Consumer complaint received 2025-03-04 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: OR

Complaint narrative:
Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to formally dispute and escalate a fraudulent wire transfer that was processed through Bank of America . The wire transfer in question was in the amount of {$28000.00}, sent to XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  under the following details : Date of Transfer on XX/XX/XXXX Recipient : XXXX XXXX XXXX  Account Number : XXXX Routing Number : XXXX Wire Number : XXXX Bank Address : XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX This wire transaction was made on XX/XX/XXXX. 

In the attached contract, we agreed to pay the sum of {$38000.00} to print and distribute XXXX softcover and XXXX hard cover copies of my novel, Virtue, to XXXX XXXX and XXXX  XXXXXXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  in major cities around the United States. We were pressured on XX/XX/XXXX to accept this opportunity to get the books into the XXXX XXXX XXXX stores in time for the holiday season. We were very reluctant. We went through several rounds of negotiation to assuage our concerns. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, we agreed to this deal with XXXX. He and handed over the {$38000.00} only after XXXX added language to the contract that guaranteed we would get the {$38000.00} back directly from XXXX if XXXX and XXXX failed to sell enough books to deliver royalties equal to the {$38000.00} we gave XXXX as our part of the agreement. We paid this money to XXXX through a credit card withdrawal of {$10000.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. The balance of {$28000.00} was paid on XX/XX/XXXX via a wire transfer from my checking account at XXXX XXXX. The contract we agreed to required XXXX to provide XXXX accountings of the sales of XXXX at the XXXX XXXX  XXXX stores : The first accounting was supposed to happen on XX/XX/XXXX. The XXXX and final accounting was due on XX/XX/XXXX. 
In fact, there was no accounting delivered by XXXX to us on XX/XX/XXXX. We asked repeatedly for the required accounting since then. We have been given no evidence to show that the XXXX copies of XXXX that we paid for were ever distributed to the XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX bookstores as required by the contract. All we have gotten from XXXX is apologies, evasions and zero information about the actual disposition of the print copies that we paid XXXX {$38000.00} to distribute to XXXX and XXXX stores. On XX/XX/XXXX, we checked the XXXX and XXXX online page. There was no listing for XXXX and no listing for the author. On XX/XX/XXXX, the XXXX and final accounting from XXXX was due. We have subsequently learned from our communication directly with XXXX and XXXX, that they do not do such deals with anyone. There is even a disclaimer on the XXXX XXXX  XXXX website warning that their company does not do such deals. Very clearly, what were caught in was a scam by XXXX XXXX XXXX. A search online showed that we were not the only people that have been scammed by XXXX. 

XXXX has failed to meet their obligations under this contract in multiple ways. 

We reported this fraud to our bank, XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX opened a wire transfer dispute to fraud investigators at Bank of America. We have since directly submitted to B of A all supporting documents, including our contract with XXXX, communication records, and evidence of their fraud. 
Since this was reported to B of A on XX/XX/XXXX, we have not received any response to our request to B of A for assistance in recovering the {$28000.00} we wired through XXXX XXXX  to B of A. 

As Bank of America is the receiving institution for this fraudulent account, we respectfully request : 1. Full recovery and return of the {$28000.00} wire transfer. 
2. A formal update on the status of the investigation.

3. Assurance that Bank of America has taken appropriate action against the fraudulent account holder, XXXX XXXX, XXXX. 

We trust that Bank of America takes these matters seriously. We look forward to your timely resolution. We were scammed. We handed over to XXXX a big share of the money my wife had saved for her retirement Below, is the text of an email we received from XXXX XXXX confirming they were in touch with B of A on XX/XX/XXXX ________________________ Dispute XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX AM Hello! Thank you for contacting XXXX XXXX  Customer Service. A wire reversal request was submitted on XX/XX/XXXX and is still being investigated. At this time, we are waiting for a response from Bank of America. If you have any additional concerns or questions, please contact us at the number below to discuss this matter or reply to this message with more details. Thank you for banking with us! XXXX - Dispute Filing and XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 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