Consumer complaint received 2024-09-09
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (NY)

XXXX XXXX : I received a templated text from Bank of America saying my debit card had been used and declined at XXXX and asking if i authorized the activity. I replied no and got another response saying a BofA rep would be in touch shortly. 

Perpetrator introduced himself as XXXX XXXX from the Bank of America Fraud Department and asked whether I recognized the transaction of {$1500.00} to XXXX, I said no. He then told me someone had tried to wire {$30000.00} from my savings account, said it was XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. They had my attention. I said I did not recognize either transaction. He said not to worry and that his team would help me resolve all of this and protect my account from future fraud. He said he would call back via XXXX to guide me through next steps. On this XXXX video call they asked me to share my screen so they could guide me through steps to secure my account. This included a wire transfers, case numbers, cancellation numbers. They said not to login to my account while they were working on fixing everything, and said a new card would be expedited to me the following day. They asked if I would be around to sign for the new card and I provided my mailing address. While we were on shared screen they told me to go into my settings and for security purposes I was told to activate the Call Forwarding option. My calls were to be forwarded to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I was told there had been more suspicious transactions that they were looking into, and to stay out of my account while they were working hard on resolving everything. They said they would need to give me a call the following morning ( XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX ) to finalize the process. 

XXXX XXXXXXXX : On this call I was told that a new account would be opened to protect me from more fraud on this account. They also asked for my CC number, expiration date, and security code, which I provided. They asked for my debit card information but I did not have it on me so I did not provide that. They asked if I suspected fraud on any other bank account and I said no. At this point I could not believe how long this was all taking and was exasperated/ wanted to get it over with. Two transfers were made that morning. # 1 was from my savings account to my checking account and # 2 was from my checking account to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. It was all framed as protecting my funds/ emptying this account with the assurance that all my funds would be relocated to my new, safe, BofA account.

I received an official notification that my Bank of America balance had dropped under {$200.00} so gave them a call back, worried. They assured me that this was part of the process of transferring my funds to the new account and that everything would be resolved by end of day. Later that day i called back to check in on my new card 's delivery/ on everything. I was starting to feel a bit suspicious. My call rang once and then my number was blocked. I immediately called Bank of America 's ( actual ) fraud department. They emptied my entire bank account. 
Aftermath : I called Bank of America and went to their in person branch. I filed three claims ( one of which has already been rejected ). They said they would try their best but have no guarantee for scam cases. I filed a police report. The chances of me getting any money back do not seem promising and I was robbed of all my savings/my personal account fully liquidated. I am XXXX XXXX XXXX I like in XXXX, I am a XXXX XXXX This is a nightmare.