre taking my money. Put my money back? he said, Ha! Ha! Do you think so? 

Meanwhile they used XXXX to send someone by the name of XXXX {$3000.00} out of the money they had taken out of my BOFA account. Apparently they had access to my contact list in my cell phone. They called two people without my permission from my contact list. One contacts name was XXXX XXXX. He called me and asked, Did you try to send me some money through XXXX? I told him, No, I dont know who that is. The other contact was XXXX XXXX. He called me and left a message saying, " This is XXXX XXXX. Then he texted me asking me if I was trying to get in touch with him. Apparently they were using his number as well. Then XXXX called me and confirmed they had taken {$2900.00} from her Regions bank account. I told XXXX there is nothing I can do until tomorrow morning. 
The next morning XX/XX/XXXX I called Bank of America and after they transferred me to the fraud department. I explained the problem. The claims department began to process my claim. They advised me not to use my cell phone for any business because the scammers have all the information that is on my cell phone. They also advised me to unplug my router. I was instructed to go to the nearest BOFA branch. When I went to the bank they issued me new bank accounts and a new credit card. While I was in the bank I informed XXXX the relationship XXXX about the amount of money they had taken out of my daughter XXXX account. She had told me everything was in the red. I told him I wanted to wire XXXX some money, but did not have her bank account number nor and router number. 
On the morning of XX/XX/XXXX I went back to the bank with Latonyas bank and router number and transferred {$4000.00} to her bank. Then my fianc XXXX and I got together and he found that both XXXX and XXXX applications had been installed on my cell phone without my knowledge. We uninstalled both. There were several other messages regarding the scam on my phone. We then went to XXXX our Internet provider and exchanged the compromised router for a new XXXX. XXXX advised me to get XXXX. Since I have a credit card with AAA I contacted them. They transferred me to their Experian representative who set me up with ProtectMyID. They advised me to contact the other two credit agencies Transunion and Equifax. We informed those credit agencies of what happened and we placed a credit freeze on each one. I also submitted a special claim with XXXX. Next I called Social Security to let them know someone had hacked my account and to reroute my check to my new BOFA bank account. Meanwhile someone had applied for a XXXX credit card in my name and on XX/XX/XXXX I received the card in my mail. I immediately wrote scam on the card and returned it back to the sender. Regarding this fraud I just heard this week on the channel 4 News about computer fraud regarding XXXX XXXX. It advised not to let anyone take over your electronic devices because they were stealing information unknown to the person. I went online to see if there were any data breaches for XXXX and found this article : XXXX XXXX alleged XXXX and XXXX account details sold online https : XXXX Based on this today I became a client of XXXX XXXX. 



PS. This is a comment from another victim of the XXXX data breach : XXXX XXXX 1 month ago On Sunday XX/XX/XXXX my XXXX account was attacked by bad actors that went on a $ $ $ shopping spree. XXXX failed to protect my encrypted payment data and allowed criminals to acquire all kinds of expensive garbage. From Florida, to Kentucky and Minnesota. I immediately called both XXXX and my bank. My bank was extremely helpful, but XXXX is treating me, a customer since XXXX. Yes, XXXX with disdain and are demanding that I pay for stolen items. Someone at XXXX needs to know what their customer service reps are doing to loyal customers. Does anyone know how to contact XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX successor )? We are done with XXXX, and we spend a ton of money on their site. I just bought a XXXX {$900.00} robotic pool cleaner. I have already found better prices on office supplies at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
If XXXX wants a little war, theyve found the right guy.

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