Consumer complaint received 2025-08-10 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account — Transaction was not authorized
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: WA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX of this year, while working onsite in XXXX, WA, I received a strange email that I initially believed to be a phishing scam. The email was a receipt for a wire transfer ( See Attachments XXXX and XXXX ), which included my full name, email address, and current residence, for a total amount of {$480.00}. Whoever had initiated this transaction had elected to have the receipt sent to my personal email, which confused me at first, but I know now this was in order to pass the transaction off as authentic or authorized. This money had been withdrawn using my debit card, for cash pickup by an individual named XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, at an international money transfer kiosk in XXXX, XXXX. XXXX provided an incomplete Honduran address of residence. 

My debit card had been and always had been in my physical possession in the XXXX area, WA. However, my personal information has been leaked/stolen online several times, as is commonplace nowadays, unfortunately. In fact, I had made several transactions the same morning locally and online, including getting breakfast at XXXX just a mile from where I'd be working that day, and making a payment towards my student loan. ( See Attachment B ) I immediately called XXXX directly, via the phone number listed on the receipt, to verify that this was, in fact, a real company, and a real transaction, of which they both confirmed. I told them that I absolutely had not authorized this transaction, that had I never even been to XXXX, that I had the debit card which was used in my possession in XXXX, WA, while this transaction occurred, that this transaction had occurred while I was on shift at work, and that I had never known anyone by the name of the recipient or from XXXX. They told me that someone had used my information and card to make the transaction, that the cash had already been picked up in person in XXXX by the recipient, and that I should file a claim with my bank, because at this point they couldn't do anything ''. 

Frantically, I checked my Bank of America checking account and confirmed this to be true, as my balance reflected the transaction. I immediately called the Bank of America Fraud Department. Hearing my story, they opened a claim for me, # XXXX ( See Attachment XXXX  ), froze my checking account, cancelled my debit card, and told me they would absolutely take care of this. It took three days for a temporary credit to post ( See Attachment XXXX  ) after I supplied the email receipt, which has been sent to me as proof of this scam. 

With the credit posted to my account and this being an obviously unauthorized, bizarre, and unique transaction in the history of my decade-old checking account with BoA, I felt confident that the case would be closed, and I stopped worrying about it for several months. 

To my surprise, this month, I noticed the amount of the original transaction once again deducted from my checking account. Bank of America had removed the credit, which had now been posted almost four months ago. I called Bank of America, to find that they had closed the case in favor of the merchant. I begged to speak to someone about this but they refused to connect me to a claims or fraud supervisor, telling me that the case " had already been decided and at this point all I could do was fax an appeal request to their appeals team '' they did not provide me the information of their appeals team but gave me a phone number to fax my appeal to. This was all very wrong. I had been a victim of a crime, using my card, in a state that I wasn't in at the time, which Bank of America had proof of. 

Reviewing the case decision document ( See Attachment E ), the only reason they cite for denying my claim is that " XXXX provided documentation showing the transaction is valid, and we've included it for your records ''. I reviewed the included documentation, and I found several issues that Bank of America either didn't see or ignored. First, XXXX 's 'Introduction ' section of their documents states " Few days later, the sender claimed the transaction as fraud and ask the money to be refunded. '' This is factually untrue. I called within minutes of the transaction being made and filed a claim with my bank upon their recommendation, immediately. Secondly, under the 'User 's Information ' section of their documents, there is clear evidence that it was not me who made this transaction. The XXXX Address and location of the 'customer ' are based in XXXX XXXX MD - again, across the country from where I was working on that day, and again, in a city and state which I have never been to. The phone number provided is also not a phone number that has ever belonged to me, and is not registered to any name, XXXX. My personal phone number is ( XXXX ) XXXX and always has been since I got my first phone. I have never had another phone number in my name. 
Thirdly, the XXXX verification ' section of their document lists a five-digit postal code, and claims that it matches my address 's five-digit postal code. My address at the time was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, WA, XXXX. The XXXX verified postal code of whoever made this transaction is XXXX, which is in 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