Consumer complaint received 2025-10-22 00:00:00
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
State: IL

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, I was a victim of a scam involving credit card fraud in XXXX. XXXX men impersonated working for a charity asked me for money. I tapped on a {$10.00} transaction for a merchant name that did not match my statement. I asked the men for a receipt, and they did not give me one. XXXX man took my phone from my hand saying that I needed to access a website to get a receipt. While he had my phone, he texted back the fraud alert for a {$5000.00} transaction then deleted it so I did not see it until that night. They distracted me by asking me to sign my signature and write my name down while he did it. Somehow, they ran up {$40000.00} in additional charges within XXXX minutes on my card. I did not receive a fraud alert from Bank of America for any of these subsequent charges. These charges took me over my credit limit of {$28000.00} ( {$2000.00} already extended ) by {$19000.00}. There is an active police report for this incident. 

I called and submitted my fraud claim to Bank of America on XXXX XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXX to a fraud representative named XXXX. I was still shook up after being a victim of a crime, but I communicated the key points of this story to the fraud representative. I included the police report number, I explained that my phone was not in my possession when the text was sent, that they distracted me and asked me to sign papers while they had my phone, and that I never received any sort of fraud alert on XXXX out of the XXXX transactions. I expressed concern that Bank of America did not decline charges over my credit limit when they did not receive my explicit permission to do so. In retrospect, I realized they rushed me off of the phone after XXXX minutes. 

Over the course of XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX, I called the Bank of America " Existing Fraud Claims '' number twice. I provided additional information about my claim, such as the number of the financial crimes department of the XXXX Police Department. I repeatedly asked if there was additional information needed from me. I explained I was waiting to be assigned to a detective who would then provide me with a letter explaining their involvement with the investigation. I also asked how charges could have been posted over my credit limit without my explicit permission, and they stated they did not know and that I might not have had an opt out setting in place. Each time, the representative said that there was nothing else they needed from me, and that I should continue to check the BofA mobile app for requested information. They sent me links about how to access my account and provide information needed for my claim. 

At XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX, I received an email notification that my fraud claim was complete. They said that the claim was complete and that it was found that this was not fraud. I was never once contacted and asked for information about the incident. I was not told that I needed to submit a letter from the police department stating they were completing an investigation via fax or to an email. XXXX Bank of America representative initiated any sort of communication with me about this incident. They simply denied my fraud claim and reposted the {$45000.00} in fraudulent charges to my account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, I called the existing fraud claims as soon as it was open. I was told by a representative that rather than submit this claim as fraud that it should be submitted as a billing dispute. I walked this representative through the pertinent information, including that my phone had been taken from me when the only fraud alert text was sent and that they distracted me asking me to write my name and signature. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, I had an appointment with a Bank of America representative at a financial center in regards to my savings account. During that time, the representative called on my behalf and asked for the fraud claim to be reopened and reinvestigated. 

At XX/XX/XXXX at XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, I called the Bank of America fraud hotline again. I explained that I still did not see sort of update in my application about both the billing and fraud disputes. I wanted to confirm if additional information was needed for me after the call from the Bank of America representative in person, since I did not make the initial call. Based off of their review of the claim, they stated that they did not see any of the information I described about the incident in their records based off of my initial report. They had not notated any of the information about the temporarily stolen phone, request for signatures, or police involvement. I spent an hour on the phone with this representative walking through the incident. The representative confirmed that this was in fact fraud and should be submitted as a fraud incident rather than a billing dispute. They stated that they would re-open my existing claim number and that I could track information about that claim in the mobile app. It was only in this conversation that I was told I needed to fax or mail in a letter from the police department. I immediately took my letter to a Bank of America financial center where a representative told me they faxed the letter to the fraud number I was provided at XXXXXXXX XXXX. 

At the end of business hours on XX/XX/XXXX, I still did not receive any confirmation of my reinstated fraud claim. After repeated communications with Bank of America that I initiated, I still do not understand what is needed from me in this process.

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