Consumer complaint received 2025-03-22 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: MD

Complaint narrative:
I received a text message from Bank of America asking if I attempted to make a purchase for {$170.00} Krogers with my credit card on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX. At the same time, I received a phone call from XXXX from a person named " XXXX '' who claimed to be a bank of America associate. He stated my card had been charged with two transactions and that they were calling to verify that they were fraud since they were suspicious. He proceeded to tell me they were charges in Arizona, and he could see that I am a Maryland resident. While claiming to cancel the charges on my credit card which he knew the last 4 digits to, he then asked if I knew a XXXX XXXX. He asked if I was trying to wire her {$5500.00}. I told him no, that is not me and must be a scam. He then told me in order to stop the wire transaction from going through I had 20 minutes to dispute this with a wire reversal. I was uncomfortable so I asked how I was to be sure this was a bank of America. He then proceeded to give me my name, address, phone number, last 4 of account number and last 4 of my social security number. I hung up on him because I was worried and attempted to call bank of America on my own. He called back and said I could call the main line but by that time the wire would have gone through and could not be canceled. When googling canceling wire transfers it stated you had to do it in 20 minutes. He then proceeded to tell me I would likely be on hold with Bank of America for at least 40 minutes and would miss my chance to cancel the wire. I had just called bank of America the week prior and was actually given a hold time of 40 minutes. So everything he said was adding up. I then asked to speak to a manager to ensure this was bank of America. He then transferred me to a man who claimed to be XXXX XXXX. They said all the right things " these calls are being monitored and recorded '' throughout the phone call and would periodically give me the time I had left to do the wire reversal ( within the 20 minutes ). He walked me though step by step on my account and informed me that I was submitting a wire reversal. He had me put all my information in as the receiver, so I thought this was legit. I even questioned why I had to do this, and he said it had to come from my account since it was a wire transfer to cancel it. I submitted the request. He said he would call tomorrow to follow up about the account. I copied down the account number and routing number that I was given. After I was so upset about being hacked on my accounts, I decided to call Bank of America to see how this could have happened. I wanted to take additional steps to protect my account. I called 3 hours after at XXXXpm and the bank of America representative informed me that it was a scam and that they didn't call me. She assured me that she would file everything right away but that I needed to fill out a document and return it to them as soon as possible to avoid any delay in my case. She said I would have the document within 24 hours. I was told that I should have known it was a scam because " Bank of America will never call you ''. She also stated she would send all new credit cards since these accounts had been compromised. I locked all my bank of America credit cards on my app as well for safety. I immediately called XXXX XXXX to request the money be returned to my account, but they stated they could not help me and that my bank would need to contact them. I told them my bank was contacting them and asked if they could freeze the account until investigation. They stated they couldn't do that and the only thing I could do was submit through my bank for them to do anything on their end. After I notified my phone company to see how this happened and if I was hacked. The company stated that because I have an iPhone, that is the most secure phone you can have, and it is unlikely that there was any malware on my phone ( which is what the bank of America representative told me to do when I asked about how this happened ). I then filed a local police report, a report with the FTC, IC3 and local FBI of my stolen money. Because this person had all of my information, I contacted the credit bureaus and locked my information. I also got a pin for my taxes. I changed all my passwords. I called the bank of America the next day when I didn't receive the letter. They said they would send it again and give it 24 hours. That next day there was still nothing in my email, so I called again. This time I had them change my email thinking it was maybe my email address and that is why it wasn't coming through. I never got the letter. I called the following day and spoke to someone in the fraud department who advised me to go to a local branch and they could send the document to the branch. I went immediately to the branch and filled out the hold harmless letter. I was told I had to fill this out in order for my wire reversal request to be sent to XXXX XXXX and that a delay could be the difference in not getting my money back. I called almost every day for 3 weeks to get updates about my claim. I was told so many different things by different representatives. One representative I spoke to told me they try to resolve these cases quickly and that I should have an answer within 2 weeks and since it took them the rest of the week to get me the hold harmless document I was almost there. I called back and spoke to someone 1 or 2 days later and they told me that it could take 45 