Consumer complaint received 2025-03-13 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: CA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX I logged into my online banking Bank of America account to review my checking account balance. Upon review, I noticed XXXX [ XXXX ] fraudulent charges that I did not make nor approve to be made on my account listed below : At the time of review, these were pending charges and now have since been posted to my account : - {$1300.00} Transaction date XX/XX/XXXX ( posted on XX/XX/XXXX ) - {$2000.00} - Transaction date XX/XX/XXXX ( posted on XX/XX/XXXX ) - {$2000.00} Transaction date XX/XX/XXXX ( posted on XX/XX/XXXX ) Total Fraudulent Charges : {$5400.00} All above charges were listed to the same merchant : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( Transaction Category : Shopping/Entertainment : Electronics ) These charges were not made by me, anyone in my household, nor did I approve these charges to be made against my Bank of America Checking account .

I immediately attempted to flag the charges as fraudulent charges and cancel my Checking account card. I received a notification within the App from Bank of America that the card could not be cancelled I would need to call into Customer Service. 

On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX I called into Customer Service and spoke with a woman regarding the matter. In our conversation, she confirmed the cancellation of the Debit/Checking account card as well as asked me if Id like to remove this card from XXXX. I immediately replied to her Yes and that I was not aware what XXXX was or how my card got connected to it. 

She also confirmed/asked if Id like to stop recurring payments to this merchant which I also replied in shock, Yes, of course!. 

I did not authorize my Bank of America Checking ( or any account ) to be connected or associated with XXXX and did not authorize any recurring payments to any vendor/merchant at any time. 

She confirmed a Claim had been filed ( # XXXX ), replacement cards would be sent and a provisional credit would be placed into my account. I received XXXX emails from Bank of America confirming that my Checking Account Card was deleted from XXXX ; Recurring Payments to XXXX XXXX XXXX was cancelled ; my card was deleted from XXXX XXXX 


In XXXX of the emails, it mentioned having access to a temporary digital card so I could access my account, however when I attempted to set up temporary digital card, it asked for the card information, which I did not have since I did not have physical cards yet. 

On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX I called into Bank of America again to inquire. I spoke with another woman and she informed me that sometimes Bank of America does not approve temporary digital cards and that Id need to wait for the physical cards to arrive to me I expressed my frustration and disappointment of course I had just had {$5400.00} of my money stolen from me and now Bank of America was not approving a temporary digital card for me to access my remaining money in my account. Im still unsure why this was refused and there was no sense of urgency to help me obtain access to my account and money. 

I also attempted to ask more questions about what XXXX was and if there was a record of when my account was connected to this service ; the Bank of America representative said she did not know what XXXX was and had not heard of it and it was not associated with Bank of America. 

After further research into XXXX and how it operates I discovered this is not correct and Bank of America is in fact associated with XXXX as a payment system from consumers to businesses ( as of Summer XXXX ) with select merchants who accept XXXX as a form/process of payment. 

XXXX requires a consumer to use their phone number associated with their banking account, and then XXXX goes through the bank ( i.e. Bank of America ) to authorize these transactions by sending the consumer/customer a verification code to then enter. 

At no point in time, did I receive any verification notifications ( text, codes, emails, phone calls ) from Bank of America to approve transactions being made through XXXX to a merchant from my Bank of America account ( XXXX ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I began to get more concerned both about the provisional credit being issued to my account to offset the fraudulent charges, but also not having access still to my account. At XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX I called Bank of America XXXX and spoke with another woman ; she confirmed the cards were on their way and should arrive any day ; as well as confirmed the provisional credit was scheduled to hit my account by XX/XX/XXXX and then the investigation would continue. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received email notification from Bank of America that no error occurred and that the transactions were posted correctly to my account and therefore we ( Bank of America ) is unable to issue a credit to my account consider your claim resolved Due to this and the high dollar amount and rejection of fraud from Bank of America, I contacted the XXXX XXXX XXXX department and filed a police report on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX police officers came to my residence and took my statement and filed a police report. 

Police Report Case # XXXX Deputy XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Department XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX CA XXXX Due to the holidays, I was not able to contact Bank of America until XX/XX/XXXX XXXX. I spoke with XXXX and explained the entire situation and requested this claim to be reopened and escalated immediately. 

She provided more information including that there did not seem to be fraudulent activity or an attempt to drain my account and that at least XXXX of the charges was made using a virtual card ending in XXXX and that card was created on XX/XX/XXXX on my account and that there was record of Bank of America verifying my identity, passcode and I signed up for biometric enrollment in XX/XX/XXXX. 

I expressed confusion/concern regarding this new digital card as Ive had digital card for years as well to use via XXXX XXXX ; and in reviewing legitimate transactions on my account earlier in XX/XX/XXXX, the virtual card used on my account ends in XXXX. ( this is prior to receiving my new physical & digital cards on XX/XX/XXXX ). 

I also am concerned over the recent biometric enrollment as Ive been a Bank of America XXXX for 21 years and have had facial recognition in place to access my account for many years I wouldnt have needed to or attempted to sign up for this in XX/XX/XXXX. 

After discussing the matter in detail, she took detailed notes to add to the claim and confirmed she was able to submit the request to reopen the claim and escalate it. She instructed me to write a statement outline all events and details of the matter and submit it as soon as possible. 

Another point of confusion for Bank of Americas security protocol is on XX/XX/XXXX, I was shopping locally at a store in XXXX XXXX, CA ( my home-town ) and the purchase I attempted to make ( {$130.00} ) was declined and flagged as potential fraud. In the store, I was able to confirm these charges and unlock my account. 

I also had an online purchase on XX/XX/XXXX to XXXX for {$370.00} that was declined/flagged as potential fraud that I was able to confirm and unlock. I very much appreciate this security however, Im at a complete loss at how XXXX, XXXX amount transactions totally {$5400.00} of online purchases with a merchant Ive never shopped with before, was not flagged as fraud or stopped by Bank of Americas security . 

I am also expressing my extreme concern with the security of Bank of Americas connection with XXXX ; given the partnership began in XXXX of XXXX and now all of a sudden my account has been hacked and charged through XXXX without my knowledge and consent. 

I also truly hope another important part of the investigation is my banking history with Bank of America over the past 21 years. My purchase history is low dollar amount purchases and not high-dollar, electronic purchases such as this online, back-to-back. I also have not had any previous situations such as these or history of claiming fraud and hope that Bank of America helps to rectify this matter and return my hard, earned money back to my account. 

Update : As of XX/XX/XXXX I received notification from Bank of America that they yet again denied my claim and are now removing the provisional credit of {$5400.00} from my account. The reason stated is " The charge was authorized by you or made by someone who has permission to use the card or account ''.

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 monetary relief