Consumer complaint received 2024-04-16 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Closing an account — Company closed your account
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
I answer an ad on XXXX for a XXXX XXXX  job. Total budget XXXX XXXX XXXX. They will mail me a check for XXXX to start the production rolling. XXXX was to go to " talent management, '' and XXXX went to me to hire the crew I needed. And after production they will pay the remaining XXXX to me. It sounds a bit unusual to me but he knew enough about production that I continue communicating with him. He communicated with me mostly through texting ; the initial contact was through a couple of emails, XXXX. I told XXXX that no money would be sent to the XXXX  manager without his check clearing first. He said no problem. I would get repeated texts from him asking about the status. I told him that I saw a hold on the check until the XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and that I will contact them at that time and send the money if it clears. XXXX wanted me to send it via XXXX or XXXX XXXX ; I told them I would only do a cashier check, feeling that would be the safest, like the check that was sent to me. We settled on the money order. XXXX was okay with waiting until the XXXX... then I started getting texts from him on the XXXX ; I didn't answer because he was becoming annoying and sending out a red flag vibes. I decided to check the checking account and saw that the check was flagged and returned. That is when I knew 100 % this was a scam. I tried to contact BofA fraud department and being the weekend I didn't get through. Then, the next day, he ( they ) called me for the first time but didn't answer because it looked like a scam caller. But the number looked familiar. I checked the text messages and the phone number matches. I called them back and got a voice message to leave a name on who was calling. I didn't give my name or number, so I just hung up because I was already mad. A minute later, they called back, and I answered it. This person had a heavy XXXX accent, so I questioned him who was calling. The response was XXXX, but no last name. Thus, I questioned him as to why he did not give his last name. He responded why I am asking? I said that this XXXX character has a XXXX name, XXXX XXXX, and you have a heavy XXXX accent. And I said this is a scam because your check didn't go through. There was no response, and I hung up after that. The next day, Monday, today, I tried to get into my account and couldn't, so I called BofA, and customer service informed me that my account was closed because I had deposited a fraudulent check. I asked why the teller didn't catch this, especially since the teller sent the check through the checking machine a second time, and she did not see anything wrong. I said to the customer service how would I know it was fraudulent, it looked real to me. So, she looked at the check on her system and agreed with me that the check looked real. Also, I pointed out why a teller who is more trained at spotting fraudulent checks didn't catch this one. I eventually talked to the claims department and then the department that canceled my account ; they did not care at all, didn't care about how this happened, and that I had no recourse. I said what is this I'm guilty without even getting a chance to prove my innocence. They just didn't care, and I can't do anything about it.

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 non-monetary relief