Consumer complaint received 2025-06-12 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MA

Complaint narrative:
I am a victim of a sophisticated scam that started in XX/XX/XXXX. Over the course of one month, I was defrauded for XXXX USD, where I was duped into transferring the funds from my Bank of America and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX accounts to the following beneficiaries : XXXXXXXX and XXXX. The criminals instructed me to make such transfers, misleading me into believing that the funds were being used for the investment opportunity they presented. The purpose of this claim encompasses two key objectives. Firstly, it is intended to establish that a breach of the duty of care has occurred, primarily stemming from multiple exchanges platforms failure to conduct thorough due diligence and/or exercise reasonable and prudent judgment in preventing foreseeable and substantial damages that I have incurred due to fraudulent activities. Secondly, it serves as an official written request for reimbursement, grounded in the reasons mentioned above, among other supporting factors. 

I first came across this investment opportunity through what looked like a legitimate XXXX account for XXXX XXXX. I made initial contact in XX/XX/XXXX and continued talking with him in XX/XX/XXXX. This scammer utilized a fraudulent website named XXXX XXXX. This happened while another scammer named XXXX XXXX reached out to me. He utilized a fraudulent website named XXXX XXXX. Both scams involved exchange platforms like XXXX and XXXX. The companies, XXXX XXXX and XXXX, seemed credible enough to me at first, but both turned out to be fake later. I was promised high returns : {$350000.00} from XXXX XXXX and {$35000.00} from XXXX. Although I did basic research, including checking their websites and customer support, it seemed trustworthy. Thus, I set up my accounts on these crypto platforms and made payments, providing screenshots and messages as requested to scammers. However, despite paying the initial fees, when I refused to pay additional fees ( {$7700.00} and {$3800.00} ), I stopped receiving responses. No returns ever came through. Initially, my credit union blocked these transactions, but Bank of America processed them after I switched. This was a substantial financial blow to my savings. I realised it was a scam when my funds kept being requested without any returns. Financial pressure as a student led me to seek additional income, but instead, it led to a major loss. The time frame for these scams was XXXX XXXX. Additionally, the scammer contacted me via XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, asking for {$50.00} more to release my funds, which I refused, and the scammer has not responded to any of my messages ever since. I provided him with my wallet address so he could send the funds if they were still available, but he asked me to go to the XXXX XXXX and install an app to send him more funds. 

Bitcoin ( BTC ) was used for all the transactions. The funds were transferred using the XXXX and XXXX exchange platforms. Communications were done on XXXX and XXXX. I have the full history of the chats. They are attached to this claim. There were a total of seven transactions sent from my crypto wallet to the scammers. These funds were transferred from my bank accounts ( Bank of America and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) mentioned earlier to my wallet address with exchange platforms ( XXXX  and XXXX ) and then to scammers. There is an XXXX XXXX  with all the information required regarding these transactions. I also attached my bank statements regarding transactions to the exchange platform.

More Details on the fraudulent websites : XXXX : This person claimed to be XXXX XXXX. The scammer was using an XXXX account with XXXX  personal and business data to lure investors. Now the account is not available on XXXX anymore. I sent them about {$30000.00}. They asked me to send them an additional {$7700.00} to have my investment return of {$350000.00} ( from their platform ) sent to my crypto wallet. I refused to send them that XXXX XXXXXXXX. I was constantly being contacted by email and messages to make the deposit. 
Phone Number on XXXX : XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : This person used multiple XXXX accounts, and the name was XXXX XXXX. I have a phone number for him as well. I sent this person about {$1200.00}. They asked me to deposit another {$3800.00} for a trade licensing certificate so that I could withdraw my profit of {$35000.00} from their platform. I did not send the {$3800.00}. I blocked this contact. The scammer contacted me in XX/XX/XXXX and asked for more funds ( {$50.00} ) to release the funds sent him during XXXX and XXXX of XXXX. Please see the uploaded XXXX chat with XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX for this last encounter. 
XXXX Account name : XXXX Phone Numbers on XXXX  : XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX, XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX I did some research on the companies, but unfortunately, I only contacted their customer support via the chat feature on their websites. I was looking to see if they were legit, and the trading plans were real. I also tried to check the website domains, but was not able to detect any red flags. The real XXXX XXXX has a good reputation in the cryptocurrency business. There are multiple files attached from my transaction history from both XXXX and XXXX exchange platforms. I also attached my activity with scammers from both XXXX and XXXX messages. XXXX  activity files are from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX and from XXXX to XXXX of XXXX. 

My banks and exchange platforms were not helpful to me in recovering these funds and even caused me more stress and mental health pressure. This is while Im still a college student and do not have any stable source of income yet. I attached the letters Ive sent to the banks and the exchange platforms. 

Ive started working with XXXX, which is a crypto tracing and investigation service to recover my funds. They provided me with a tracing report of where the funds ended up. This report is attached as well. Ive also contacted my local police force regarding this scam and filed a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center ( IC3 ). They are XXXX  files regarding these interactions as well.

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