Consumer complaint received 2025-08-13 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — International money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
Bank of America XXXX XXXX XXXX : XXXX, XXXX, XXXX On XX/XX/year>, I became the victim of a sophisticated criminal operation in XXXX, XXXX. Me and my friend were drugged and rendered unconscious by a criminal gang who then systematically stole my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX laptop, and multiple credit cards while we were incapacitated. Upon regaining consciousness, I immediately filed an official police report with Colombian authorities documenting the theft, which has also been shared with Bank of America. 

While I was unconscious and after the theft, these criminals hacked my stolen phone and laptop to gain unauthorized access to my online banking accounts. Between XXXX XXXX XXXX fraudulent wire transfers and XXXX payments XXXX {$25000.00} were conducted from my Bank of America XXXX XXXX unknown international recipients. The criminals used my stolen devices and intercepted authorization codes sent by the bank through my compromised phone, making the transactions appear legitimate to Bank of America 's systems. 

Actions I took : - Filed Colombian police report immediately on XX/XX/year>, documenting all stolen items - Had no way to access my accounts or discover the fraud until returning to the XXXX, as my devices were stolen - Reported the fraud to Bank of America immediately upon discovering the unauthorized transfers - Filed formal fraud claims on XX/XX/year>, through my local branch - Submitted comprehensive additional evidence on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/year>, requesting claim reopening after initial claim denial by Bank of America - Provided documentation from XXXX other affected financial institutions showing the same criminal incident Bank of America 's response : - Initially denied all fraud claims, stating my stolen XXXX was an " authorized device '' - Failed to acknowledge that the device was documented as stolen and hacked by criminals - Currently reviewing additional evidence after I provided overwhelming proof from multiple sources- Has not reversed any of the {$25000.00} in clearly fraudulent transactions Independent verification from other institutions : XXXX major financial institutions immediately recognized and responded to the same criminal incident : - Capital XXXX : Refunded fraudulent charges of {$750.00}, issued emergency replacement cards- XXXX XXXX : Immediately reversed fraudulent transactions of approximately {$4500.00} from June 29-30, 2025, issued new cards - XXXX XXXX : Blocked fraudulent attempts, issued replacement card due to documented theft - AT & T : Recognized device compromise and took protective measures. Issued new replacement phone. 

All these institutions processed fraud claims within days and fully refunded customers, recognizing the clear criminal activity. 

The fundamental problem : Bank of America 's position defies logic and contradicts documented evidence. They consider a device " authorized '' despite : - Official police report documenting it as stolen- The device being physically separated from me in a different country- XXXX other major financial institutions independently confirming the same criminal incident - Clear evidence that criminals had hacked the XXXX XXXX Bank of America 's fraud detection failed to flag highly suspicious activity : large wire transfers to unknown international recipients, conducted during foreign travel, from a customer with very less prior wire transfer history, using a stolen device that kept generating short messages active in XXXX after my departure. If they want, Bank of America 's own IT systems can easily verify through IP tracking that the stolen devices continued operating in XXXX while I was physically present in the United States. 

Impact on my family : As a XXXX Bank of America XXXX XXXX XXXX trusted this institution with my family 's financial security. The stolen {$25000.00} represents years of careful savings set aside for my children 's education. While other financial institutions that I am with immediately protected their customers and reversed fraudulent charges from this same criminal incident, Bank of America has left me and my family bearing the financial burden of a violent crime that I barely survived. 

Despite overwhelming evidence, documented police reports, and unanimous recognition of fraud by peer institutions, Bank of America continues to deny responsibility for transactions that were clearly conducted by criminals using stolen, hacked devices. Bank of America 's fundamental error is conflating device " authentication '' with customer " authorization. '' While the stolen phone XXXX have technically authenticated to their systems using saved credentials and intercepted codes, this does not constitute legitimate customer authorization when the device was documented as stolen and in criminal hands. A stolen device accessing an account through compromised credentials represents fraud, not authorized transactions, regardless of whether the device passes technical authentication protocols.

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