days but that they were waiting on a response from XXXX XXXX. I was told I would receive an email and the money back to my account if there were funds in the account. I asked if there was anything Bank of America could do to help with the financial hardship while we were waiting for the response. I was told to call local charities, and that bank of America couldn't do anything more to help. I asked if the {$30.00} transaction fee could be refunded while we waited for XXXX XXXX and was told no because it was a part of the claim. I was told when the claim was resolved I would be able to get that fee returned. I called a few days later again and was told that my case had been assigned to an analyst that was " most likely tracking the money because sometimes these scammers will transfer the money out of the account to another account ''. I was told I needed to give it more time. I called back again a few days later to get an update and was told no updates. I called back a few days later and was told that my claim status changed to collection so that was good sign of me getting my money back. They said that meant that XXXX XXXX received the information, and they were again " most likely tracking the money ''. I was told if there was any money in the account the bank would return it but that there were no guarantees that there was any money left in the account. I called back and asked about the information at the bottom of my wire transaction online that states most wires could take between 1-2 business days before they are received by your recipient. I asked the representative about that because prior I was told wires are immediate. He stated that it depends on the type of wire transaction domestic vs international, if you have ever wired money to this person before and what the amount is for. He said for security purposes those take a little longer. I told him that was good then because if they didn't release the funds, I would still have a chance in getting my money back. He said yes because I called within 3 hours of the wire, I have a really good chance of getting my money back. He even said that if the person scammed more than one person and the account was already frozen it is very likely I will get my money back and he has seen people get their money back before. I called back a few days later and was told the same thing but that sometimes this process takes some time because XXXX XXXX might have to request the money from another bank if my money was transferred from that account to an account outside of XXXX XXXX. I called again a few days later and spoke to someone who said it could take up to 90 days and that XXXX XXXX could not respond back to Bank of America. They said in case of no response that they would reach back out for another 45 days. They said after 90 days with no response the claim would be declined as unsuccessful. On 2/6 received the SAME thing text message, phone call and email from Bank of America asking about the card with the SAME LAST four of the account number as before. The text asked if I attempted to make a purchase to XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX  for {$56.00} and that it was declined. This time I did not answer the phone. I blocked everything and called the bank of America fraud department directly. The bank of America rep stated " Oh, ma'am this is actually us trying to get a hold of you this time ''. I was stunned. I told the representative that before with the last fraud I was told " bank of America would NEVER call '' but now you are saying they will?! How was I supposed to know it was not the real bank of America last time since the same thing happened last time and I was robbed {$5500.00}. He apologized and stated this charge was all taken care of and I didn't have to worry. I asked how this was ever possible since when it happened the first time this was the same last 4 of the card number before and I was told I would be getting all new cards to ensure my safety. He stated he didn't see where I was issued new cards and that I would have to do that again. So, he requested, and I requested all new cards, and I then locked my credit cards again. I asked if this fraud could be reported to my analyst since it was the same thing that happened before but this time actual charges. I asked him how this was possible since I made the request before and how it was possible since I never lost possession of that specific card. He stated it could have been hacked from an online retailer, but I just got the card last year and only used it a handful of times. I called back the next day and spoke to XXXX to make sure the information got to my analyst and that notes were made on my account. I was told they were and that this charge was already declined and there was nothing further I needed to do. I called again on XX/XX/XXXX and they said there should be a date listed behind the processing status. They stated they would send a message to the " back office '' and to call back tomorrow or the next day to follow up. I called back XX/XX/XXXX and they stated THEY HAD NO NOTES ON MY ACCOUNT ABOUT MY PREVIOUS PHONE CALL ON XX/XX/XXXX. They told me to give it more time and that it takes 45 business days before they could do anything additional for my case. I told them about all the misinformation I received and how I don't trust Bank of America and feel like I am being lied to. Why was I calling and getting different answers every single day? Why were there no notes on the account when the representative said she would make notes specifically and instructed me to call back. Was anything they