Consumer complaint received 2024-11-05 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: IL

Complaint narrative:
Hi, I am a crypto fraud victim! I was told by a XXXX friend online who advised me to join the XXXX mining pool for ETH because she has been extremely successful. I was hesitant at first but after some time I deposited XXXX XXXX into my XXXX  wallet. Then proceeded to follow her instructions to go to XXXX  and exchange ETH. The first transaction was done XX/XX/year>, XXXX XXXX in the amount of XXXX XXXX. Shortly, my XXXX wallet XXXX increased by XXXX XXXX. One month later my XXXX XXXX gained XXXX XXXX  automatically from dXXXX I started to believe, and my confidence grew. My XXXX friend told me if you add XXXX XXXX into your XXXX wallet you can gain bigger returns quicker as she did. It seemed too good to be true, but I was a believer now since I gained XXXX from XXXX already. I raised the XXXX XXXX and deposited it into my XXXX XXXX. The XXXX transaction was completed XX/XX/year>, XXXX in the amount of XXXX XXXX. Then, following my alleged friend 's instructions : I went onto XXXX in my XXXX  wallet app and told me to click and accept this mining pool ETH staking activity starting with XXXX XXXX ( which was currently in my XXXX XXXX  wallet ). Immediately, after clicking the accept button, XXXX withdrew my XXXX  automatically from my XXXX wallet and put it in defi-XXXX mining pool. I reached out to customer service XXXX and told me that I needed to fulfil my pledge requirement of XXXX XXXX. Then, they demanded that I pay an additional XXXX XXXX within 3 days. I made the payment of the remaining balance to fulfill my requirement. The XXXX transaction was completed XX/XX/year> XXXX XXXX XXXX the amount of XXXX XXXX  after conversion fees. Then immediately, I asked to withdraw my funds. I was denied! They told me I have two violations. 1. I paid an extra XXXX XXXX over the XXXX XXXX XXXX amount. XXXX. XXXX XXXX was deposited into my XXXX wallet and said it came from an unknown origin. I did ask my friend to lend me XXXX XXXX in order to complete the XXXX transaction to fulfill pledge amount of XXXX XXXX. This happened because the rates, processing, and other fees were constantly changing when doing the transaction in real time. Then they told me that my XXXX funds in defi-bee.com are frozen due to these 2 violations in the contract. There was no contract. I requested the contract and told me they will provide it to me within 2 hours. I received a false letter describing my personal situation regarding the amounts I owe in order to unfreeze my account with no signatures. That contract was fraudulent. Defi-bee.com customer service, thereafter, says if XXXX XXXX, ( in penalty fees ) is not paid to XXXX, then there is NO chance I'm able to withdraw my funds. Unfortunately, I made that payment because I wanted to recover my funds. The 4th transaction was completed XX/XX/year>, XXXX PM, XXXX in the amount of XXXX XXXX after conversion fees. After making the payment, I asked to withdraw again. I was denied again! Customer Service then told me I must make a tax payment of XXXX XXXX to them. I made the payment. The 5th transaction was completed XX/XX/year> XXXX XXXX, XXXX in the amount of XXXX USDT. I asked defi-bee.com customer service again to withdraw my funds. Denied again! Then they told me my XXXX wallet is hacked now. Due to having a hacked Coinbase wallet I'm not able to withdraw my funds. I asked how my XXXX wallet gets hacked. They said there are XXXX mysterious deposits made the same day of my withdrawal request for XXXX XXXX and XXXX USDT. Then they instructed me to open XXXX wallet, and my funds will be transferred there, and I will be able to withdraw my XXXX XXXX. I downloaded XXXX wallet app and followed their instructions. Then they told me that I am a VIP user which I never agreed to and need to deposit an additional XXXX XXXX to my ImToken wallet to meet the flow verification process of XXXX XXXX since i am a VIP user. Im extremely overwhelmed now and filed complaints with XXXX and XXXX wallet and they told me I have been scammed. XXXX wallet two days later denied access to defi-bee.com in their exchange because of all the red flags from defi-bee.com. XXXX wallet now does not associate with the blockchain XXXX after so many filed complaints. My funds were automatically transferred back to my XXXX XXXX under defi-bee.com mining pool. I saw under blockchain defi-bee.com mining pool that my funds were available for withdrawal. Immediately, I clicked the withdrawal button in order to transfer my XXXX funds back to my XXXX wallet. Then, thereafter it prompted that it would take 24 hours to process the withdrawal. My money never transferred and spoke with customer service. They asked me if I applied to withdraw my funds and said yes. XX/XX/year>, they told me that XXXX XXXX is left unpaid that needs to be paid by the end of week. They said presently I had completed a payment of XXXX XXXX which I NEVER did. Then, they will wire the funds to my make bank account. I never deposited any more money and stopped communicating with defi-bee.com customer service since they were misleading and manipulating me this entire process. Also, every time I tried to withdraw, customer service defi-bee.com intervenes to stop my withdrawal. XXXX has control over deposits and withdrawals of my XXXX XXXX since they are XXXX which is mind boggling! XXXX  customer service offline whatsapp number is XXXX and I was able to chat with them online through their fake XXXX in my XXXX wallet. Last I checked my funds of XXXX XXXX are sitting in defi-bee.com mining pool waiting to be transferred and has never been transferred to my XXXX wallet. Defi-bee.com gave me fake sophisticated platforms where I was able to track trading actions and profits. All XXXX transactions were wired from my bank account to XXXX, and then transferred to my XXXX wallet. I filed complaints with FTC, SEC, Illinois State Attorney, FBI XXXX and municipal law enforcement. I also hired a firm to help recover my funds and they provided me a crypto-tracing report of my 5 fraudulent transactions. I, also have the addresses of both senders and receivers of these transactions. They also provided me a detailed report tracking my flow of funds and how the scammers have parked my funds in XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX XXXX. Please guide me so others are aware and are not victimized.

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