Consumer complaint received 2024-03-01
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (OR)

During the first week of XXXX I was contacted by a company called XXXX XXXX about an employment opportunity since they reviewed my resume on XXXX  and/or XXXX  websites. They told me my experience and education is right in line for their company 's expansion into the XXXX XXXX  market and wanted me to go through the application/training process. Once I pass the final test, and if I was a chosen candidate, they would fly me to XXXX XXXX XXXX for final training and employment contracts signing at their office at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I agreed and they began sending me daily training materials with the knowledge that I would take a test every Friday to position me with other candidates. In addition, I went through XXXXhree interviews. One was with my training manager XXXX XXXX, the second was with their HR Director XXXX, and a third with another HR representative. I continued the interview process for three weeks I was told I was excelling with the interview process and they were willing to pay me {$400.00} to purchase some office equipment for the XXXX terminal, and that I would not have to provide any personal info, I just needed a credit card to make the purchase. They continued to explain that the equipment was 25-30 % less expensive than in XXXX and it would solidify my employment. They provided an account # XXXX and routing # XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Business Checking account ) to preload my credit card to make the purchase. They went as far as providing a formal purchase order detailing the items required, tax and shipping. They reiterated that once they provide my authorization I can use the account info to transfer funds to my credit card. 
As such, I called Bank of America, the bank for my Alaska VISA Credit Card and discussed the bank transfer procedure and mentioned that I had an account number and routing number. I asked that when they post the payment and show the available credit, that the payment is secured and I can make the required purchases legitimately. The BofA representative said yes, but it may take 48-72 hours. Therefore, I felt confident with BofA, especially since I have been a customer for several years and performed the bank transfer. Within 36 hours Bank of America had posted the payment and provided me with the necessary credit to fulfill the XXXX. Once I confirmed that the funds had been applied to my account and the credit was available, I made the purchase specified on the XXXX. However, at the last minute XXXX XXXX asked me to ship the items to their California branch. ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). The items shipped Friday XX/XX/23. However, on Monday XX/XX/23 Bank of America contacted me to inform me that the transfer was insufficient and that I was responsible for the purchases made at the XXXX XXXX and XXXX. I attempted to contact XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX for an explanation, but the provided contact information was no longer valid. 
I spoke to BofA on over three occasions speaking to different representatives each time even though they said I would be able to talk to the same rep if I call back. On the final contact I spoke with a supervisor and they said they provided the available credit and took the payment at face value since I have been such an outstanding customer and thought I needed the credit as soon as possible. In fact, I would have waited as long as it would have take for BofA to verify the payment as that is their job and I trusted the systems they have in place. I would have never made the purchases if BofA had done their due diligence to verify the payment. I asked BofA if they are aware of this type of scam/fraud and she said yes, but that they have far too many transactions to check every single one, so they are putting the responsibility on me to verify funds. This seems unethical and unreasonable. As a result, my account has been suspended and my credit limit was surpassed, and I'm not sure what this will do to my excellent credit rating. This has created a hardship with an additional $ XXXX monthly payment plus interest. I have already contacted all three credit bureaus and have saved all emails, documents and receipts from this incident. I did as much due diligence as possible prior to involving myself with the fraudulent company, in fact I asked friends and family to check out the company 's website and provide their opinion. However, with all the investigative work I performed I was robbed. This scam is extremely detailed, thorough and as the bank mentioned, the scammers are taking advantage of the credit card processes in place. How can a bank hold my paychecks for days to verify funds being deposited without allowing me to access the deposit, but they will provide credit without doing the proper verification process and then place the blame on me by making me the responsible party for using the bank provided credit. It is as if I was scammed/robbed twice.