Consumer complaint received 2024-12-09 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: TN

Complaint narrative:
Thank you very much for taking the time to review this complaint on my behalf. My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX and I have a checking account with Bank of America ( Account No : XXXX ). I will now explain what occurred which is what led to me making a complaint here. The claim number that Bank of America provided is : XXXX On Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, I was in XXXX, XXXX XXXX visiting an area where I was having a meal at an establishment. It was on this day, that while in the premises my phone was stolen while I was having my meal. The device in question was an XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and it had contained access to my bank apps and other sensitive information. I also had other items stolen, but it was this item that ultimately led to the fraud incident happening. There is a police report that the bank has on file, of which I had submitted on XX/XX/XXXX, which details the nature of the incident extensively. The officer in his report specifically stated that Fraud and Theft had occurred. 

After my device was stolen, there were a multitude of changes that happened to my account, the fraudster had changed all of my contact information through the app, they had deleted payees, added payees, and then deleted my own contact information and then added their own fake contact information which were fraudulent phone numbers. It was after this, that the fraudster then had transferred all of my money out of my other account, into the above checking account as mentioned above. The fraudster through the app on the stolen phone, was able to move {$510000.00} into that checking account. Immediately after that, they had deleted other contact information and added their own information into " Secure Transfer ''. The fraudster then setup a wire transfer online to a payee they added called " XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX ''. All of this activity should have triggered some sort of fraud alert on my account but apparently did not. The fraudster was then able to setup this transfer in a matter of hours, with no verification other than the code that was sent to the phone numbers they had added, which according to an advisor named XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX were what he described as " Voiped Numbers ''. ( XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX ). I then learned that this transfer was successfully sent out on XX/XX/XXXX, with no verification done from the bank, other than relying on what they said was a " Text Message code to the phone numbers that the fraudster had added, IE the voice over IP number. At no point, did the bank ever try to contact the numbers, nor did they even attempt to stop the transfer despite all of the red flags that were everywhere with the transaction, especially with the transaction being nearly every dollar I had across all of my accounts with Bank of America. Plus, the fact that the transfer was for over half a XXXX dollars. Now the next part I will explain, as this involves substantive conversations with the employees from the fraud department who are handling my claim. 

On XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I had tried calling the bank and begging them to assist me with filing a fraud report over the phone with what had occurred. I had tried calling before as well on a few occasions, each of these times they said they could not speak to me and that they required me to attend a branch location with two forms of ID. I had pleaded to them that I was in the XXXX XXXX, and that under the circumstances it would be very difficult for me to fly to a branch as it would be very expensive, and that given the fraud incident this would be hard for me to do as I was nearly out of money. The fraud incident nearly took everything I had, as the transfer was for {$510000.00}. So then, I had to use a credit card to facilitate my flight and hotel costs for me to travel to XXXX, Florida from the XXXX to attend a branch and report the incident. On XX/XX/XXXX, I had gone to a branch in XXXX, Florida with the assistance of banker XXXX XXXX who had assisted me call the wire department and file a fraud report under Regulation E. The associate was very helpful and could not understand how all of this was able to be done via the app and without any sort of formal checks. 

After this point, the fraud report was filed with the claim number XXXX. 
Since this time, I have been calling the fraud department every day, sometimes multiple times a day for updates and information. On XX/XX/XXXX I was informed that the Analyst who is charge of my case left a note on file about the phone numbers that the fraudster used, it was the agent who told me that the note essentially said that the numbers involved were highly consistent with fraud, and that the analysts had discovered that they were " XXXX XXXX XXXX numbers ''. These were the numbers that the fraudster had used to conduct the transfer. I then spoke with XXXX XXXX XXXX on Friday XX/XX/XXXX, at around XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX It was during this call that I learned so much more information, and where he had made several compelling admissions to me about the process involved etc. I will now explain this call in full detail. 

During my call with XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX, he explained that the bank had put in a request to XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX, which received the stolen money. He said there should be a response soon. We then discussed the nature of the entire incident ; he could not believe that this transfer was allowed to happen in the first place and stated that the amount should have triggered some sort of red flag. I then asked XXXX a series of questions as I know that the phone calls are monitored and recorded. I asked XXXX how this was allowed to happen in the first place, I asked him had he been the one to review that transfer, would he have stopped it. He said that he would absolutely have stopped this transfer, as he saw all of the changes that were made to my account, and had said himself that this transfer should not have gone through especially from online. He said that normally, the bank would at least try to make some outreach to the customer via phone call or something, other than just relying on the code, however in my case the fraudster had their own fake numbers to approve the transfer. I then asked XXXX of the person involved had followed the correct rules about the transfer, and I think they were negligent. He said that this would likely be a " Terminable Offense '' as he explained that " Basically, clearly that person didn't follow the appropriate rules, and if the fraudster had spent all the money, that this would be a loss directly out of bank of America 's pockets, and that person from the detection unit could have caused a loss for bank of America of XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX dollars. He said that if that was the case, he is certain that leadership would deal with that person, and I asked him if it was possible for me to make a complaint against that employee for approving the transfer despite all of the red flags that were present throughout the process. He then told me that their leader will review their actions, and they would deal with the person directly, that is when he described " Terminable Offenses ''. A lot of employees who I have spoken with have made admissions that this transfer should not have been approved, and I will if my claim is not resolved, bring legal action against the bank for negligence and use our phone calls as evidence as they were all recorded. My claim still has not been resolved, and they have refused to provide a temporary credit, which is a clear breach of the regulation that deals with these types of fraud incidents. Overall, the entire claim appears to be mismanaged all together for reasons I will explain next. 

