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BF - 2-7-2013. Is anyone out there still having a problem? I know I am. I have had this service for 52 months and I have paid a total of $825 into this fraud program. I am getting nowhere at the moment. While people may say "you should have seen the charge"; how am I supposed to know I can't trust Bank of America? I was sent some welcome pack that I must have discarded as junk mail. I assumed all charges were part of the credit card and not some BS optional service. Bank of America cannot provide ANY written or verbal evidence and yet refuse to refund my account. They claim they sent a welcome packet and it was never returned so that is their verification. This is a company that accepted a bail out from the tax payer, ME, and doesn't give 2 shit's about us. They are willing to lose my account then refund my money paid into a scam.

 

I have contacted consumerfinance.gov, BBB, attorney general of PA and I am in the progress. So far it did not work out with Bank of America handling it and consumerfinance. I am waiting on responses from the attorney general and BBB. At this point, I want B of A to pay. If I don't get the money then I want them to get fined. The 22 million in the class action suit is NOT enough. What else can we do? Who can we turn to? Would the case work in small claims court?

 

The steps everyone should take it call them, argue you with, waste THEIR time since they will give you the run around. Then go to helpwithmybank.gov or consumerfinance.gov. Also try going through the Better Business Bureau. Your best bet is to NEVER give up trying. I don't care about how much time I am wasting. I have also notified my local reporters. Good luck everyone.

-BF 

 

Years ago, a friend of mine worked for BOA.  He told me that BOA Customer service would add Credit Protection Programs to customers that they did not like (people that would call and complain, yell at them, people who were rude). This does not give them the right to add anything to anyone's account.  I too had this happen to me...It destroyed my credit and am now paying for their mess.   BOA is the worst credit card company out there and always put blame on outside companies. 


http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?showuser=62338
http://www.excalibur-nw.com/forum/index.php?showuser=27479
http://www.pcigre.net/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=18182

I filed a complaint with OCC.  BOA sent a letter stating I verbally agreed and would not give me anything back.  What is the next step?  Thank you for your help.

Response: I asked for a recording of the agreement which they could not produce because they don't have it. It's a fraud.  


Credit Protection Plus Fraud - Resource Wiki

This "wiki" was created to help organize individuals who have been the victim of Bank of America's "Credit Protection Plus" plan -- a program where many have been fraudulently enrolled without their explicit authorization.

 

NOTE: PLEASE ENTER COMMENTS BEGINNING BELOW THIS FIRST INTRODUCTORY SECTION.  If you've been enrolled in the Credit Protection Plus program without your permission, please edit this page and add your initials as others have done prior.

 

I’m going to try to do this wiki group justice by summarizing the key content from prior posts into this summary.  My purpose is simply to make it easier for new individuals to this resource wiki to get a “Cliffs Notes” version and not have to pour over the many comments posted over the last few years like I did.

 

If you’ve found this wiki, there’s a decent probability that you’ve begun your process of complaining to Bank of America about getting charged for the Credit Protection Plus plan without having authorized them explicitly to enroll you in the program.  And, depending on how far you’ve gotten, they’ve probably given you the run around, offered to give you a “courtesy refund” that is far less than what you were charged, or both.  Although the program is through Bank of America for their credit cards, the program is actually administered by a company called Central States Indemnity (CSI) – contact link/info provided below.  Interestingly, this company is owned by Berkshire Hathaway.

 

For the last couple of years, people appear to have tried different approaches that have been met with various results.  Some have taken Bank of America to small claims court and others have complained to various news organizations.  However, the most effective approach seems to be to file a complaint with a division of the Department of the Treasury at http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/.  The only thing I’ll mention is that, if you are like me and didn’t catch the extra charges for an extended period of time (3 years in my case), then your chances of successfully getting a FULL refund are less likely.  This is because apparently the company (either CSI or BOA) only have to keep actual records (signed statements, telephone recordings, etc.) for 2 years and, therefore, it becomes impossible to prove that you didn’t explicitly enroll.  If you caught this within the last year, however, this seems to be the best approach.

 

I will summarize the various contact information that people have provided over the last couple of years.  The hope is that I list these people just get bothered so much that they decided to remedy this issue.  The one thing that I’ve done that I didn’t see in prior posts, is to start to pester Berkshire Hathaway because they own CSI.  It would be nice if they got pressured by bad PR to ensure their companies engage in appropriate business practices.

 

visa terminal

 

Contact Information:

 

OCC at The Department of the Treasury:

You can file a complaint at http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/.

 

Bank of America:

The Executive at Bank of America who administers this product is: Thomas J Myrick 201 North Tryon Street, 15th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28255. 

 

Although this group is involved in the Credit Protection Plus plan, they are actually Bank of America employees and this is a Bank of America phone number: 1-800-441-7048 (extension 24717).  They are the “Credit Protection Products” department within Bank of America.

 

Someone in PR: Ms. Blake Zabin at 1-800-441-7048 (extension 26178).

 

Central States Indemnity (CSI):

https://www.csidirect.com/contact.aspx

 

I called Michael Alston (VP) at the phone provided in the link above.  He forwarded me to Kyle Thomas and his number is 402-997-8274.

 

Payday Loan Australia

 

For anyone interested in potential class action representation, please contact:

Robert S. Mullen, Esq.

Robert Mullen and Associates, PLLC

800 Starkweather

Plymouth, Michigan 48170

Tel: (734) 455-2700

Fax: (734) 455-2577  

Robert Mullen and Associates, PLLC is currently seeking a Michigan plaintiff interested in representing a class of similarly situated individuals regarding claims pertaining to the Credit Protection Plus program.  Anyone interested in participating in such litigation, please contact our office at your earliest convenience.

 


                                               BANK OF AMERICA DEBT CREDIT PROTECTION PLUS / PAYMENT PROTECTION PLAN CLASS ACTION LITIGATION

 

          The law firm of Carey, Danis & Lowe is currently investigating claims that various credit card companies, including Bank of America, are engaging in unfair and deceptive trade practices in connection with the sale and administration of their particular debt suspension / debt cancellation plans.

 

You may qualify to act as a class representative in a class action against a company if:

 

  1. You were enrolled in Bank of America's Credit Protection Plus or other payment protection plan without your consent; OR

 

  1. You ever enrolled in one of the above plans and were a senior citizen, a self-employed worker, a part-time worker, a seasonal worker, or had a disability at the time of enrollment or anytime thereafter.

 

If you would like additional information about this case or are interested in acting as a class representative in a class action against Bank of America or other company, please contact Tiffany M. Yiatras or Casey Flynn at 1-800-721-2519.  You may also email us at tyiatras@careydanis.com.  We would like to help.

 

“The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.”

Attorney advertising material

7/28/2011

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Feb 16 2011 - Full Credit Received for $279 going back 4 months

 

I so much appreciated everyone's information on here, so I'm adding my own story which turned out well. I spoke with a rep at BOA in October 2010 about reducing my APR. After helping me, they talked to me about their credit protection program. I told them to send me some information on it, but I didn't sign up for it. 3 months later, I find these charges (thanks to mint.com). I called BOA and they transfered me to the Credit Protection Plus group. I explained the situation and they said it would take 2 weeks to do a "review". About a week later, I received a letter saying that they reviewed the account and determined that I did authorize adding the service to my account. They provided an 800# to call. I called that # and politely explained that I received the letter, but that I still disputed their findings and wanted my money back. I was put on hold for a few minutes. The rep came back and told me that they would refund the amount in full.

 

I'm guessing this went easier for me because the amount was relatively low compared to other people that have had to go to greater lengths. Good Luck!  

 


GK9941 - January 18, 2011 - Full Credit Received for $849 of Charges going back 14 months.  Here's how:

 

     ( a )  December 20, 2010.  Contacted Credit Protection Plus and initiated an "audit verification of my enrollment".  They said that I was contacted by phone in November 2009 and that I signed up for the program at that time.  I told them that this was untrue, that it was "fraudulent", and that I wanted to hear a copy of the recording with my acceptance.  They told me that they were not required to keep recordings of acceptances because they are "not an insurance company".  It was at that point that I initiated the "enrollment audit" with them.

 

     ( b )  January 4, 2011.  I received a letter from CPP.  The "audit" was conducted and it was determined that the charges were valid.  Charges started in November 2009 and amounted to $849 before I contacted CPP and put a stop to the charges in December 2010.

 

     ( c )  January 7, 2011.  After receiving the "charges are valid letter" from CPP, I called them and talked to Boris Maksimov.  Boris offered me a $250 credit.  I initially accepted this credit.  After I got off the phone with him I found this site on the internet and decided to ( 1 ) file a complaint with the Comptroller of the Currency, and ( 2 ) file a lawsuit in small claims court against BofA to recover my $849.  I called Boris back (about 30 minutes later) and told him that I rejected his offer of $250 and that I was going to do ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) above.

 

     ( d )  January 7, 2011.  I filed a complaint electronically on the Comptroller of the Currency website at:  http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/.  (Please see a copy of the complaint that I filed below).

 

     ( e )  January 17, 2011.  I received a call from Tom Jordan with the CEO and President's Office at Bank of America (602) 597-4449.  He was calling to inform me that BofA had received my complaint from the Comptroller of the Currency and was providing a FULL REFUND of the $849 of charges going back to November 2009. 

 

     ( f )  January 17, 2011.  The credit was received on my credit card in 2 pieces - one refund for $250, and a second refund for $599.

 

This matter is now completely solved to my satisfaction with a 100% refund of the 849.00 of charges. 

 

I encourage you to FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE COMPTROLLER OF THE CURRENCY.  The text of my complaint follows:

 

RE: Bank of America – Credit Protection Plus

 

Program Complaint:

(1) I was fraudulently signed up for a “Credit Protection Plus” program by Bank of America.

(2) Fraudulent charges of $849.00 were billed to my credit card by Bank of America.

 

Requested Settlement:

(3) Immediate refund by Bank of America of $849.00 to my credit card.

 

Summary:

I never “verbally” accepted the Credit Protection Plus program as they claim. I accept NOTHING verbally over the phone related to my credit cards. I never received anything in writing were I signed and confirmed my acceptance of this program. I have requested proof of my acceptance – either written or verbally – from Bank of America. They claim that they are not required to keep these kinds of records. They refused to provide any proof of enrollment.

 

Facts & History:

 

---- Sunday, November 21, 2010 ---- After discovering this billing on my statement in November 2010, I promptly called the Bank of America customer service number on my statement (800-552-7302) to find out what this charge was for, and to dispute it. I was informed that they would reverse the charges.

 

---- Sunday, December 19, 2010 ---- They did not reverse the charges. I then called again on Sunday, December 19, 2010 when I found that I had been billed for another month. This time they told me that they couldn’t do anything. Instead, they referred me to another telephone number that I had to call between the hours of 8 AM and 4:30 PM EST (I am Pacific Time Zone). That number was 800-441-7048.

 

---- Monday, December 20, 2010 ---- I called that number on Monday, December 20, 2010 and talked to a person at Credit Protection Plus. In the process of disputing the charges with this person, I was informed that I had “accepted enrollment” in the program “verbally over the phone” back in November 2009. I was stunned. I vigorously denied EVER accepting anything over the phone that would be billed to my credit card.

 

I told him that I wanted PROOF that I had signed up for this program – in writing or verbally. I told him that he wouldn’t find anything because I had never “accepted” this program. I also demanded a full refund of the charges to my credit card going back to November 2009 (which was a total of $849.00).

 

The Representative said that he could “cancel my enrollment effective December 20, 2010”, but that he could not do anything about the prior charges. He did, however, start a “verification of enrollment” process that he said would take about 10 days to complete. He also said that I could write a letter regarding the proof of verification to: Credit Protection Plus – Special Investigations Unit – PO Box 34888 – Omaha, NB, 68134.

 

---- December 20, 2010 : Letter to Credit Protection Plus ---- That day, I wrote and mailed a letter to the address provided requesting proof of my enrollment, or a full refund of all charges that had been billed.

 

---- Tuesday, January 4, 2011 ---- I received a letter from Credit Protection Plus stating that: “Our records indicate that [Firstname Lastname] applied for the Credit Protection Plus Plan program by phone on November 10, 2009 … and the charges that billed to your account during this time are valid.”

