Consumer complaint received 2017-01-27
Product: Bank account or service — Other bank product/service
Issue: Using a debit or ATM card — 
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (CA)

On XX/XX/XXXX, a friend and I ( XXXX XXXX-year-old XXXX vets ) travel ed to downtown XXXX XXXX for the XXXX parade. It was a very busy, crowded experience. During this time, we navigated through with a wheelchair filled with my back, extra jackets, food, etc. in the seat of the chair while we held on to the arms in the rear. At some point, I used an ATM machine to withdraw cash. Even th ough I do take steps to guard my PIN, I get my body as close to the pad as I can, shield the pad with my left hand while entering the code. I believe this is when my PIN could have been sto len was st olen ( perhaps shoulder surfing, bandit ATM 's, etc. ). I then put my card in my wallet and the wallet in my back pack. It doesn ' t seem a great stretch of imagination that an enterpr ising thief, after getting my pin, could have followed us until there was an opport unity to snatch my backpack, thus having my card and my PIN. 
I did not even notice the loss until sometime later and even more time until I remembered that my wallet was in the pack. On the XXXX, I checked my bank account and it seemed fine. However, it was a federal holiday so the banks were closed and I could not report the loss. On the XXXX, checking my account, again, I was aghast at the charges that I saw. Even worse, these charges were in areas that are I consider dangerous parts of town where I would not frequent or shop.My spending history will bear that out. In addition, the sheer number of purchases made along with the locati ons should have been sufficient for the bank to block my account until they could verify the expenses. They have done so in the past regarding routine charges so it is a shock that they were not watching the account more closely. 
In the process of filing this claim ( for some reason, the bank reports thi s as t XXXX claims even though they were clearly only XXXX ), the bank gave me a temporary credit for part of what had been done fr audulently. I complied with their paperwork requests, including filing a Police report. When I filed that report, the officer told me on the phone that the informat ion that the bank wanted would be included in their report and it would be mailed to me. They do not have procedures for getting it any other way. The process could take up to two weeks. I told the bank this and that same day, the report came in the mail. I sent it to the bank the same day. The Post Office has verified that my certified, return receipt had been delivered to them on XX/XX/XXXX. Earlier, I had been told that a Police report was a substantial part of the investigation process. On that day, I received two letters, dated XX/XX/XXXX that my claim was denied because the PIN was used. The decision had been made before this import ant piece of informatio n could have been considered. The lett er informed me that the temporary credit would be debited from my account on XX/XX/XXXX. So, th ey very day I informed them that more paperwork was coming, they made this decision. 
Since I live on XXXX, the loss of these funds puts me in dire straits. If this debit is made, I will have problems paying my bills. It is imperative that the issues are resolved more favorably before that step is taken. 
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