After I spoke with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, I had spoken with someone else on the XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. They told me there was a note on the claim, and the note said that " XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX had rejected the recall request, but not because of fraud, but due to not receiving the correct paperwork from Bank of America ''. I was then informed that there was a new batch of paperwork sent to XXXX XXXX, but that they have not responded yet. At this point, I was becoming for frustrated and exhausted with the entire process. I asked for a series of escalations, and I had even requested a hardship review for a temporary credit. Of importance, this was way after the XXXX Business days and the bank had still not provided a credit, even to this day as I write this complaint. I was told that the hardship request would take up to XXXX hours, and that I would get a response. Well, that response never occurred. I never received an answer to my escalation, or to the hardship request. On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with XXXX from Delaware, who was very helpful and tried his absolute best to assist me, knowing my frustration and by this point he could see that I had spoken to over 30 different advisors by this point. He explained to me that all of Bank of America accounts are insured up to {$990000.00} for fraud, and that because of the amount if they did not approve a full temporary credit, they would approve 10 % of the disputed amount based on his experience. He told me that once I get a police report, or a phone report from my XXXX, that would help things move swiftly to conclude my claim. I was also told that my analyst was out of the office from XX/XX/XXXX, - XX/XX/XXXX as she was scheduled to work but was not in the office most days. 

On Monday XX/XX/XXXX, I finally received my police report from the incident. I immediately went to the branch and submitted this report via fax. The report was significant, as it has stated that Fraud and theft occurred, and was very detailed about what had occurred. I figured that this must help bring my case to a swift conclusion, but I was wrong. The Bank have still not been responsive to escalations, and that there's essentially been no update at all. By this point, I have probably spoken to at least over 50 advisors from the fraud wire unit. 

I then spoke with XXXX from Delaware on Friday XX/XX/XXXX, and he was very helpful and polite. He was able to " Ping '' my analyst for the first time, this was the first time that we had been able to contact her, as before this it was impossible to get a hold of her or get any updates. She replied to him the following " Rest Assured, the claim is now with the Legal Department ''. She also told him that any credits would be applied to the account where the fraud and stolen money came out of. I believe her name is XXXX or something similar. XXXX had also asked her if she had read the police report, to which she said she had done. This was business XXXX XXXX of my claim. He said in his experience this was the final stage, and that my claim should " definitely be approved ''. He also emphasized the words to me " Rest assured '' because that is what the analyst wrote to him. Rest assured is term to be positive about a particular outcome and not to worry. I felt better that he had told me this. However, today when I called it feels like we are back at square one. As a result of this entire fraud incident, I have incurred significant expenses, the bank has refused to apply a temporary credit even though the evidence is overwhelming that fraud has occurred, and that the police report confirms the same, as well the original notes from the analyst on XX/XX/XXXX, about the fraudster 's phone numbers. As mentioned above, I even have had advisors confess to me that mistakes have been made, especially with how the transfer was approved in the first place. Refer to XXXX from Arizona 's phone call with me on XX/XX/XXXX. He also told me that the bank had to send a " Hold Harmless '' agreement to XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX 

The fact of the matter is, that the bank has been negligent in allowing the transfer to happen in the first place. It should not have happened, there were red flags everywhere, XXXX even said himself that he would not have approved that wire transfer to be sent had it come across his desk. He said that he would have tried to reach out to the customer, especially for amounts like this. The bank has failed to provide me with a temporary credit, despite already having the police report confirming fraud and theft, and they have been unhelpful all together. There is liability here present with the bank, and I have no doubt that if I begin a civil case, I will absolutely win. I will be relying on the recorded phone calls with bank 's associates as evidence that made admissions about the failures in my case. 

The bank has not concluded my claim at the time of this writing, but if I do not get a conclusion within the next few days, I will begin legal action with the evidence I already have. I am hoping that this complaint will be reviewed by someone within their institution that will understand my concerns raised within my complaint. This fraud incident has caused me significant harm and stress, as well as numerous expenses associated with me having to cut my trip short in the XXXX to fly to a branch as they required me to do. I am very unhappy with the way I and my claim have been treated from the start. The bank already has the evidence they need to prove fraud, so I can not understand what the delay is. As said, I will take legal action if this is not resolved, and I will aggressively pursue such action. Every day that this has dragged on, I have had extended hotel and rental car expenses, because if I return to the XXXX, and if they need me to attend a branch, I will have to fly back. So, I have been staying here local to a branch until the claim is resolved.

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