 

---- Wednesday, January 5, 2011 ---- I promptly called the number provided on the letter (800-441-7048 x26107) and talked to Boris Maksimov at Credit Protection Plus. Boris told me that they “don’t keep records of customer acceptances – either verbally or in writing – because they are not required to do so by law”. Therefore, he said, you have no proof that you DIDN’T sign up for the program. Unbelievable! I asked Boris if he had received my letter dated December 20, 2010. He said he had not, but that my letter would not matter anyway. He offered me a $250 credit of the charges. I told him that this was unacceptable and that I wanted a refund for the entire amount of $849.00. He refused. Sincerely, [Firstname Lastname]

 

---- end of complaint ----

 

 

 


 

pcbubba (10/26/2010)  After several phone calls to both CSI and BOA, and a letter from a Boris Maksimov of the Credit Protection Products Department stating the charges billed to my account were valid, I today was told by a Tammy, at extension 26107, that BOA would refund half of the charges that I had accrued.  This was after an initial offering of a refund of the three months, like many other posters have written.

 

She went through all the motions, telling me that I was responsible for the decision to enroll, even telling me that I had given them the city in which I was born, which indicates to them that I was a willing participant.  She also tried to put it all back on me, asking me if I ever checked my statements, why did I wait so long (10 months) to complain, and so on.  I used the word "predatory" several times during the discussion, but never got to "pulling the trigger" by telling her that I was prepared to notify the OCC.

 

Tammy first told me that she was only authorized to offer me a refund of three months in good faith, but when I said I was looking for at least half my money back, she quickly accepted. 

 

I was told to look for the credited amount on my next bill, in November 2010.  Stay tuned; I will report back at that time.

 

I think that if people do call with a particular sum in mind that they would be willing to accept as a settlement (say, 50%), the BOA folks are able to make an offer.  If people call demanding a 100% refund then they may find the folks at BOA unwilling or unable to be accommodating.

 

The updated information that I have received is as follows:  Boris Maksimov, Credit Protection Products Department, P.O. Box 15114, Wilmington, DE 19850-5114.  1.800.441.7048, ext 26107, M-F, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern.

 

Good luck to everybody, and thanks to this wiki for the helpful information and good tips that I received.

 

(Update) 01/17/2011 pcbubba:  Received the refund of 50% (a little more than $200.00) as promised in December of 2010.

-------------------

GW (03/02/2010):

I created a blog on this issue and submitted it to Digg: http://digg.com/business_finance/Bershire_Hathaway_and_Bank_of_America_Develop_New_Strategy.  Everyone should go and Digg it so that maybe people will notice.

------------------- 

(Update) 11/02/2012 EKL: I received a letter today saying that there was a settlement!!!!!!!! Got a letter with this website www.creditprotectionsettlement.com. It describes that BOFA was engaged in unlawful practices and that they agreed to pay $20 million dollars, and that they would eliminate any further "protection" programs for independent reasons. This is great news! I hope that many of you other subscribers will receive the good news as I have. They give you two options which is 50 dollars for "enrollment without consent" or 100 dollars for "attempted benefits that weren't received". I know its unfortunate for those who expected a larger return, but at least it gave BOFA the punch in the face they deserved!
Here's what the letter I received said:

In the lawsuit titled In re Bank of America Credit Protection Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, case no. 3:11-md-02269-TEH, settlement class representatives asserted claims that defendants (BOFA) engaged in unlawful practices concerning various credit protection programs.....blah blah blah (lists all the programs), and (i) involuntarily enrolled certain customers in credit protection, (ii) engaged in improper marketing practices in their representations of credit protections coverage and benefits, (iii) and improperly denied benefit claims. They also say that BOFA has denied all allegations, but agree to payout $20 million. They also say that 6 months of credit protection will be given to current customers during the wind down period if that matters to any of you. 

(Update) 04/05/2010 EKL: I got a call from April Miller from the office of the CEO / President, regarding my problem and she requested additional evidence that I asked for.  I received a letter today stating that BOFA's addendum dating back Feb.21st.2008 had me as enrolled in the program, but even after complaining with the OCC I still have yet to receive the evidence I had asked for. Pretty much I got a letter stating that I had signed up through online banking and that's that. They gave me a "courtesy" refund for 2 months which I don't care for and refused on several occasions. I am upset that even with the OCC complaint that my case was handled this way, especially when the only thing I asked for was proof that I had signed up for this plan. Other than the letter, BOFA sent me about 35 pages of statements which I find irrelevant since I had already checked my statements to demand my full refund.  All in all I am malcontent with BOFA, I enjoyed the many years of service they gave because behind my back these little problems kept occurring in the background. Bottom line I hope many of you get your problems resolved, and now I am going to save up and pay off my card and close anything BOFA. As a struggling college student, these kind of fraudulent acts committed by banks are further putting students like me in debt and action must be taken.

 

(update) 03/16/10 EKL: So I called in asking for them to send me proof that I had signed up for this program and I received a letter today. It said "Our records indicate that you provided authorization to enroll in this plan through the Internet site on 02/21/2008"

Which is absurd, when I called CSI the operator told me I had sent in a POSTCARD through the mail and now they are telling me I did it through the Internet? I don't see how I can win this fight because they keep telling me how I authorized it, and I keep asking to send me valid proof that I authorized it via signature or something, and I get nothing. They also told me I signed up in February of 2008, I double checked my records and they started charging me in September of 08.

 

RESPONSE for EKL:  You can win, of atleast partially win, this fight.  I spent probably a couple of days on it and got half of my money back for 3 years of fees in the program.  I recommend two paths: (1) go through the normal processes that they lead you through and when you seemingly get to a dead end with BOA, then you move to (2) which is filing a complaint with OCC (link provided at beginning of Wiki).  BOA takes those compliants seriously as evidenced by someone calling me from the CEO's office скачать фотошоп.  I didn't get 100% back, but half is better than nothing.

 

EKL (03/02/10):

Im a college student, and i havent noticed in over a year. Im always moving around between campus and home so i switched to online statements and now that im super short on money because of tuition and expenses i started to notice that my credit 

card limit kept going up near the max limit. Being enrolled in this "program" without my permission is upsurd, i really wish they would refund all the money because as a student im pretty much stuck in this account till i can afford to pay everything off.

-------------------

GW (03/02/2010):

I am glad that I found this workspace and all the information that everyone has provided prior has been very helpful.  I was, of course, a victim of this scam and didn't catch it for 3 years!  I just normally look at my credit card balance/charges online and these fees don't ever show up on your current billing cycle online.  Anyway, I'm currently jumping through the normal hoops (i.e., call, complain, they send a letter, I'm supposed to send a written letter, etc.) to try to get my money back. So far, BOA has been absolutely no help.  They continue to pawn you off to the third-party company that is supposedly responsible for this (as if they are completely innocent and can't do anything).  I actually called BOA customer service and nicely asked if there was a department that would take complaints and try to solve customer issues as a last resort before they lose a customer.  I told them that I was going to close my credit card account, multiple bank accounts and move my business to Wells Fargo.  They said "no" and "sorry".

 

The fascinating thing to me, in researching all of this, is that a lot of people apparently really hate BOA.  I was happy with the company until today.  But, just do a search on Youtube.  The Daily Show just did a bit on BOA and included Youtube videos as well in this episode: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-february-23-2010/make-it-rain---bank-of-america

 

In addition to the straightforward tactics I mentioned in the first paragraph above, I contacted Michael Alston ("Mike"), who is a VP at the company that's actually responsible for this via the link that someone provided below @ https://www.csidirect.com/contact.a.c.spx.  He told me that he'd get someone to look into this issue for me.  Well see what transpires from there.  Lastly, and maybe most importantly, I noticed that this is a Berkshire Hathaway company and I also emailed them.  I would suggest that others in this situation email Berkshire Hathaway and attempt to draw attention to the problem of one of their companies scaming people out of hard-earned money.

-------------------

 

 

  • 2/20/10 The Executive at Bank of America who administers this product is

    • Thomas J Myrick 201 North Tryon Street, 15th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28255. 
    • They also sell a similar product 'protecting mortgages' which is a complete rip-off.  Mr Myrick reports to Barbara DeSoer who manages Mortgage & Insurance.  I dont know her address, I believe she is based in California.
    •  

  • 2/19/10 I am in the sam boat can't take everyone stealing our money especially banks and these politicians in d.c.  Let get our money back

  • Okay fellow scammed brothers and sisters..........Here is the company who is responsible for all your miseries............  https://www.csidirect.com/contact.a.c.spx  This is the third party administrator (and most likely who you thought was BofA) when you were unknowingly enrolled.   Write away...... there are all kinds of contacts with emails and phone numbers.  Good luck.

     

     
  • FM 1-26-10 I just went oatonto the complaint discussion on Boston's Fox 25 News Undercover Boston Facebook Page that Joel Silverwatch created. Maybe Fox 25 will investigate & find them to be frauds too. Somebody has to be able to help the people that have been scammed by this company.  Here is the link incase you missed Joels post:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/topic.php?uid=211831702656&topic=12106

  •  

  • FM 1-17-10 - I am glad that somebody got help from the OCC. I have filed two complaints & got no where. I was told that I had signed up for the coverage & because it was over 2 yrs old that they no longer had my signature on file & by law they only need to keep it for two years. There is no way that I signed up for this coverage. How can so many people have the same complaint & BoA be right. I know this is a scam but unfortunatley they have the law on their side which is just not right. If anyone finds a way to get reimbursed please let us know. 

  • 1-17-10 Just got a full refund ($600+) on the fraud ulent charges from Bank of America Credit Card Protection Scheme (see my initial post with pie chart graphic below)! Filing an OCC complaint on http://www.helpwithmybank.gov does the job. I'd support a class action suit because I think BOA should refund all the fraudulent charges to anyone not only to the few who happen to read this blog.  
  • I just noticed this on my account because I haven't been using the card as my primary. Apparently they have been charging me this fee since October 2008! We're talking hundreds of dollars of bogus, illegal charges! I refused to settle for a 2 month refund and they said they would "investigate" and send me a letter within 2 weeks with their decision. Unless they can provide proof that I enrolled in this scam, either written or on tape, I plan to go to my state Attorney General's office for an explanation of my rights. If anyone had found a solution for getting their stolen money back, please post. I would be interested to learn where to go next. -Jim in CT
  • JM 1-13-10 I myself have been a victim of this scam by BofA.  I noticed back in June of 09 that there were "Bank Fee" charges on my account.  When i called to dispute these charges i got nowhere with the supervisors and managers.  I told them that i never authorized them to add this plan to my account and they gave me a 1 month courtesy refund.  I still argued that they should refund all the charges and they were unwilling to work with me.  Early this month i attempted to dispute the charges again.  Again, i got nowehere and they agreed to open an invistagtion.  However, this would not resolve my dispute it would just be proof of how i enrolled in this program.  I have yet to receive any information regarding the invistagtion and after reading many of these posts i now know that i am not alone.  I have filed a complaint with the OCC and suggest that anyone else going through this do the same.  I just hope that i get refunded or else i will take it to small claims court.  It is outrageous that they are allowed to get away with this and take advantage of customers and it needs to stop!  After going through this i am closing out my card and never using any of BofA's products or services. 
  • RS 1-11-10 Just like many of you out there, today I noticed a charge on my credit card statement. It's an un-used card that I am paying off and I noticed that the balance wasn't decreasing as it should have. So I noticed the Credit Protection Plus charge and Googled it with the phone number (800.942.1083). I came across this page and read all of your stories. I then checked past statements and sure enough I have been paying this charge since 2007. The charge is not the same each month, it costs 95 cents for each 100 dollars on your credit card balance. Some months the charge was low so I did not notice it. I certainly never signed up for this. I called the number and they informed me that I did indeed sign up for the plan but could not prove to me how. I told them repeatedly that I do not want this protection anymore. This is very frustrating to realize I have been paying this charge all along. I feel like an idiot for not noticing but no question Bank of America is taking advantage of me and many others and should not get away with this! I intend to file a claim with the O.C.C and suggest everyone do the same.
  • WM  1/01/2010  My  father  has a boa credit  card with credit  protection  it costs  him  95 cents  per  hundred  dollars.  He resently  passed  away and boa  says they  will  not pay  the  2000  dollar balance because he  did not die from  an  accident.  on  there  website nowhere does  it  say  accidental  death it  states  loss  of  life  up  to  25000 payment  to  credit  card.  these  people suck  and  I  will  take  this  as  far  as  I  need  to  It is  not  about  the  2000  dollars  How   could  they  prey  on  these  old  people  and  lie  like  that I  would love  to  join  this  class  action  suit  anyone  with  info  please  inform  me  thanks oes anyone have Mr. Mullen ESQ's email address?  Please add it here if you do-thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

  • RD (11/06/2009) I just came across this wiki after doing a google search about this exact issue. I just made the initial call to the 800 number and my story is the same as so many have reported. This is a shame and illegal in my mind. I plan to use many of the suggestions noted in this Wiki.

