Consumer complaint received 2024-12-16 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 for taking the time to review my complaint against Bank of America. My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX. This complaint is being made in addition to a current outstanding fraud claim with the bank. In this complaint, I will be providing evidence as well as detailing the regulatory violations that have occurred in my case. This fraud claim incident is in relation to a theft of a phone device, that was later used to fraudulently take {$510000.00} from a wire transfer out of my account all of which was completed online, and without verification or attempted outreach by the bank. The claim number is : XXXX, my account number is : XXXX. In this complaint, I will be attaching XXXX XXXX  files that detail my evidence for this case, as well as the original police report which had also discussed the theft incident. 

The fraudster stole my device on XX/XX/2024. It was after the theft, that they were able to make substantive changes to my account via online banking, including changing contact information, deleting payees, adding payees, and then initiating the wire instructions for the fraudulent wire transfer conducted online in the amount of {$510000.00}. The bank has already admitted in phone calls with me, that the employee in the detection unit had failed to follow the appropriate procedures for detecting and sending a wire transfer. They did no verification at all, other than relying on the text message code to the fraudster 's number, which turned out to be a " Voice over IP Number '', as relayed to me over the phone by XXXX in Arizona on XX/XX/2024. There were numerous red flags everywhere with the transaction, and the bank advertises itself as having " Zero Fraud Liability '', however this is highly misleading. The bank failed to conduct its duties, which were to safeguard and protect my account against fraud. In my case, they have failed, and also have shown complete disregard for Regulation E, and the rules under Regulation which govern these types of Fraud Claims. I will now explain in detail as to how the bank has failed to meet its regulatory obligations to me under Regulation E, as well as entail Bank of America 's complete disregard for the rules that are a part of the regulation that apply to me in my case. 

My fraud claim was filed on XX/XX/2024, at a branch in person. After filing my claim, aka " giving oral notice '' I was informed that I would receive a temporary credit if after the XXXXth business day that the bank would need to take the 45-day period. Well, I have been told on the phone from three Bank of America wire fraud employees, as recently as this past Friday ( XX/XX/2024 ) that the analyst, XXXX XXXX who is in charge of my claim, wrote in a submission on XX/XX/2024, that " CLAIM WILL BE HONORED, NO DEFENSE FOUND ''. I was also told that on XX/XX/2024, XXXX XXXX who is the Analyst in charge of my fraud case, had already found evidence that Fraud had occurred, and therefore made the determination that as mentioned she explicitly stated in her submission on my claim that the " Claim will be honored, and that there was no defense found ''. This likely means that the bank had no defense because fraud was already discovered, IE the voice over IP number, which according to the Enterprise Resolution Specialist, XXXX XXXX XXXX, he had said that the Bank 's systems are stellar, and that " the system never fails '', he was essentially doubting what I had told him about the analyst finding that the fraudster 's phone number was used in the secure transfer, and that normally the system is only able to accept verified numbers, so it is evident that the Fraudster was able to bypass Bank of America 's system, and therefore the bank had failed to protect my account and assets from fraud.

So, from a regulatory perspective - Bank of America was required by law and Regulation E to " Correct the error within one business day of determining an error had occurred ''. The error in this case means that Unauthorized Electronic Fund Transfer of {$510000.00} that was stolen from my account. The bank was required to correct this error no later than XX/XX/2024, as that was XXXX business day after the analyst had discovered that error occurred, " the fraud ''. They have failed to do this. They have refused to give me any information about my claim, and they continue to disregard the regulation all together. The second part of this is, that they still have refused to provide a temporary credit, despite it being well after 10 business days, and even more so considering the fact that they have already determined that fraud IE : " The Error '' had occurred and they made this determination on XX/XX/2024. I have asked them repeatedly about the status of my temporary credit, which is required to provide to me under regulation E. They say that the claim is under " leadership review '' and that due to the amount, " No Temporary Credit Will Be Provided ''. Unfortunately, for Bank of America this is not discretionary when it comes to providing a temporary credit. It is not at their discretion, on whether they choose to follow the law and Regulation E or not, they have a legal responsibility to follow the rules that govern Regulation E. The Regulation E specifically states the following : ( 2 ) Forty-five day period. If the financial institution is unable to complete its investigation within 10 business days, the institution may take up to 45 days from receipt of a notice of error to investigate and determine whether an error occurred, provided the institution does the following : ( i ) Provisionally credits the consumer 's account in the amount of the alleged error ( including interest where applicable ) within 10 business days of receiving the error notice. If the financial institution has a reasonable basis for believing that an unauthorized electronic fund transfer has occurred and the institution has satisfied the requirements of 1005.6 ( a ), the institution may withhold a maximum of {$50.00} from the amount credited.

