BEWARE of Bank of America

[grasshopper]

If someone ports your phone number to a new phone, as in the OP's case, you will not ever see another text using that number--you would still get email alerts if you have them set up, but the person who ported your phone number will now see the text notifications.

We have both email and text alerts for our bank withdrawals and credit cards.

I always get email and text alerts, it is a pain I can live with. I use Yubikey wherever possible.

 

[bolt]

Unless I'm mistaken BOA is the tail end of First Bank & Second Bank of the United States (5yrs after supposedly). Both started in the late 1700s. Started primarily to and by .gov affiliated entities back then.
Alexander Hamilton was on those banks boards governance back then iirc. Similar to the Federal Reserve Bank it has a misleading name and no doubt similar mis-leading objectives.

The only reason to do business there is its national footprint of B&M locations.(imo)

 

[kannon]

Thank you for all good ideas on who to contact. We have done many but we will follow up with others.
Also like to thank our moderator and apologize for any bad use of words. Very frustrated.
Thanks all.
Looking into other ways to authenticate like Authy but not seeing can be used at BoA. You would think this problem can be technically solved.

 

[Corporate ORphan]

You also might want to file a complaint online with the Consumer Financial Protection Board. It used to be very easy and effective. They had a database of complaints and how they were resolved.



In 2015 US Bank was holding onto money from my mother's estate because they had lost the beneficiary information. I tried working through my state's Attorney General but they wouldn't budge. I filed a complaint with the CFPB and within a week they decided they could work something out without us having to go through probate.


Good luck!

 

[Chuckanut]

One trick if you use an authentication app. Usually, at some point you have to point your phone's or tablet's camera at some type of design made with lines or shapes. Make a quick copy of it and print it out. When you get a new phone or tablet you can easily add the device to those can authenticate you.

 

[SnowBound]

Send them Certified Return Receipt letter to their physical main corporate address. Most companies handle these differently (as most of these are coming lawyers).

 

[Scratchy]

Sorry to hear of this terrible experience you had.

I was a customer of B of A about 30 years ago. That ended when they bounced a check of mine for no good reason. I swore to myself never to do business with them again. Unfortunately, I ended up a customer again when they took ownership of a credit card I had opened. Two times more I ended up inheriting B of A when I had to act as executor/trustee for two family members.

Each of those relationships ended beyond imagination abysmally due to not an absence of customer service from B of A but rather IMO a very active effort to treat me disrespectfully and to make things as difficult as possible for me.

So, as a data point, I would rank my four experiences as a customer of B of A in the bottom five of more than thousands of consumer relationships I have had.

 

[skipro33]

I use fingerprint with facial recognition for my on line security. My Fidelity account requires my fingerprint read to even open it from my phone. Facial requires decent lighting, not so good in a poorly lit room.
No user name or password to remember or change. Just unlock with a finger print reader.

 

[CaliKid]

Send them Certified Return Receipt letter to their physical main corporate address. Most companies handle these differently (as most of these are coming lawyers).

I wouldn't waste money or hassle of certified return receipt. Just send regular mail. I believe that's what most lawyers do.

 

[mrWinter]

If it were me in this situation it would be Verizon I'd be mad with, not BofA. From BofA's perspective they had absolutely no indication that the user of your mobile number was not you, all the information presented to them looked exactly as if it had come from you.


Verizon is the one who screwed up by porting the SIM to a new phone for someone that wasn't you.


I'm just hoping that mobile carriers start putting proper protections in place for this problem, and institutions like banks alter procedures to not rely on mobile devices as identification anymore before I get hit myself.


Scary. Sorry it happened to you.

 

[kannon]

Well - I took everyone's ideas and put in complaints all over the place. I even wrote the BoA CEO. Well maybe that did but I got a call from some high level person apologizing about our inconvenience and the funds that were stolen were restored. Amazing how fast they got things done with a little push.

When I asked about how we can prevent this from occurring again, there was no reply. I think all banks are potential targets. We are thinking of moving checking account from boA to Ally with the idea that at least walk up to teller fraudulent ID theft is eliminated. Anyone have ideas for better, more secure checking account with Bill Pay option?

Thanks again - to everyone.