 

 

  • MJK (11/05/2009)  One day checking my account statements, I saw this credit protection plan on my statement.  I called to find out what it was, and they said it's something where if I experience a life event (like a move, or graduation, etc.) then I could get money.  I told them I didn't want the damn thing, and they told me I qualify for some benefits, so they suggested I get the benefit and then cancel afterward.  Well, turns out I needed all kinds of proof to get it and eventually gave up.  I tried again recently, and two times they have rejected my 'proof'.  At this point, I realize I'm not going to get any money from them from activating my benefit, so if I can't even use this service that I NEVER SIGNED UP FOR, then I might as well try to get ALL my money back.  These people are thieves, liars, and I can't see how they've done this to so many others.

 

 

  • DA(10/20/09) I just came across this wiki after doing a google search about this exact issue. I've been struggling to just keep food on the table lately, so my credit card, which has been maxed out and unused for MONTHS, is the last bill on my mind. I start to notice though, that even when I manage to make a payment, it just ends up jumping right back to where I was, so I did some investigating. Sure enough, I'm enrolled in this Credit Protection Plus crap. I called that 1800 number and told the woman who answered that I did NOT sign up for this, and certainly DID NOT authorize anyone or anything to charge my credit card monthly. I have charges from this all the way back to November of last year; totaling over $500. $500 would put me back UNDER my credit limit! She told me that since I moved in the last year, "3 months worth of payments could be refunded, but the rest will have to be looked at by our investigations department." I told her to go ahead and submit the investigation. I remember even after saying NO to this program on the phone, I received paperwork in the mail for it a week later. I IMMEDIATELY called the number in the paperwork to have it cancelled. That was late last year; 2008. Somehow, I never caught this charge on my monthly statements until now... I read that someone else said BoFA puts the charge on after the statement's been sent, so it's easy to miss. That and it's not listed as a normal transaction; it's a "Bank fee." I know this investigation team of theirs will likely come up with some BS excuse and not refund me at all, but I intend to call these people every day until they give me my money back. Pending response from them, I'm going to take the suggestion here to write a complaint to the OOC. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

 

 

 

 

  • DN (08/04/2009)

  • Bank of America Legal Department

    Bracebridge 1

    1100 N. King St.

    Wilmington, DE 19884                                                  08/04/2009

     

    Re: Case No. C093469SC

           Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for the County of Washington

     

    Dear Sirs/Madame,

     

    After repeated attempts to resolve the $1,662.50 in un-authorized charges for “Credit Protection Plus” to my wife’s Bank of America credit card, We filed suit in the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for the County of Washington.  This suit was filed  June 22nd, 2009 and a Bank Officer was served on approximately June 24th, 2009.

     

    Bank of America failed to respond to the court in this matter. 

     

    A judgment was entered in the above named case on July 22nd, 2009.  The Judgment award is for $1865.00.  This includes the claim amount of $1662.50 plus filing fees, service fees, and an $85.00 prevailing party fee.  It also awards interest of  9%.

     

    After the Judgment was created, we received a refund of the original amount $1,662.50 in the form of a credit to our account.  At the same time we received a credit of $139.93 which was for “Credit Protection Deluxe” insurance, and was not part of this suit. We were un-aware the $139.99 had been charged to our account at the time the suit was filed.  (See attached letter from CSI Processing).

     

    At this time we are making demand for payment of the judgment balance of $202.50, which represents our costs and prevailing party award.  Although you owe us 9% annual interest on the entire amount, we will agree, as a courtesy, to forgive all interest if the remaining balance is paid in a timely fashion.

     

    If you fail to respond within 10 days of your receipt of this demand, we will take any and all legal means to collect this debt.

     

    Sincerely,  Dan XXXXX
  • DN (08/04/09)  At this point I'm thinking this is fun messing with the Bank.  I got the contact info for legal when we got the call from the "Chairman's" office.  Again, they refunded the money not because of the suit, but because the OCC requires them to act on the official complaint we filed. (File a complaint at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currancy!)  If they don't pay the $202.50 balance promptly, I'm going to file a writ of garnishment. Normally you would serve a persons bank with the writ, and siese your money from their account.  In this case I'll serve the Federal reserve Bank here in Portland, Oregon.  (LOL)

 

  • DN (07/24/09) I'd be glad to share anything useful.  Keep in mind I got the judgement not because of any legal precedent... I got the judgement because the arrogent bank is run by a bunch of idiots that didn't respond in the allotted time.  I still think the well documented complaint to OCC (Their website is really easy to file the complaint) is having the best result.  Ultimatly I think these solicitations will go the way of the long distance carriers when you agree to switch service... They will have to have a third party confim you really want the coverage and understand the charges. E-mail me at esoogfish@aol.com and within reason I'll provide anything that helps!

• TO DN FROM JH (7/23/09)  IS IT POSSIBLE FOR THOSE OF US WHO GIVE YOU CONTACT INFORMATION TO GET A COPY OF THE JUDGEMENT.  IT MAY HELP OUR CASES AS WELL. 

DN (07/22/09) If you've read my earlier post you may remember that I sued BofA in small claims court here in Oregon.  They failed to repond withen the 14 days, and I have now recorded a judgment for the initial $1662.50 in CPP charges, plus about $200.00 in court fees and an $85.00 prevailing party award.  We just received a letter from CSI (the plan administrator) again stating their position, then saying that Bof A had agreed to refund the money as a "Courtesy"  The $1,662.50 has been refunded to our account.  I then recieved a call from somone in the "Chairman's" office.  Basically they wanted me to acknowalage they had made it right for the office of the OCC (we also filed a complaint there).  The OCC complaint is the reason they gave back the money!  This lady didn't even know about the suit, and got quite flustered when I let her know I had a judgment against the bank over this mess.  She asked me to forward a copy to their legal department (the one in Delaware) along with my demand letter for payment of the balance.

    • JH (7/22/09)  My husband just called me at work to tell me that in February 2008, nearly 2 years ago, I agreed to be a part of the Credit Protection Program. I have no recollection of ever signing up for this program. Our balance has slowly been increasing overtime with these charges.  Now, because of the balance we have been put into "Penalty" which increased our interest rate to 29%.  This is outrageous.  We plan to persue this as far as we can, and we will be using the information listed on this site.

 

     • SD (7/15/09): EVERYBODY!!!! After fighting with BofA for a year and refusing to pay them for this scam and the interest that           accrued and getting up to four harassing phone calls a day, and filing with my state attorney general and the OCC and           contacting a reporter, I GOT MY BALANCE CLEARED AND MY ACCOUNT CLOSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was the reporter who had the           effect; she contacted BofA, they lost her query of course, she followed up on them and then one day I got a phone call from           BofA expressing concern that I was unhappy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The person who called me is in PR I believe. Here is           her name and phone number: MS. BLAKE ZABIN 1-800-441-7048 ext 26178.

          Ms Zabin asked what they could do to relieve my unhappiness and I said 1. Remove my balance, 2. Remove the balances of           everyone else on this website, 3. Compensate me for the hours I'd had to put in trying to rectify these false charges. She           told me "As a courtesy" BofA could remove my balance........ which made me furious! I told her that was like being physically           beaten constantly for a year for no reason and then "As a  courtesy" the beating could be ended!! 

          I suggest contacting any reporter who does consumer rights. I still want to be part of a lawsuit. Best wishes to everyone on           this site!!

  • SS(07/14/09): same story as everyone else. i called in to remove myself from the program. they blamed me for not knowing that i had charges of $1 or $2 each month and proportionately larger depending on my credit balance and that I was in the program for over 2 years. they couldn't verify any information about how i enrolled or anything but just claimed that i had done so. much like everyone else here, they of course wouldn't credit anything back to me. so i politely requested to be removed from this program and now I'm with you all on fighting these lovely scam artists. let me know how i can help!
  • AR(07/02/09): Same story here,my wife called boa for a routine transaction on 11/17/08,was offered the credit protection,she declined,10 days later the welcome letter arrived,they charged  a de-luxe credit protection fee of $19.99 and a credit protection plus fee of $ 188.18 for the months of November and December 2008 .We called to get things straight and their response was that during the phone coversation my wife signed up for the plan.I just filed a complaint with the OCC,since I read that people got their money refunded after doing so. If there is an oportunity for a class action suit I'm in.
  • DN (06/22/09): Recieved the response from thier "investigation".  They claim that my wife agreed to the coverage during a "phone opportunity."  She actually asked to have something sent in writting to review the terms, but told them she DID NOT WANT THE COVERAGE.  In any event they will do nothing.  I filed a small claims suit in Oregon Circuit Court today.  Cost me $87.00, plus $28.00 to have the bank served.  After many phone calls to the Seretary of State's Office and the Oregon Corporation Commission,  I discovered that you don't have to serve the registered agent of a corporation which is a Nationally Chartered Bank.  You can serve any bank officer, which includes anyone at the local branch with the title of VP or above.  (HEH HEH HEH!)  I've already warned my local guy, he will be served tommorow.  The bank will have fourteen days to respond that they will go to trial, or I will win by default.  They will then owe the intial amount, plus filing and service fees of $112.00, plus a prevailing party fee of $60.00, plus pre-judgement and post judgement interest of 9%.  I'll keep you posted if this works.

 

  • CH (06/20/09): Same experience as everyone else: numerous phone calls followed by mysterious charges that I failed to notice for months. Turns out, the charge is the last thing put on your previous statement. I'm a starving college student and out a pretty good amount of money.

     

  • DN (06/06/09):  Found this page last month.  Same Story, after numerous phone calls my wife agreed to have them send information (only) in writing... and they signed her up.  We have taken these steps so far:  Documented our experiance.  Sent a demand letter that we recieve a full refund by both e-mail and certified mail to BA.  We've recieved back a letter claiming that their plan administrator is investigating.  We CC our State Attorney Generals Consumer Fraud department.  Next step is to file a formal complaint with the AG's office and just for fun if they don't reverse the ($2000+) charges we will file a small claims Richmond Lawyers against B/A.  The suit is pretty cheap to file in Oregon.  However the tricky part is serving their Corp.  Offices out of State.  Might contact the local news media that likes to work on exposing scams too:
  • PC (05/19/09):  I found this page after seeing on my statements that I had been enrolled in Bank of America's Credit Protection Plus without my consent.  I had been receiving phone and mail offers from them to enroll, and I had expressed that I was not interested in the program.  I am a student and didn't want to spend extra money.  I eventually stopped receiving calls and those mail offers.  Recently, I found out that I had been enrolled in the program without my permission, and had been getting charged their Credit Protection Plus fees for over a year!  I called to remove myself from their program, but was told I couldn't get any sort of refund because I had been enrolled in the program for over 30 days.  GRR!!!

 

     •   SD (4/27/09): Heard Joan Goldwasser of Kipplinger's magazine on the radio talking about bank fraud and I ended up           writing to her about this. Friends (lawyer and an economist) suggested emailing various journalists in the financial field.            Lots of online articles are followed by the author's email address. I'm going to give this a try; anyone else game? I have also           recently filed a complaint with the O.C.C., but would like to join with others to do a group filing.

          Another thought:Outreach. Because for almost a year I thought that this was an innocent mistake on the part of B of A that           they weren't taking responsibility for, I didn't look for others in my boat. It wasn't until I finally became suspicious that this           was intentional fraud that I started googling and found you. Surely there are untold numbers of people out there wasting           time struggling with the bank or worse, paying these false charges. The only idea I have for outreach is to mention it on           whatever online groups and message boards we are part of. I'm happy to have found this wiki page!!

 

  • JS (4/12/09):  I have a request to everyone who is following this wiki -- I have spoken to a few members of different organizations through this process and most recently associates of my local representatives.  One of the stronger recommendations is that we, as a group, refer this issue to the OCC.  Now, this can mean that we individually write through their secure complaint form online our experiences with Bank of America.  But my concern is that unless we make this a concerted group effort, the thread against this type of behavior won't be seen as readily.  I believe if we do this as a group, our plight will be better understood by both federal regulators and the people who have defrauded us.  This is my proposal.  I would like everyone who has had this issue with BoA to write a one to two page statement summarizing what happened and what action you or BoA has taken in this situation.  Whether or not you received any money back from them doesn't matter -- if you've been a victim in this situation, I want your story.  Then please e-mail me at jmstroh at gmail dot com and I will start organizing everyone's responses into a common format to be sent by mail to the OCC.  Once I receive a certain number of responses (I'm thinking around two dozen), I will send them as a packet with a cover letter explaining the collective situation.  Hopefully if we can do this in an organized fashion, we will no longer be seen as individuals who simply missed something on their statement, but a strong group who knows they have been defrauded.  Please contact me or post in this thread if you intend to join in this effort.  (I've edited to reflect that this should specifically be brought to the OCC and not FTC.  I know many of us have already individually written to them, but want to get as many people as possible involved, even if it means sending the same information twice.)

