Consumer complaint received 2024-05-23 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
I had been the victim of identity theft through a security breach at my employer, XXXX XXXX XXXX in California, and learned my direct deposit information had been compromised. I called the Bank of America on XXXX XXXX and requested a call back from a fraud representative, and received a call later that morning from " XXXX '' who said he would be assisting me. His instructions included withdrawing my money from both my checking and savings accounts and handing over the cash temporarily to representatives who would then return it when my accounts had been secured. That did not happen. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I filed a fraud complaint with the Bank of America about this incident and was told to wait 6 weeks for investigators to handle the complaint- the agent gave me a case number and said I would be informed in writing of the result. 
When I did not hear from the bank, I called on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to " XXXX '' - she said she could not give me details other than to say the case had been closed and that it was not the bank policy to notify customers of the results. She assured me, however, a fraud agent would call me and explain the situation. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a phone call from " XXXX, '' who said he would be assisting me. He at first did not provide details about what happened, but finally stated that my complaint had been treated as a " scam '' and not bank fraud. He said that the bank has signs and notices on its website and in its branch locations that customers should not accept calls from individuals who claim to be representatives, as the bank does not call customers. 
I told him repeatedly that I had gone through the bank 's own automated system to request a call back, and then had received XXXX from XXXX. In the same way, I told him that I had received a call back from XXXX. XXXX did not seem to understand. He said that there was no one named XXXX who worked in the fraud department ; he also stated that I was most likely not telling the truth, because cash was withdrawn and handed to a representative, and I could actually still be holding the cash myself and inventing the complaint about bank fraud. 
After allegedly looking at the phone/communication records from XXXX, XXXX stated that there had been a call or text sent from the bank to me with a code in order to set up another line of communication - I told XXXX that it had been XXXX who had sent me that code, and if there was no one named XXXX working in the fraud section, from whom did the code come? XXXX then changed the subject. 
I told XXXX that I had filed a complaint with law enforcement as well as with the Federal Trade Commission, and that I felt the bank itself was ignoring this because someone from within the bank had taken advantage of my compromised financial information through the data breach to induce me to drain my accounts- I felt violated. 
XXXX assured me that the bank wanted to assist in any way with law enforcement investigating this, and he said that he would check with his superiors to see if I could go to a local branch and ask the manager to write a letter about the fraud. He said the bank itself does not do this. He stated he would let me know what the bank would provide.

It has been nearly three weeks, and I have heard nothing. 
My cash was taken by an agent of the bank who defrauded me, and it does not seem like the bank has any desire to be forthright in handling what happened. It seems that they prefer to assume that I am fabricating this incident- I am not. 
I have filed complaints with the agencies I feel empowered to assist me, and I have also submitted documents of transactions, etc., with XXXX, the company handling the security breach at XXXX XXXX XXXX.

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