were saying true? Did they even contact XXXX XXXX? How did this happen in the first place? Did bank of America leak my information or did an old employee that had access to my information call me on the XX/XX/XXXX and steal my money. What is actually happening. I googled to see if Bank of America had any consumer data leaked and sure enough, they did in XXXX of XXXX. XXXX of the third parties that Bank of America shares your consumer data with was hacked. I called that same day to see if my information was leaked in that data leak. I was told that I would have received something in the mail, and they couldn't see anything about the data leak I was talking about. After that day I decided to give it the full 45 days before calling back to follow up. They told me I would get an email if they heard back and I would see the money in my account. I was told if they didn't get a response by 45 business days that they would reach back out to XXXX XXXX and allow another 45 business days. I was told after 90 business days again my claim would be closed if I didn't hear back. I called today XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with XXXX from the XXXX DE office who stated that my claim was closed, and they were unsuccessful and retrieving the funds from XXXX XXXX. I asked what that meant exactly, did they get a response from XXXX XXXX, if so, what did they say. He stated he could not tell me any more information other than that. I asked if XXXX XXXX responded and if not why bank of America was not reaching back out like they said they would multiple times and he stated that is not possible. I AM FLOORED. I told him about all the misinformation and demanded more information about the claim. He stated there was nothing more Bank of America could do for me. I asked multiple times to speak to a manager or someone above him. He stated that there was no one else and the only thing I could do was call the same number back but that I would get the same type of representative that was only allowed to give the same information. I asked why I didn't get an email like I was told, and he said that they sent a letter out in the mail XX/XX/XXXX which was last Friday. I should have already received the letter and still have not. I asked if there was a number at the bottom of the letter, I could call to get a hold of management, or a supervisor and he stated again it was the same number that would get back to his department level. I went off about how unacceptable this is for Bank of America to treat their costumers like this. I have been with Bank of America for 15 years. I told him how this is a crazy amount of money to me and people kill themselves for less and this is how bank of America chooses to treat their people! He then told me he misunderstood and that he was trying to say I couldn't speak to an analyst but that he could get a manager on the line. I told him that I knew from before I couldn't speak to an analyst. He asked me to wait while he got a manager on the phone. After about 15-20 minutes of waiting for a manager, one never came. XXXX told me that his manager gave him an email for me to write to with my complaints. The email is XXXX. I said to him this is insane, so your manager is refusing to speak to me. He stated he couldn't say anything more but direct me to send an email. I asked for the manager 's name, and he said he couldn't give it to me. UNREAL. I then requested all my notes, phone calls and documentation to be sent to me. He asked if I wanted it via email or mail. I told him how I never got any of the emails they claimed to send so please send it via the mail. I still haven't received this letter he states that was sent Friday. It has been a week. It should have been in the mail. I did the math so Friday would have been exactly 45 " business days '' from XX/XX/XXXX when the claim happened. So, most likely Bank of America just closed the claim and did not follow their promised process of resending documentation for another 45 business days. It is insane to me that XXXX XXXX can just not respond! It is also insanity to me that I can't trust a bank that I have been with for 15 years. HOW DO I EVEN KNOW THEY SUBMITTED THE REQUEST?! How do I know they did anything they said they were going to do? How do I know Bank of America isn't responsible for my information getting leaked and how do I know it really wasn't Bank of America that called me and had me transfer {$5500.00} out of my account? I have NEVER wired money from my bank of America account. Why didn't they stop that as suspicious activity? I have been a bank of America customer for 15 years and never had this happen. I have multiple different accounts with different banks and never had someone call impersonating my bank. When I checked CFPB 's site, Bank of America has 336 cases for fraud from the last 6 months and over 10 of the cases that were public are exactly like my claim. They also received calls and texts from bank of America impersonators. They suffered the SAME HUGE LOSSES from wire transfers. Bank of America made them the SAME PROMISES they made me. Told me the same things which turned out to be all lies. Why if Bank of America is doing the right thing for their customers, why haven't they started putting extra security tactics on their wire transfers. It is crazy to me because the dates that the claims from the others on this site are all around the SAME date as my fraud. That is crazy. I looked at other banks and none of them have the same thing of getting calls from their bank impersonators.

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