 

  • DN 4-08-09: I just checked my BOA Credit Card Statement online and found charges totaling $80.65 for the last three months for a "Credit Protection Plan". I am totally disabled and would never agree to a PLAN to protect me from becoming disabled. My total income is from Disability Payments therefore it would make no sense for me to inroll in such a plan. I have read lots of bad reviews about BOA online. I should have paid attention and cancelled this credit card. What a RIP-OFF.

 

  • AN 3-23-09: Just noticed I've been getting charged for this Credit Card Protection Plan from BOA.  It's been over a year that they have been charging me.  I asked them for proof of me signing up and they said I probably confirmed verbally over the phone.  If they would have said anything over the phone to me about charging my credit card any amount of money I would have said NO right away. Plans like this should be confirmed on paper with a signature anyways which I did not do.  I was only offered 2 months of the money back and that's all they could do for me.  Is a lawsuit in process for this scam?? PLEASE HELP!!

 

  • FM - 3-18-09 - Filed a complaint with the OCC approx 3 weeks ago. Yestereday I received a call from BOA. They knew my story from the letter that  they received from OCC. I told the person on the phone that I wanted my signature supplied to me to show me that i actually did sign up for this.  She told me that they do not have my signature any more. She told me that this is something I signed up for in 2004 & by law they only have to hold my signature on file for 25 months. I told her I know I did not sign up for this service & feel as though I was scammed. We came to no resolution!  

 

  • http://www.credit-protector.com warns about these types of programs. The http://www.credit-protector.com website has been up for a few years now and offers free information on just how inequitable these credit protection programs really are. 

     

  • http://www.Credit-Card-Cap.com also offers ideas on how credit card companies can be much much fairer when it comes to collecting on old credit-card-debt, including what is known as zombie debt.

     

  • FP - 3/15/09 - Had the same problem and after a call to Bank Of America Credit Card Protecion Plan, got somebody on the phone. This person told me that they can not return the charges. She asked me if I haved moved recently because my current address is not matching the address that she has on records. Then she told me that I can claim 3 months worth of minimun payments on my credit card if I fill up some paperwork because I get cover from this program when I've moved to my new address. The amount she told me that I can get back will cover part of the charges on my credit card for the 6 months that they have been withdrawing from my credit card without mu consent. After reading this Wiki, i've decided to settle for that and we should get together to file a lawsuit against those crooks. I'm trying to find out if somebody already started a class action lawsuit or, if not, how to start one. Please help everybody here doing a research about the subject and sharing the information.

 

  • FM - 3/12/09 - I do not know of any class action lawsuits, but if you find out about one please let us know. Does anyone know how we go about starting a class action law suit? Are there any lawyers burnaby out there that this has happened to???????

 

  • HB-3/11/09 - I recently noticed a suspicious charge on my billing statements from Bank of America. I assumed it was a finance charge until I consulted my accountant. It turns out that Bank of America signed me up for a Credit Protection Plan without my consent or signature. I asked them to provide me with proof of signature and they claim to have "verbal consent". I did not consent to this service. This has been going on since August of 2007. I can provide copies of my Bank of America credit card statements to prove this money has been falsely charged to my account. The representative from Credit Protection I initially spoke with told me that I would only be entitled to 2 months refund with no refund of finance charges accrued. He also told me that if I were to request a formal inquiry I would "lose the opportunity to take advantage of the 2 month refund". He would not disclose his name. 

    I then filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I received a call from "Tara" (phone number: 602-597-5259) from the office of the Chairman of Bank of America after they received a complaint letter from the Better Business Bureau. She offered to settle the claim for $348.50. When I told her this was far less then the amount fraudulently charged to my card (the actual amount is over $3,000 plus accrued interest), she told me that I had verbally accepted the service and that I was sent a welcome package that would have given me the opportunity to deny the service. When I told her I never received any such package she referred me back to the Credit Protection third party affiliate. Tara said if I did file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau against Credit Protection it would only come back to her office.

    Interestingly, Tara also claimed she didn't have an address for this company, even though they do business together. She did give me this phone number for Credit Protection: 1-800-942-8203. This is one of 3 different phone numbers given to me during the course of my research into this matter. I should also mention that when calling Credit Protection, they too refused to give me an address where I could have a letter of complaint sent from the Better Business Bureau, etc.

    I filed complaints with BBB, Consumer Affairs, California Attorney General's Office, FDIC, FTC and the OCC as others have suggested here. Let's see what happens. I plan to consult a lawyer in the meantime. Does anyone know of a class action suit I can jump on?

     

    UPDATE (3/23/09): I rejected the response from BofA (settling for $348.50 as stated above) thru the BBB and am waiting to hear from the BBB again. I have received 2 letters since all of this has happened. One from Credit Protection Plus Plan acknowledging that I canceled their plan that I never signed up for. They also included I could have denied their service within the first 30 days and said the fees appeared on my statements and I had paid them, therefore they could not be refunded. The other was from BofA (Tara Tatro) saying they aren't changing their position and "will no longer respond to future inquiries regarding these same concerns that present no new information". I am floored that so many people are being illegally taken advantage of the same exact way and nothing has been done about it so far.

    UPDATE (3/24/09): I just found out that the BBB will not be researching my case any longer and have judged the complaint as being "adequately resolved". They said if I wanted to pursue this matter further I should seek legal advice. This is extremely disappointing.

    UPDATE (4/12/09): I noticed that $348.50 has been credited back to my account. As previously mentioned, I denied this settlement because it is far less than the amount actually charged to my account. I never consented verbally or otherwise to this “settlement”. 

    UPDATE (4/14/09): I emailed Jason my letter for the OCC so I could be a part of the group effort he's organizing. 

    UPDATE (4/29/09): Yesterday I received a letter from BofA stating that they are raising my APR by 4% in June! When will it end?

    UPDATE  (6/2/09): I closed my credit card account. Altho it was difficult, I got a cash advance online loan to make my final payment because I don’t trust doing business with Bank Of America and am worried about losing more of my money to their scams. Besides this incident I used to have a bank account with them and had to close that account as well because of identity theft/money being stolen. I also submitted my own personal letter on this date to the OCC in addition to being involved with Jason's group effort.

    UPDATE (6/22/09): I received another bill for $75 even tho I have both their confirmation number from when closing the account over the phone AND a letter. I called BofA immediately. They told me I owed more interest money. THE NERVE! The woman kept trying to say I was responsible for the payment and was not nice about it. While trying to clear this up I got hung up on. So I called back and the charge was eventually removed. I asked for another confirmation number and requested a letter be mailed to me as well. I fear this is going to be an ongoing problem. 

    UPDATE (7/1/09): I spoke with attorney, Robert Mullen (number someone generously posted above - 734-455-2700). He is interested in helping us and wants to file a class action lawsuit against BofA/Credit Protection. I urge everyone to call him. Please speak up. We need a good amount of participants to get this going. Lets get our hard earned money back!

      UPDATE (3/10): My claim was denied by the OCC. I had to call twice over the course of 2 months to get them to              mail me the results. Those who got money back from them are very lucky. I can't believe they are letting BofA get         away with taking advantage of innocent people. I have been fighting this for a year now and feeling pretty                          disappointed.

 

  • JN-3/9/09- i just got off the phone with the credit agent from BOA. she told me that i agreed in person at the BOA branch in 2007 that I wanted this protection plan. I ALWAYS refuse these protection plans or any sorts of them.  Im just a college student. I don't know what to do! she said i signed up for it. my sister works for BOA and i called her. she said they cant give my money back. thats not fair.  and i was also charged interest.--thats if u dont make the minimum payments on time. BS because i do. and i ALWAYS check my statements. every week! ! ughh!

     

  • FM- 2/26/09 - There has to be something we can do about this. there are alot of us that are out a good amount of money. I went onto the FTC's       website & filed a complaint as well as the link that i submitted below on 2/25. Maybe if we all submit complaints to the FTC something might come out of this. This is a scam & it is unfair. I was told that this was something i would have signed up for thru a direct mailing but they cannot provide me with my signature      showing me that i actually did sign up. I know I did not & something has to be done!

     

  • SO - 2/26/09 - My story is very similar to the rest of you.  The last 3 consecutive months I have been charged over-the-limit fees despite making payments larger than the minimum (and large enough to bring my balance down so that even witht he next month's finance charge, I would be under my limit).  I normally just check my online statment and pay attention to what the min. amount due is and the due date, and then make a payment based on that.  Until now, I haven't dug deep into my statements, but this issue made me.  I noticed that the reason (since I have no other charges on this card) is due to the credit protection plan - Credit Protection Plus.  Digging deeper, I realized this has been charged since May adding up to $238.49 as well as $137 in over-limit fees (and the subsequent interest charges on both).  Immediately contacting BofA, the first rep said she would refund all 3 over-limit fees and transferred me to the Credit Protection Plan dep't.  The representative there notifies me that I signed up in May over the phone, and that a package was sent to me via mail with a 1-800 # that I would've needed to call to un-enroll.  He then gave me the details of the plan (balance protection in case of disability, etc.) at which point, BINGO, I remembered the entire phone conversation from May with the original represenative.  I KNEW I'd turned it down, as I turn all these offers down, and I'd specifically told HER that "no, i don't want this.  Do not enroll me, do not even send me the brochure.  It doesn't make sense for me."  I told today's representative that this didn't evne SOUND legal, and he laughed and said "it's bank of america, of course it is."  He offered me 2mos refund or to start an investigation, I opted for the investigation.  Will keep everyone posted.  In the meantime, what are our class-action options?  This practice is sooo shady!  Can I just send BofA a letter that says "unless you call me and say no, i'm going to bill you monthly?"

     

  • FM - 2/25/09 - I have gotten no where with Bank of America. I found a website that might be able to help us. The link is www.helpwithmybank.gov/complaints I just submitted a complaint with them. Go on & check it out. they are there to help us!

     

  • FM - 2/18/09- I had been taking care of my ill father for many years. He passed away March 2008. I received my Richmond Lawyers April statement from Bank of America I noticed a fee that I was being charged for Protection Plus. I called to cancel. I asked how this got on to my account. I was told that this is something that I would have signed up for thru a direct mailing. I told the girl on the other end of the phone that I did not want this coverage & I wanted it cancelled. I also told them that i want my signature sent to me to prove that I signed up for this because I do not ever remember signing up for this.  On 5/9/08 I recieved a letter saying that they were still researching & would get back to me as soon as they completed their investigation. On 5/13/08 I received another letter telling me that this has been on my account for over 4 years & they could not locate my original enrollment agreement. The letter also told me that i was charged $.87/ per $100.00 of my monthly outstanding balance. On 5/20/08 I sent BofA a letter stating that I refused to pay the charges until I was provided with my signature & I wanted all the charges that were charged to my account removed from my balance. On 5/28/09 I received another letter from BofA stating thery were still researching my inquiry & would respond to me in 30 days. On 6/26/08 I received another letter from BofA stating that the charges had appeared on each statement since the time I enrolled. They refunded me $49.05 but came to the conclusion that I was not entitled to anymore refunds. On 7/7/08  I wrote them yet another letter explaining yet again what was going on with my account & again requested my signature. On 7/18/08 I received another letter from them telling me that they are researching the information needed to provide me with a response & they would get back to me as soon as they had completed their investigation. On 10/30/08 I had sent them another letter because I had not heard anyting from them. I did not hear from them & on 1/02/09 I called & spoke with a girl who told me that they would send an email to the girl that was handling my account & if I did not hear back to call back. Well still again no response. I called again on 2/4/09 & was told that the supervisor would get this resolved the following day & I would receive a letter in a week. I did not receive anyting so on 2/17/09 I called & spoke to a supervisor who told me that she would find out what was going on & would get back to me in a couple of days. Today 2/18/09 I got home from work & had a message from Protection Plus. I called & spoke with Mary whom told me that they do not keep the signtaures for that long of a time. I find this hard to believe. I told her that I wanted my signature provided to me. I have been asking for this since day 1. She kept telling me that she could send me a letter stating that I was not eligable for a refund. I told her she could send me any letter that she wanted but I wanted my signature. I am about to contact my local consumer reporter on the local news & have them look into what is going on with BofA & protection plus. 

