Consumer complaint received 2022-09-25
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: WA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
On XX/XX/22, I received a text message asking if I attempted to transfer XXXX dollars from my Bank of America ( BOA ) checking account through XXXX. I have received notifications from BOA that had prevented fraudulent activity in the past. I responded no to the message. I received an additional text stating that a representative from BOA would be contacting me shortly. Moments later, I received a phone call and my caller id said BOA, which I have saved in my phone. The individual immediately told me that he was a BOA XXXX XXXX  He also told me that my bank account was compromised but the XXXX transfer spoken of was suspended. 

He said that a XXXX transaction was attempted on my behalf but was suspended due to the amount. However, that the transaction was still going to be processed by the end of the day. I fully believed that my account had been compromised. Earlier this year I had fraudulent activity on both my debit card and credit card, so I believed what he was telling me to be true. The individual stated that I needed to transfer the money to a dummy XXXX account to prevent the funds from being lost. I began to question his legitimacy. He continued to assure me that he worked for BOA and my funds were going to be lost if I didnt act quickly. 

He proceeded to tell me that his BOA XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX was going to return my funds once I established a new account. I started to panic and the man I was speaking to could tell. I did not want to lose XXXX dollars. My wife was unemployed during this time, and I couldnt risk such a detrimental loss. I was worried about us meeting our financial obligations. I didnt want us to lose everything we worked so hard for. The man I was talking to kept reassuring me about his legitimacy. He helped me with the XXXX transaction process because I had no clue what I was doing. I completed the transfer and the person I was talking with hung up on me immediately. I then came to the realization that this was a scam and I had been tricked out of XXXX dollars. Prior to this date I had no knowledge on how XXXX worked or that a transfer scam existed. I was induced into sending my money to a total stranger. 

I immediately called the BOA fraud line and told them that I had been scammed on XXXX. A claim had been opened and an investigation was started. I was told that it could take up to 45 days to be completed. I recently received my decision in the mail from BOA. BOA stated that they were unable to approve my claim because no error occurred on their end. BOA just wrote my victimization off as a legitimate transfer even though I told them I was scammed out of XXXX dollars. BOA was also unsuccessful in retrieving my funds from XXXX. BOAs responses were very scripted, and I believe that they made little to no effort to act on my behalf. The bank went as far as telling me to reach out to XXXX. I dont want to cause any more damage to my financial stability. I have no intention of reaching out to this person. I dont know this person at all or if they even exist. The only thing I do know is this individual is affiliated with a transfer scam ring. 

I dont understand why BOA is unable to reimburse me for my financial loss. I should be protected by the Electronic Funds Transfer Act under regulation E. I was clearly induced into sending the money and taken advantage of due to my ignorance toward XXXX. If I had prior knowledge on how XXXX worked and its scams, I would have never responded to the text in the first place. The bank ignored that I only have one XXXX transfer in my account history and that should have been a red flag. I dont understand why BOA knows that XXXX scams are a major issue but are left unchecked. This whole experience has left a bad taste in my mouth that probably will never go away. I am sadden that many people like myself have been scammed out of thousands of dollars through XXXX. I also dont understand why the major banks continue to provide XXXX and offer no immediate protections if a scam occurs. 

I am hoping that my complaint is taken seriously. At this point I just want some unscripted answers so I could leave this whole situation in the past and move on. If by some miracle I get my money back, I would be very grateful. I will make any attempt to provide additional information that maybe required. I also want to mention that I filed a complaint on XXXX but havent received any responses back from them. 
Thank you for your time,

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