However, it seems as if Bank of America already determined that fraud IE ; " The error '' occurred on XX/XX/2024, when XXXX XXXX the senior claims analyst from the Fraud Instigations Unit wrote a submission on XX/XX/2024, which explicitly stated '' CLAIM WILL BE HONORED, NO DEFENSE FOUND ''. Therefore, they had already completed the investigation, even before I was able to submit the police report on XX/XX/2024, which only further confirmed fraud and theft that occurred, which theft meets the legal definition of robbery under Regulation E. 

Bank of America has mismanaged my claim all together, and they have been in breach of their duty of care, in relation to protecting my account against fraud, which they quite clearly allowed to happen, when the Fraudster was able to use a Voice Over IP Number to conduct a wire transfer without any additional verification from Bank of America. So, in this respect they have failed. They have also and are continuing to show complete disregard for Regulation XXXX, and the rules of which govern this regulation and mandate the steps that the bank must take during the investigation process. I highly believe that because of my age, and the fact that I am very young, they must have the impression that I don't have a clue what my rights are under Regulation E, and therefore they can treat me and my claim as to however they please with complete disregard to the Regulation and the law that governs this Unauthorized EFT. I believe that it is possible that the bank has discriminated against me due to my age, and the fact that they apparently do not think I know what my rights are under this regulation. I have even had a hostile person from the fraud unit, named XXXX in Texas huff and puff on the phone in a rude manner, and even mumbled the remarks " We need to be more scripted with him ''. I was offended by these comments, but it also indirectly showed me that the bank believes and is probably concerned that I have too much information, and therefore I could present as a liability for the bank because I could sue and take legal action for what has happened to me here. As of this writing, they have failed to provide a temporary credit, the have failed to resolve my claim and they have failed to meet their legal obligations under Regulation E to me as the consumer. They have not been helpful at all, and often make false promises, such as that I would get phone call or a substantive update, of which I never received.

I hope that the CFPB will take this complaint seriously and hold Bank of America accountable for their blatant disregard of Regulation E, and the rules that govern it. I have attached information directly from the agency which supports my complaint in great magnitude, and hopefully these documents will encourage Bank of America to meet their regulatory obligations, as prescribed under the law. 

I have also included the Police Report from the incident, that shows theft and fraud also had occurred. My case is very clear cut, so to me it appears Bank of America is looking for any reason they can to continue to delay my claim and disregard their legal obligations to me as a consumer. As mentioned earlier, on a recorded line XXXX from Texas said, " We do not want to have to take this loss '', Bank of America does not want to have to take this loss. It's half a XXXX dollars ''. Well, with all respect to XXXX from Texas, it is not at Bank of America 's discretion as to whether they wish to take a loss or not, they are governed by Regulation E and the law, fraud has already occurred and has been confirmed, even by the Senior Claim Analyst XXXX XXXX who is based out of the XXXX XXXX Texas office, who has said that the claim would be honored. ( Per her submission on the claim file dated XX/XX/2024 ). Had they been more responsible in detecting and preventing the fraud in the first place and not allowing a VOIP number to be used to commit fraud, then maybe we would not be in this situation. Had they at least tried to call the number the fraudster used, which is apparently their policy for such large amounts, ( Considering this amount was for {$510000.00} ) they would have discovered the fraud, but they did not bother conducting any verification and did not attempt to contact the customer for verification. The allowed the fraud incident to happen, all of which was completed online, and they were negligent for doing so. However, they failed, and they have to own up to their failures, and the must meet their legal obligations under Regulation E.

The documents I have attached include specific information related to Unauthorized Wire Transfers. As the device was stolen, the Unauthorized EFT instructions were not Authorized. The bank debited my account, based upon the fraudster 's intentions and where unauthorized electronic fund transfers. Please see the documents from the CFPB in support of my claim.

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