 

  •  FV- I have been in a battle with BOA Protection plan for about two months, To this day they have not refunded my $351.46 not even with a threat of a subpoena of this so called "phone enrollment" BS this is pure and simple criminal. P.S. I have seen on this blog several different addresses to "write" to in order to dispute your charges well let me tell you I have written to about 3 differnt addresses I wonder???? 

     

  • EB- I have been charged about $1500 by BOA for a credit protection plan I never signed up for. When i asked them for proof they said that they don't need any and that a disclaimer was mailed to my home.

     

  • RI - charges on account for 4 months - tried to settle on 2 if I dropped any complaint!

     

  • BK - started this wiki

     

  • GP-I called a few weeks to ask for an interest rate reduction and then I look at my monthly bill today and find they charged me credit protection plus without my permission. I absolutely did not agree to any plan. Plain fraud pure and simple.

     

  • CG - had charges refunded for the total - 2 mo and canceled.

     

  • GF - I got a credit line increase, they asked me if I want the Credit Protection, I said No, and they charged me and enrolled me anyway.

     

  • AG - I did not authorize the service and realized nine months later CCP had been charging me $150 per month. In total they added more than $1,350 to my balance.  Has anyone asked for assistance from the BBB? 

     

  • MB - I noticed a charge recently from Credit Protection Plus on my BoA card.  I had previously not noticed the charges, most likely since they were small, until the recent charge after a balance transfer that was much larger.  The total amount was $300 over the last year.  They said I signed up over the phone when I know I would have denied any such protection plan.  At first they said they would cancel the plan and hurridly tried to end the call there but I had to cut them off just to ask them what they would do about previous charges.  They then offered to refund last month's charge but I had to press the issue and now they're submitting an investigation and I should hear back by mail in a couple weeks.  If this does not get my money back then I'll have to go through BoA.  They'll claim that it's your fault for not seeing it on your statement and that they sent out a package about the plan once you were signed up, do not give in to this as it's their fault for signing you up for something you never agreed to.

     

    Update (5/21/09) - I just noticed two seperate credits on my account.  One for $100 and one for $33.  This was after I submitted the form on  http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/  mentioned by another who had recieved a full refund.  The amount that was refunded though is only for the last two months before I canceled.  I'm not sure what else to do in order to receive the rest of my money back.

     

  • SH- I have had the same problem, i got enrolled after i told the lady to send it in writing and all the sudden i received the welcome package...this is not permission to be enrolled, and now i have almost $1000.00 in credit protection charges!  I dont know what to do either... The same goes with all the different phone numbers they give you to call...and put you on hold for over 30 min and then all of a sudden you are cut off...what is going on here

     

  • CB - Boned.  Never doing business with them again, but until then... I owe them lots of money.

     

  • JE - (1/14/09) I just noticed the charges that had been accruing for over a year. I called B of A, who transferred me directly to a rep from the Credit Protection company. I thought I'd be on the phone for hours threatening legal action after reading all these stories.... but all I did was tell the rep I wanted out and she immediately cancelled AND refunded every single charge, no questions asked. I know it's not over until I get the refund and the charges stop.... but it looks like they have at least changed their customer service approach.

     

  • SL-(01/21/09) I noticed the continuing charges on my most recent statements, while reviewing some other unauthorized charges on my BofA, Citibank and Discover credit cards and following up on. I have now determined through internet researching a variety of relationships between the entities which own or control the marketing for Credit Protection Plus. I will follow up with links to sites and names of the entities etc. if the administrator of this Wiki tells me it is appropriate. One technique I have noticed is that when you call your credit card company to complain about the charges, they will ultimately cancel, only to have a different entity with a different service that you allegedly joined, show up on your next bill. Additionally you may get something in the mail, back dated (like an insurance policy I received a few days ago dated 2003 with an undated letter saying that attached are the documents you (allegedly) requested. I estimate that I have been a few thousand dollars for various things without authorization.  

     

  • LD- (01/22/09) I learned my father was being charged for this bogus program for over 2 years while reviewing his finances after passing away in a tragic accident. I found it hard to believe that he agreed to this program since he never believed in any of the optional features marketed to card holders,  especially this high cost scam. Nonetheless, I contacted the service to process his claim.  It's been a year now, and they've lost his death certificate and other required information which i find disturbing.  More shocking was their decision to deny the claim on the basis of the loss not being covered in the Addendum to the business card agreement, despite medical records indicating the cause of death as an accident.  I've requested copies of both the addendum AND proof of my father's enrollment aggreement, and to date I haven't received anything, nor can i find this information online. And to make matters worse, they've continued charging the account (business credit card account) despite numerous cancellation requests.  There are no words for the added stress AND difficulties this fraudulent organization has caused our family in mourning.  I look to work with other victims on establishing a lawsuit against them. 

     

  • GF-(1/25/09) Am I stupid, or is this a scam, fraud and/or theft?  My story is pretty much the same as everyone else.  I am not one of the fortunate ones to get my money back.  However, I am going to keep trying to do whatever I can do get refunded.  In fact, I'm going to give my daughter half of the proceeds (hell, if she can do it, I'll give her all of it) if she can get it back.  She's eighteen and she's a freakin' pitbull who won't let go.  If anyone has any ideas, please pass it on.  And we need to try to inform and warn all that we can.  This 'credit protection' company is set up so that they are somewhat insulated from a connection with bank of america.  However, as slimy as this program is, bank of america is getting something out of it.  This a modern day travelers scam (the guys that charge the elderly a bloody fortune to halfway shingle their roof or reseal their driveway).  .  Pass the word, people.  I will try to update with what works and what doesn't. --------

     

  • TB-(1/28/2009) BOA charged me $1028.20 for this scam before I noticed, and they refuse to give it back. I've just filed complaints with the FTC and state Attorney General. -- Update 3/16/2009: Besides the BBB, it appears that the appropriate agency to file a complaint with is (not the FTC but) the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency), whose website is www.occ.treas.gov; OCC charters, regulates, and supervises all national banks including BOA. I've just received confirmation from the OCC that my case is under review. I suggest that everyone involved file a report with the OCC. -- Update 10/21/2009: The OCC rejected my complaint. Good luck everyone.

     

  • JS-(2/12/2009) Just another name in the pile.  I noticed these charges on my account a full 30 months after they'd started.  I'm a online type of guy and checked my statements actively rather than after the month was up, only referring back to previous ones to look at a specific charge.  Thus the last-line-item-on-my-statement method worked like a charm on me.  Upon calling (12/18/2008) they cancelled my enrollment and initially offered me a two month refund.  This first person even gave me a snide "well maybe you should look over your statement" line.  I refused the refund, got passed to someone else, and was offered three months.  I refused, got passed, and was offered six months.  Again I declined, and after a half hour was still being stonewalled by the guy, so finally I stopped and let the guy off so they could do their internal verification.  Of course, this resulted in a stock letter stating I'd enrolled by phone, like most everyone else.  Total lost, $878.11 according to those I talked to.  Next step is writing a letter to them with a copy of this message they sent me, then writing to my representatives, the BBB, the FDIC, and the Department of Commerce one month after the letter is received by BoA/CSI.

     

  • JS-(3/11/2009) Given my previous statement about requesting repayment from them one month after I sent the letter (2/12 note above), I have received nothing but another substanceless page from them saying they have to continue their investigation, the same investigation they "closed" by saying I had signed up by phone 3 years ago.  Let's be clear -- writing them yields no better a result than any other method.  So tomorrow the letters go out as promised to the various sources I plan to write about this.  I will post web/physical addresses and a list of people whom I think we should contact about this, each of us.  P.S. worked on the above and below formatting a bit, hope it makes things clearer.  Just separated the statements with Shift-Enter.

     

  • JS-(3/16/2009) Letters have gone out to the OCC, my representative and two senators, and will soon go out to the BBB and FDIC.  I'll report if and when I get results from any of these (thus far only OCC has sent a confirmation).

 

  • JS-(4/5/2009) The FDIC request got bounced back as not being the right source to send such inquiries, so do not send to them.  Meanwhile, I received a call that I let go to voicemail (the number was blocked) that turned out to be from a Bank of America representative who was forwarded my letters from the BBB and OCC.  The woman's message stated that they were going to settle the claim (without my input) and were writing me a letter to confirm this after she got some final information from their investigations department about this.  I haven't received the letter yet, but I was automatically refunded six months of these fees on my credit card, again without my input.  This is no better than what I was initially offered over the phone five months ago, and only accounts for about $256 of the $878 I was wrongly charged.  I get the feeling I'll end up getting suck at this point like HB above.

     

  • UPDATE  A blog called boingboing has a post from last year about CCRAPP (credit card ripoff and pirating program).  Near the end of the comments someone has posted some phone numbers and addresses that might be of interest.

 

  • JK-(3/23/09) I  am in the same boat. I am a small business owner. I have been fraudulently charged over $1500 from BOA's so-called "credit protection". I  have no recollection of ever signing up for this and I ALWAYS decline BS telemarketing scams like this. I called BOA and like others have mentioned here, they are going to "review" the account and if they determine I did not sign up, they said they would reimburse me for all the fees (Not holding my breath). I told the rep that I wanted to see my signature that I authorized these transactions and that I never agreed to this. Again, she said they would send a letter in about two weeks. I also called the BOA disputes center and told them there were fraudulent charges on my card. When she realized it was Credit Protection, she said that all she could do is file the same thing as the rep from credit protection. Something MUST be done to stop this madness! These banks are now getting tax payer bailouts, yet the still get to abuse their customers. We are spending OUR money only to get ripped off by banks. 

 

(If you create a PBwiki account when you make the edit, you will be notified of updates to this wiki.) 

 

Confession of a telemarketer

 

I worked as a telemarketer who is working on behalf of BoA in selling their Credit Protection Plus. Im telling my story because I feel guilty in being a part of the bank's accomplish in scamming its credit card holders. Everyday we're calling thousands even millions of members to scam to the protection we're offering. Even our superiors and managers know that we're fooling good people.We were actually trained by our superiors to let do these things:

>mislead our customers that the program is free, there is no charge ever

>easy to cancel anytime with full refund (in reality:hard to contact the toll free#)

>no risk & no cost program

>convince the card members that sending them the info will not charge them (truth is once they say yes to the enrollment question,they'll be CHARGED upront)

>for our senior members who can hardly hear and understand,they are the favorites because we can enroll them easily by telling them it's a gift from BoA

>for language barrier customers (can't speak english well), they are also the favorites...they will always say YES...

 

Our strategy is like this, during our product presentation,before the recording part of the conversation, we will all say the beauty of the program, no charge/free,that they can activate their benefits easily,to the extent that we're saying lies to the clients just to make sales because we were pressured by our superiors.now,during the taped recorded part of the conversation,specially on the reading of the disclosure,which almost all members don't that whar we're alreading to them id the terms and conditons of their purchase,what we do is we really read the info very fast so that they won't understand what we're saying..what to them is only some review of their benefits..eventually they'll easily say YES to the enrollment and billing question.

 

Im not proud to be working with Bank of America. Bank of America is a big liar.They are allowing us to fool their customers just for them to have a lot of money on their pockets..on the expense of others. I would like to apologize to the millions that we're scammed...we're just doing our job...

 

Links (feel free to add links here!)

 

 

Bank of America: enrolls you in "Credit Protection Plus" without your permission 

Consumer complaints about Bank of America - consumeraffairs.com

Bank of America is shaaaaaady!

 

 

My dealings with Credit Protection Plus

 

I didn't use my Bank of America account for several years. Then I get a bill from them saying that I owe them 70 some odd dollars. I noticed the only transaction was the fee for the Credit Protection Plus. I call the bank of america credit card company and tell them I wanted to report a fraud because I didn't order this. I handed used the account at all. I didn't realize at the time it had anything to do with bank of america. They tell me to contact the credit protection plus people.

I called them and they gave me the run around. They are some serious, sketchy people. I told them I wanted the fee removed. They insisted on getting my address information. I told them I wanted the fee removed. They insisted they needed this irrelevant and unrelated information. Finally, I gave in and just told them my new address information. After talking with them for several minutes I couldn't get them to actually address my request. They just kept telling me how important it was to have credit protection. Eventually, I just hung up.

Then I called the credit card people and told them that I talked with the credit protection plus people and they had said they would remove the fee but had failed to do so. They handled the matter for me somehow. I could almost see the knowing smile on the operators face when they did it.

LS -tobeerrant at gmail

 

We're getting screwed by Bank of America!

In March of this year (2008) we took out a personal cash advance loans from Bank of America. In June I noticed on our bill a charge for $201. for Credit Protection Plan. Neither my husband or myself agreed to the protection plan but I thought, 'well, $200. a year would be reasonable and welcome if anything did in fact happen that prevented us from making the payments'. Neither of us called then, but noticed it was also on the July bill. Wait a minute! Each month? You've got to be kidding!! At that point my husband called and promptly got the run around. They assured him that one of us must have agreed to it or they would not have charged us. My husband demanded it be credited back to us, and assured THEM that we did not agree to it. We were told they would 'look into it' and get back to us, and credit our $$ back to us if they were at fault.

Today we got a letter in the mail from Bank of America stating that "our records indicate that you applied for the Credit protection Plan program by phone on March 21, 2008. As outlined under the terms and conditions, was provided from March 21, 2008 to July 11, 2008, and the chargesd that billed to your account during this time period are valid."

It goes on to say "thank you for this opportunity to be of service," HA!!! Bullshit, pure and simple.

This is truly a scam and even if they do discontinue it at this point, they still bilked us out of 2 months worth. That would add up to a whole lot of money...there is no way we would ever agree to such a plan.

We would never do business with Bank of America again and would never recommend them to anyone.

lp

Wisconsin

westiemm@yahoo.com

 

August 2008

My wife and I had a BofA card and stopped using it in August of 2007, about the same time the FIRST Credit Protection Plus charge appeared (we would learn later). However, we stopped getting paper copies of our statement right after that and continued to pay off a set amount each month thinking that no more charges were accruing. We didn't think much of the card until we decided to pay the entire balance off this month (August of 2008). When I logged on to view the statement, there was the credit protection plus charge. What's this? Turns out that my wife called exactly 1 year ago to dispute a late fee. At that time, they enrolled us and my wife swears she was never even asked about it. All she was doing was disputing a late fee. Turns out we were charged for 12 MONTHS of this crap we never signed up for. When we disputed it they claimed it was our fault for not checking our statement. WHAT? We never authorized it in the first place and therefore never knew about it. BofA sent us to Fae Dixon at Credit Protection Plus. She's the manager there. She tried the same crap about not picking it off the statement sooner and we shot back that it was a fraudulent charge to begin with and never authorized. We threatened legal action. She immediately backed down and "as a service to our valued customers" offered to refund the ENTIRE years worth of charges plus finance charges. Hmmm. Seems like they've been down this road before.

JW

Boston, MA

JW,

I tried a similar tactic to get them to refund my account and they gave me some BS about an investigation. Did you get an immediate refund after threatening legal action?

Thanks,

Jason

jasondol@gmail.com

 

December 2008/January 2009

 

I called on December 26 and was told that even asking for additional information counts as enrolling.  I called BS on it, but they said they'd cancel my account, investigate, and mail me the result of the investigation within 2 weeks.  I waited, finally called back on Jan 13 and spoke to a supervisor.  She said they mailed something 12/30 with an access code to listen to a recording of me enrolling by phone.  I never got this, and she confirmed my address and re-sent it but said she herself hadn't heard it, can't provide me this code, and that they have an analyst in Omaha who "makes sure these mistakes never happen."  

I know I said no, and at worst I might have agreed to be sent additional information just to get the guy off the phone, but until I hear exactly what I said I really don't have a leg to argue on.  If I did accept additional information, knowing that apparently there's some clause in the paperwork saying it counts as enrollment, I'm just going to have to make the "but you can't prove I ever received any paperwork" argument.  I'll let you know how it works.

Addendum:  February 12, 2009.  After countless phone calls, my tally stands at this: they've "mailed" me "proof" that I signed up on the phone 3 times now.  I've received none.  I've had at least 3 managers promise to call me back.  None have.  I've spoken to about 20 reps and 6 managers now, and the story went from "anything you say counts as enrolling" to "they'd only enroll you if you explicitly asked to sign up."  The second-to-last manager I talked to verified my number before not calling back, only she had a completely wrong phone number for me.  The last manager I talked to, when I asked her how long this dance of "we just mailed you proof today" and "i never received the proof" would continue, told me that I should just write the Disputes Department:

PO Box 34888

Omaha, NE 68134

Why they couldn't have told me this two months ago, I'll never know.

If you are calling them, you are wasting your time.  The only people at that call center are the enrollment people, and most of them are too young and naive to realize they're working for crooks.  "We wouldn't sign you up against your will, of course we'd have proof!"  Sorry, kids, you work for the Bad Guys.

The only way to get a refund is by requesting it from the Disputes Department, via mail.  Or so they just told me.  The people you call are only there to waste your time. 

Good luck.

-CB

 

JS -- CB, I'm sending a letter out to that address tomorrow.  I had the address from their website, so it's good to have the address verified.  I'm stating one month from the delivery of the letter to when I expect a refund, after which point the complaint letters go out and I start thinking about legal action.

 


 

Company that runs the Credit Protection Plus Program

I have been battling with them for 4 months over a "Benefit Activation". I sent them all the information they requested and then some. I finally got so frustrated, I gave up on trying to get my money back. On top of that, they sent me a letter stating that I used up my benefit activations and that they were cancelling my account. Come to find out they are still billing me, even though they notified me telling me my protection account is canceled. Anyway, if anyone wants to file a complaint with the Attorney General and the BBB like I am, the actual company is:

State Side Processing

1941 South 42nd Street 385

Omaha, NE 68105

 

  • SK (02/21/09) - Hello! Thank you all for talking about this issue and sharing your story. I've noticed few weeks ago the same thing is happening to me. I don't recall approving this plan and they've been taking my money for the last year (something like 6 dollars per month). It seems it started the same month when I got my credit card. Yesterday I called the phone number that apears under the credit card payment on the Bank of America web page and there was no problem - guy told me I need to answer a safety question to quit the plan and that I will get a refund. I sounded probably pretty angry...but apart from that I can't see any reason why he would behave like that. We'll see what happenes next. I really doubt this is the end. Also, this is probably a part of their scam, phone number that is in daitails of plan payment (on Bank of America web-page - when you log into your account) is incomplete - it is written - 1-800-942-10 3 (second to last digit is missing). I tried all numbers and I finally got them under this number - 1-800-942-1083. I was pissed with this. Good luck all!
    • Update (02/23/09): I got the refund this morning!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      http://www.boingboing.net/2008/06/30/bank-of-america-enro.html

 

 

6/12/2009-SG After reviewing my credit card records in April of 09 I realized there where charges even though I hadn't been using the card. I looked further into the issue and found the charges to be coming from Credit Protection Plus. I called there 800 number listed on the charge in April and asked what it was and why it is being charged. they said it was credit protection and that I verbally signed up for it on the phone. I told them I don't want it and never signed up for it and it needs to be canceled immediately. they said ok. I checked my account in May and there was another charge. so i called again and they told me there was no record of me ever calling. I told them that I never wanted the service and it needed to be canceled and i wanted my money back. they offered 2 months of payment. I told them I never signed up and needed some kind of proof that I had done so. they said they would have to mail it. on may 8th 2009 I received a letter simply stating that I verbally signed up by phone. This is not proof I can write a letter that stating that. now my credit card account interest has skyrocketed from 17% to 27.99% and all charges previous to 05/22/2009 has disappeared from my online transaction log. before this incident you could look back 1 year. so now I am stuck with a ridiculous interest rate. the charges I have incurred from Credit Protection Plus since October 2008 and I can't prove any of it because all the recodes have been deleted.

our terms of service state that if you dont decline the extra information that is the same as signing up even though you had to say no to the service at least 3 times before they offer the information about it. This is so shady.

if they are so big on terms of service I should write them a letter stating that my terms of service have changed. now when they tell me "NO" they will owe me 4 million dollers. this alaws me to ask one more time for my money back. they will say no and thus be indebted to me for 4 million dollers.

 

UPDATE: got called today. luckly I have a nice phone system at my office and it recodes everything. here is a link to the .wav file. god these people piss me off. since my frst post I have rolled my debt into a home equity cash advance loans at 4% and zeroed out the card. I am now a happy member of Chase and so is my business. BHURN IN HELL BofA!!!

sorry about the long link. didnt want to host off my server

http://sites.google.com/site/guentha/Home/g9000-20090624-145000-1245880200.818.wav?attredirects=0

Guentha@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

05/28/09 - In response to that:

1.  I'm sure we have all been offered the service over the phone, or seen it as a mystery charge that suddenly pops up on your Discover bill, for instance.  So it is not ignorance of the program that is at issue here.  We know it's a bullshit service and that is why we decline it.  For example, over the phone with BoA.  We say "no".  Who cares if it is a 3rd party vendor, it's offered through BoA.

2.  If you call the phone number, they are not available when you are. The whole point of online banking is that it is convenient, yet you don't see the charge on your monthly that pops open online, it is a charge hidden from plain view.  You have to go to the statement from the previous month.  Hmm..they must add the charge just before they reset to the next month, and the info conveniently goes to the archives. Online should mean real-time.

3.  Maybe you are right. Do you work there? Sounds like it.

4.  Again, convenience of online banking facilitates the hidden, unauthorized charges.

5.  Thanks for your advice on this point, I will question every charge and look at all statements. But I will surely not be surprised when another credit card suddenly adds the Credit protection charges.  Even if I spot it the first time they do it.  The point is, we now question Bank of America, and whether or not it has been a month or a year, they are still unautorized charges that should be re-imbursed.  It is not our fault, we said no.  We now say no.  It is fraud.  It would be our fault if we said "yes" to the credit protection.  We know it is a scam.  We did not give them money, they took it.

 

5/28/09 - I'm not suprised at all that you people are so completely ignorant of this whole "Credit Protection Plus" thing. First off: it's not even a BoA product. It's offered through a 3rd party vendor!!

Secondly: if you bothered to actually call the phone number that's printed on your statements next to the charges, you'd be able to ask to cancel the service.

Thirdly: NO ONE from BoA has been fired for this because it's NOT a BoA product, so no BoA employee EVER enrolled you in it!!

Fourthly: READ  YOUR STATEMENTS!! People, really...are you so stupid or blind that you don't bother reading the monthly statements? It's all right there if you bothered to read it!

I actually READ MY Statements, I question ever charge and make sure I know exactly where, when and how much I spend. Remember a Credit Card is NOT YOUR MONEY! IT's Credit exended to you through the bank that issued you the card. If you don't pay or don't bother keeping up on your statements, it's YOUR OWN FAULT!!

 

05/27/09 - That is very interesting, but not surprising.  So even if BoA did not instruct their employees to sign people up against their will, they are complicit in that they know that their employees have done so.  It's funny, when I left a message for the techs online, because the credit protection offices were conveniently closed, they fired back a standard repsonse that included a statement that I didn't have to call them back, cuz they know it could be inconvenient, or something like that.  Of course if I take my time to call to cancel, they can charge more!

 

5/27/09 - SD - I called BoA to close out the account on my other BoA card and when asked why, explained about my experiences with the ironically named "Credit Protection Plus" and that I felt that I'd been scammed. The person I talked to was quite familiar with this, and said that people there had been fired for signing customers up without their permission... and then he clammed up!

 

05/26/09 - I checked my account yesterday and discovered these outrageous charges to my credit card. Whoever the f made up this scam deserves a round of applause, or perhaps a stoning.  I vaguely remember making a phone call to inquire to what my apr was or if there were balance transfer offers available, and being pressured to take just the free information about the program. Well, this morning I was offered the standard 2 month refund and "call it good" or to dispute the charges. I chose the latter. Josh was adequately prepared and schooled in how to respond to my complaint. Must be standard practice for BOA to deceive and defraud its customers. I really hope to get this matter resolved as I have charges going back to October, about $75 per month. This leaves me feeling victimized and stupid for not realizing this sooner, a sucker. I will write a complaint letter to the OCC as suggested below and I am lucky to have found this site to see that there may be hope. AB

 

5/26/09- I just found this group as I am now in a battle regarding my $800 fees from Credit Protection Plus too. I had no idea that I was paying these monthly fees for over a year! They do not have a voice recording OR my signature to prove this transaction and are only offering me two months in repayment. Per Denises's post below, I have now written a letter to the Treasury Dept and am hoping for the best. LW

 

5/19/09 - I forgot to mention that my the claim has not been accepted yet.

 

5/19/09 - Just like you all, I found out about "enrolling in the program" even when I specifically declined it, on April of this year through my bill.  I have had the credit card in question for about 4 years and I never used it till March of this year. They did call me in February to make me aware that my credit limit was increased to 10K and to see if I had any balances elsewhere I wanted transferred to this card with a 4.99 APR till march of next year. I received over 10 calls asking me to make the transfers. I explained time and time again that I was not interested for I pay off the cards and the info they saw was outdated. In April, when I became aware of the charges I called to question and cancel, they explained the program and benefits and aked me to reconsider. Since I only used the card in March and April, the fee was only about $ 80.00. 

 

I kept the program and accepted the charges because the rep said that in case of an unemployment claim I would be able to continue to use my credit cards and they will make the minimum payments for up to 18 months. THE PROGRAM WILL "PROTECT MY CREDIT". The next day I filed a claim for I have been unemployed since October of last year. A week later, I tried to use both of my BOA credit cards and they were both declined. As it turns out, the credit limit on both cards was reduced to the amount charged on the cards. I went from 25K credit limit to 9K. Filing a claim WILL HURT  YOUR  CREDIT. The scam is huge, I will answer questions as presented. I have to tell you there is so much there that I would like to share. I just don't want to make this first note not overburden for anyone to read. AM.

I would like to join on this as I have been scammed by BOA. The sam goes far deeper of what I have heard here and I woul like to share with you and join the campaign.

 

 

5/19/09 - Hi JS how are you doing with getting statements from members of this WIKI?? - Thanks FM.

 

5/19/09 - FM, well things seem to have stalled out for the time being perhaps just from those who don't check the wiki often.  I compiled everyone's e-mail addresses and will start requesting individually by the end of this week, once I can get other life matters out of the way (moving!).  I'm at about eight total from maybe 30 possible statements.  I got in touch with my local Senate representative (Sherrod Brown, OH) after I had written my letter in to them, and they sent me back a couple of release forms allowing him to use my story on my behalf if it's something that comes up.  I'd recommend anyone (and this will be an individual thing) to contact your representative and reiterate your story to their offices.  In any case, I'll start going e-mail to e-mail shortly.  Thanks to those of you who have already sent information in!

 

 

I GOT ALL MY MONEY BACK! Update from member Denise Hughes

     I am updating this and hoping this helps somebody else receive all their credit protection plus money back. Just to recap, I had incrued over $800 in 8 months from Bank of America adding this to my credit card without my permission. I called several times and the most I was offered was a two month courtesy refund.  I knew I said I didnt want this when I called about a routine credit card matter in mid 2008 so I was not going to give up that easily. 

     I wrote to the attorney general, all my local tv stations(consumer segments), and any other consumer watchdog group I could find from googling. I also wrote the bank itself.  This has been playing out for about 3-4 weeks now. Last night I got a voicemail from the corporate office of BOA saying she understood my matter had been resolved and wanted to know if I wanted to give any other feedback. I was so angry when I returned her call, I exclaimed "being offered 2 months of the fees back is NOT resolution". She said "oh, I see that you havent looked at your account in the last few days because there is a credit of $800+ dollars that has been applied"  I nearly thought she was kidding! Long story short, it is my impression that one letter in particular was the reason the bank took me seriously and quickly put through the full refund. I had written to the US Treasury(see link below to write online) and apparently the letter got the banks prompt attention.  I only wish I had started my mission with that instead of all the other things I tried!  I just wrote exactly what occurred and when and explained the cost to me and my family. I truly hope this helps others here.  I never thought I would receive the entire amount back because through all my research online, most people who complained said they only received the token two months back and just one that I could find got half back.  Since the Bank of America official specifically mentioned my letter to the Treasury, I assume that was the clincher. Anyway, here is the link

                                              http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/      I hope my happy ending brings many more!

 

JS -- great news Denise!  The helpwithmybank.gov website is run by the OCC, where I was given six months of fees back.  So this is definitely the best path for all of us, and why I'm trying to get a group of us from the wiki together to send to them.  So hopefully everyone sees this and decides to contact me! (see below bolded message I left 4/12)

 

HB - Congratulations Denise!! Perhaps there is hope for us all yet. Jim, any update on the progress of the letters? I urge everyone to send theirs! I did.

 

 

I just found charges going back to last june from this co. I never authorized nor received anything from them. They seem to be working in concert with bofa. I am told they will "investigate" and respond within 7-10 days. The company offered to remove a couple of months fees if I go away basically. This is fraud and will be persued. Has anyone received proof (recordind etc. that they ordered whatever this is? JIm 

FrontPage

From S Winn (7-27-2009)- In June of 2006 I opened a Visa Credit Card with Bank of America and over the past 3 years, I have maintained an average balance of $5,649 to which they have charged an average 23% interest rate.  Despite my consistent payments of well over the minimum due, my increasing credit score, my sustained account activity, and my persistent requests for a lower interest rate, Bank of America has made numerous increases to my rate maxing at 29.88% in May of this year.

From my very first statement in June of 2006 there was a bank charge added, at the same time and based on the same balance as the Finance charge, which was labeled Credit Protection Plan.  It was my belief that that these two monthly charges by Bank of America were the bank charges I agreed to when signing the contract for the credit service.  I never questioned the charges, as it was also my belief that no one, particularly my trusted banking institution, could lawfully set recurring charges to my credit card without legally binding signed consent.

Over the past 3 years I have been charged a total of $1,771.31 in monthly charges for the Credit Protection Plan.  This balance has also accrued interest totaling $30.21 meaning my credit card balance was increased a total of $1,801.52 for what were labeled as Credit Protection Plan charges.

I have since been informed via other scammed Bank of America customers and the bank representatives that the Credit Protection Plan is a “voluntary” plan to protect my credit if I were unable to work.  When I opened the credit card, I was a struggling college student.  I now make $30,000/year as a social worker.  I would never have voluntarily signed up for a plan charging me $600/year “just in case”.  I have now realized I have been a victim of fraud at the hands of the bank that I had trusted.

With this information, I went to my local branch and submitted to a representative a formal written demand for cancellation of the unauthorized charges detailing the facts herein and I later received a call from Bank of America to address my complaint.  The representative stated that according to their records, I agreed to the Credit Protection Plan over the phone and information detailing the Plan had been sent to me in the mail.  I informed the representative that I had never agreed to the Plan and never received any documentation detailing the plan or requesting authorization for the charges.  The representative reported to me that they have no proof of consent and it is not necessary for them to have consent to charge for the Plan.  The representative stated my account had been credited for two month’s worth of charges but they were unwilling to credit the remaining charges.

SW - I just joined the ranks. I have charges going back to February of 2008. Approx $1500. Unbelievable. I find it interesting that they offer either 2 months back or Proof of Enrollment...not both. They said if proof of enrollment is not found, then they would refund the money...unlikely. I'll start writing my letters now.

KS - 10-01-09  - Yesterday I found 3 months on my bill. I never heard of this until then. Aggravated, I ran the 800-942-1083 number in Google and found this page. I called them today, ready for a fight, but the agreed to give me a refund for the whole amount. (only about $13.00) They say it will show on my next bill. If there is no update to this after 30 days or so, it is safe to assume that I got my refund.

They asked me for my zip, last 4 of the credit card account, my address, and my mother's maiden name. I told Sandra a couple of times that I was very uncomfortable giving this information to a third party. She said she understood but that it was necessary to verify that I was the person on the account.

This probably means that they discovered me by looking at my credit report, since I never gave this info to them. I doubt that I will, but it may be possible to sue for unauthorized access to credit report - $1000 in small claims court. SHOULD THIS QUALIFY, YOU COULD PRACTICALLY SHUT THEM DOWN IF EVERYONE DID THAT AT THE SAME TIME.

She claimed that they sent me something in the mail explaining my benefit including a 30 day free trial. What a colossal scam!

MORAL TO THE STORY: If you do not read the fine print on all your JUNK MAIL, you better be looking at EVERY line of your credit card bill EVERY month!  

KS - 12-30-09

Thanks for setting up this wiki. Took me a while to find out that the charges where not Credit card finance charges but related to the Bank of America credit card protection plus plan, since the charge come from Bank of America they seem to be designed to look just like finance charges and stayed under my radar for a while. I was enrolled into the scheme against my will and without my knowledge, BOA started charging without my consent and is still delying / denying. I found out in summer and still trying to recuperate my loss. Class action sounds fine to me.

Below, I made a summary of Bank of America charges over 2 years (scary to see how much this bank charges you in a year, even without the scam) and the Bank of America credit card protection plan fees are more than all other BOA Bank charges combined (!) , including credit card interest, minimum payments, monthly checking maintenance. Given the non-sense value of this product, just the absolute cost illustrates the wild overcharging and fraudulent nature of the Bank of America Credit Card Credit Protection operation, plus I am at loss of what this "credit protection" is good for and I don't care because I don't need it. Just want my money back and will fight for it. 

MY BANK OF AMERICA FEES OVER 2 YEARS

 

 

What makes me sad is that your own house-bank scams you which obviously raises questions about the integrity of the other BOA operations and products. Are they running my investments or business accounts with the same mindset? For me: time to look for a different bank.

 

Update April 1 2010: I did get my money back through an OCC claim and actually won another OCC claim for $100 (!) legal bank fees that they deducted from my account in error and BoA fought hard not to refund. So far Bank of America  tried to steal a total of $741 dollars from my bank accounts on several occasions that they only handed back after me submitting and winning OCC claims each time. It's unbelievable, this bank is like a psychopath.  

________

 

I just cancelled my BOA Credit Card after being unknowingly signed up for thie Credit Protection Scam.  How can our government bail out a company that willfully and intentionally scams it customer.  I am a top level customer who has always paid off my card every month religiously. A 30,000 credit limit on my Platinum Plus Card proved that.  The Person who represented themselves as a BOA representative insisted that we not only signed up for the plan but we gave them my town of birth (like they dont already know that information and can utilize it at any time).  I now wonder if she has any affiliation with BOA.  I called the number on the card that was listed after the scam charge. Seeing all these posts its quite obvious that either BOA or someone posing as BOA is creating these scam charges.  My reccomendation to you is to to do what I did.  CANCEL YOUR BOA CARD IMMEDIATELY and take your business elsewhere.  My perfect credit rating will be appreciated by another credit card company that doesnt choose to scam its best customers.   Thank the good old USA for bailing out a company that chooses to swindle honest americans.  Maybe they should change their name to Bank of  Alqaida.

 

SG-3/22/10  In February of this year I discovered I had been wrongly charged on my Bank Of America credit card for a Credit Protection Plus Program, that I never enrolled in. The statements that I have accessed online date back 18 months and the charges are there for all 18 months. The total for these charges = $894.83. I never picked up on these charges because many of them do not appear in the online view of transactions , but do appear on the actual statements. I called Bank Of America MArch 1st, 2010 and was told I had to call Credit Protection Plus directly at 1(888)942-1083 to inquire about the charges. I called them and told them that I had never authorized any program and that I expect a full refund. I was told there would be an investigation regarding proof of enrollment, and I should receive a letter in 7-10days. I asked them when I apparently enrolled in this program and I was told March 2007. I have since ordered back statements (online only keeps the last 18 months of statements скачать фотошоп), to find out what other additional bogus charges I was charged. I have now received these hard copies of statements, The total charges ( before finance charges added by the credit card company)equal to $302.18, bringing the grand total to $1,197.01(before any added percentages from the credit card company). In the meantime, I discovered my cousin who lives in Maine had fallen victim to the same exact scam. So now it is March 15th, and I received a letter from Bank Of America, stating that they have "fully researched my account. Bank Of America retains enrollment copies for (5) years for future reference. This account has been protected under Credit Protection Plus for more than (5) years. Our records indicate that credit protection charges have been billed to your account and have appeared on each statement every month you carried a balance since the time of your enrollment. In addition, you received written materials describing the plan provisions shortly after enrollment." Nowhere in the envelope did I find any proof of enrollment. No signed authorization. I have only been told that I possess written materials describing the plan provisions shortly after enrollment, which I do not. Whenever I have been asked about any additional "programs" in relation to my credit card, or "free trails" I have always vehemently declined.

 My credit card account was opened May 22,2006. The bogus charges began March 15, 2007. I am filing a complaint with the Comptroller of Currency Administrator of Banks at the US Treasury Department in the hope that I can have the money returned. 

 Bank of America is a national bank that has been bailed out by our tax dollars, and here they are sneakily stealing people's money under some bogus "protection" plan. It is evident that the public needs to be protected by banks like this. I have since emptied my bank accounts with Bank of America, and am going to close the credit card account with them as soon as this issue is resolved.

 I am a mother of a 3 year old, seven months pregnant with my second child, and a critical care nurse write my essay. I need every penny I make to support my family.  I do not have the funds to hire an attorney at this point. All I want is a refund. SG

 

________

 

KL-5/29/10

 

I just discovered these bogus charges on my account last night. I just filed a complaint with the OCC:

 

"Since January of 2007 I have been unknowingly charged for a "Credit Protection Plus" service on my Bank of America Platinum Plus Student Visa. This service has cost me $0.95 for every $100 of the balance of my credit card. Since December 2008 alone, this service has cost me almost $400. I've ordered my older statements and should be receiving them shortly so that I may provide a more accurate total of the fees incurred. I called their customer service line at 800.924.1083 and the representative told me that I had subscribed for this service online. I stated that I absolutely did not and I expected a full refund for these fraudulent charges. The representative told me that he would be initiating an "investigation" and provided me with a confirmation number (XXXXXXX). From what I have read from hundreds of online complaints, this tactic is just a buffer and nothing usually comes of it, and if something does come to fruition it is never a full refund unless your association gets involved. Here is a link to a Wiki that is dedicated to this fraudulent service with numerous complaints documented: http://credit-protection-plus.pbworks.com/ I have been charged about $20 a month for this service since December 2008. By my estimation I have likely been charged anywhere from $600 to $800 for this service. According to Bank of America, I was supposed to receive a welcome package by mail when I subscribed to this service. I never received any such package or any type of notification. What's more is that this charge doesn't appear as a transaction or line item in the online banking service so I had no idea I was being charged until I viewed one of my PDF statements. This is one of the most outrageous and blatantly fraudulent scams I have ever seen from any reputable institution, and I cannot believe a company which accepted federal bailout dollars could have the audacity to be scamming hundreds of ordinary hardworking Americans out of their money."

 

________

I just got a $2600+ refund from BOA for the credit protection plus they’ve been charging me for  almost 2 years.  This page helped allot. 

That Treasury Dept website http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/ really did the trick.  I got a call from BOA in about a week.  they investigated in 3 days and called beach to say they would refund the payments i had made. Thanks.  Now I’m transferring my balance to Family Lawyers Surrey a Credit Union.


 

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Comments (32)

anonymous said

at 7:27 am on Jan 14, 2009

Does anyone live in the New Jersey or Philadelphia area who feels they were unknowingly signed up for BOA's credit protection plus. A consumer reporter is looking for someone to share their story...and to get answers. Please post contact ifno.

John said

at 10:12 am on Jan 19, 2009

I am from the Philadelphia area. My contact is jsschreck@gmail.com

I dont even know how much money BoA has taken from me, but I can tell you that I never verbally agreed to any of this nonsense. I am going to try and calculate this, I bet its at least 1000 dollars, possibly much more.

info@... said

at 11:25 am on Mar 16, 2009

http://www.credit-protector.com warns about these types of programs. The http://www.credit-protector.com website has been up for a few years now and offers free information on just how inequitable these credit protection programs really are.

http://www.Credit-Card-Cap.com also offers ideas on how credit card companies can be much much fairer when it comes to collecting on old credit-card-debt, including what is known as zombie debt.

Denise Hughes said

at 4:25 pm on Apr 7, 2009

I just found out today that I am in this situation too! I called Bank of America back in July 2008 about a routine credit card matter. The Bank's rep. was pushing this coverage to me as a trial offer and I refused it over and over again. I have not worked in a year due to failing health and was not looking to add more bank fees to my account. The rep was so pushy after I hung up I felt like he was a dishonest person so I called back and spoke to someone else, expressing my fear that this guy had signed me up even though I said no. The second person I spoke with said that even if he did, I would be mailed paperwork that would require a signature so not to worry. Stupidly, I felt that it was resolved.
Today, I was about to do an online payment to BOA and for some reason, I noticed two sets of finance charges which were different amounts. One was for $200, the other was for $148. Then I discovered it was listed as protection plus. I asked my husband and he knew nothing about it so I called BOA immediately. The person said that they could do nothing and that I would have to call the merchant directly. I called the 800# beside the charge and the person I spoke to said that I had verbally agreed to sign up back in Sept 08! I said that I had done no such thing and I wanted it removed immediately. I had thought this $148 was a one time thing, only to find out that I had been paying in and around this amount for 8 months. Usually we dont carry a high balance but because I havent been able to work for a very long time, many necessities were put on the credit card. This made this protection plus fee even higher! The person at protection plus led me to believe even if I was able to get any money back, it would only be retroactive 2 months. I again reiterated that I had signed nothing and had not agreed verbally either. I was told it would take 7-10 days for an investigation and then if I was successful, I would get the two months back. I cant believe this~

Denise Hughes said

at 4:27 pm on Apr 7, 2009

One more thing, if this was sold(supposedly)to me by Bank of America, why all of a sudden do they have no responsibility in resolving this if I said I didnt want it? I am so mad!
If anyone has any answers that arent already here, please share. Thanks

Sally said

at 12:05 pm on Apr 16, 2009

Just found this wiki, googling "Credit Protection Plus" and "scam". SO HAPPY to have found you. I'm in the same boat, having been enrolled in this without my permission. I noticed it on my credit card last June and they have been chasing me ever since, with offers to "investigate" that of course went nowhere. Up to 4 phone calls a day from them! They think it is "very fair" of them to split the accrued charges with me! Funny, I don't think it's "very fair" for them to try to force me to pay for something I never enrolled in. They couldn't recognize that there was even the possibility of a mistake on their part, and now finding this website shows me that it must have been an intentional bit of fraud. Let's go after them!!

Tammy B said

at 9:04 am on May 28, 2009

I've read through most of these posts regarding "Credit Protection Plus" with your BoA cards, you people must really not be paying attention at ALL! Credit Protection is NOT through BoA, it's a 3rd party vendor!! BoA doesn't put these charges on your cards, the 3rd party does! They CANNOT enroll you without you either blindly accepting it or being completely stupid when your calls are transfered to them. If you'd BOTHER to actually READ your Statements, you might learn a thing or two!

You wanna whine, do it AFTER you actually READ your statements...better yet...only deal with the "Retention" departments of your credit cards.

You have ONLY YOURSELF TO BLAME!!

Dan Nelson said

at 6:32 pm on Jun 17, 2009

DN 06/17/09: Recieved letter with results of their "Investigation". They claim we agreed to sign up during a bank phone solicitation oppertunity. Offered no refund. After several calls to our State Corporation Commission I discovered that as a Nationally Chartered Banking Corporation they do not have a registered agent in Oregon to recieve legal notices (Lawsuit). However I have been told that I can serve ANY bank officer at a local branch. Filing in Oregon small claims court tommorow. Will post results as the occur.

Rich Fowler said

at 11:35 pm on Jun 22, 2009

Just noticed my charges for this crap. I consolidated all my cards to BOA 7 months ago. I was offered some kind of plan, didn't pay attention to what it was because I would never agree to it anyway. I recall being asked if info could be sent to me and I said sure just to shut them up. I then lied and said I would review it and if I wanted it I would call back. Not sure but these agents seem to work on some sort of commission. What is stopping them from enrolling us? It's word against word. All I can say is I have never in my 15 years as a credit card holder agreed to one of these offers.

Hugo Rodriguez said

at 1:50 am on Jul 3, 2009

Hi every one! as well am I in the same situation. I am new to the credit card world and was very exited when I got my B of A credit card (without any protection plan) seven months to date ago. Viewing my last 5 statements there appears to be no charges due to my account by this wanna be protection fraud (No call or signature approval was ever provided). But on this last statement for the month on June it appears. My bill and payments have always been on time and some times a little more to increase my credit score, but apparently that doesn't seem to matter to BofA Credit card since probably it all goes to that new Island, car or pocket. Once I notice the charge ( DP Deluxe 19.99) I called the number provided by under the charge and was told i had been in this plan for over two years (WHAT!) i told them i would call back in regards of this transaction and instead called BofA witch re directed me to that same number, I did not told the rep that I had already called that number because now I felt like BofA was all in this.

Sungmin said

at 5:48 pm on Jul 14, 2009

same story as everyone else. i called in to remove myself from the program. they blamed me for not knowing that i had charges of $1 or $2 each month and proportionately larger depending on my credit balance and that I was in the program for over 2 years. they couldn't verify any information about how i enrolled or anything but just claimed that i had done so. much like everyone else here, they of course wouldn't credit anything back to me. so i politely requested to be removed from this program and now I'm with you all on fighting these lovely scam artists. let me know how i can help!

michael maloney said

at 9:23 pm on Jul 23, 2009

I have been unable to cancel this program for which I never signed up for. I am willing to sign anything or call and write whomever i need to in order to get this settled. I feel used and very angry. let me know what I can do please.

Ryan Addison said

at 8:23 am on Jul 24, 2009

Michael/ All -

I too have been charged since November 2007 for this scam. I have no need for credit protection, and I definitely never signed up for this. To think Bank of America was about to get my application for a home loan... now they're getting my letter from the US OCC and the Treasury.

I hope it was worth it BofA, because you're also losing a shareholder.

DJ said

at 6:41 pm on Jul 24, 2009

I saw this fraudulent charge show up on my account recently. After calling the number for credit protection plus that showed up on the transaction history i waited about half an hour on hold. The person that then answered sounded like they were in a call center overseas and told me that this was the wrong number to dispute my claim and referred me to BofA customer service. I then called BofA who referrred me back to credit protection plus. I told the lady that was assisting me that I was getting bounced around and that i wouldn't accept this. She said she couldn't do anything and gave me a number for billing disputes. I tried credit protection plus again and waited about half an hour and then hung up. I called billing disputes and told them my situation, the person on the phone said "That is strange they are not answering, let me see what is going on" i hear him put me on hold and then next thing i know he has transferred me to the credit protection plus menu. I am ready to submit a small claims filing at this point. Please let me know if i can be of any assistance in resolving this matter.

Denise Hughes said

at 6:34 pm on Jul 31, 2009

It would be helpful for us to have an email address for the attorney Robert Mullen-I for one need it because I dont have free long distance....does anyone know it? Keep fighting the fight everyone-I hope someday all of us are compensated, not only for what was stolen from our accounts but all this aggravation! Good luck to those who still havent gotten their money back. It eventually worked out for me and I got mine back but whew, what a long dragged out pain in the neck it was!

Brianna said

at 4:30 pm on Aug 6, 2009

I also was signed up for Credit Protection Plus without my knowledge. I contacted them last week and was told that they would start a "proof of enrollment investigation" has anyone else been told this?

Susy said

at 12:50 pm on Sep 23, 2009

1. I called the Credit Protection Plus number on my statement 1-800-942-1083 today 9-23-9 to cancel. They said the charges must have been a result of some misunderstanding. No problems there other than they wanted me to review the information before I cancelled. I said no, and that I should have reviewed the information before I was signed up. They cancelled the enrollment.
2. Called BOA's dispute phone number 1-866-266-0212. They said they couldn't credit any $ back. They advised me to all Credit Protection Plus and say I want Credit Protection Plus to credit the charges because it was an unauthorized enrollment.
3. Called CPP again and asked for my $20.70 total for 3 months of charges (yes, I know I got lucky!). The lady went on about how I should've cancelled after one month. I told them they were unauthorized charges and I wanted them credited to my account. She agreed to refund the $20.73.
We shall see how that turns out.

jolly dinh said

at 9:13 pm on Sep 26, 2009

Hello everyone, today is 09/25/09 and i also am a victim of CPP. I called BOFA because i noticed a weird charge in my registry. i never really check my credit card stuff unless there are like hundreds of dollars missing. When i called BOFA they told me that i have signed up for CPP when i first openned my account. They said that i must have given concent when i openned my Credit card. I didnt even sign for a credit card. This means that CPP has been charging me for over 2 years now.

I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW CPP BENIFITS ME. WHAT IS IT? WHAT DO THEY DO? I need some help. Im a college student and i dont have money for food, non the less for this crap. Maybe if I knew what it was i would be a little less pissed, but i don't. This is outrageous! MY GIRLFRIEND WORKS AS A TELLER FOR BOFA AND SHE HAS BEEN SPECULATING THAT BOFA HAS BEEN SCAMMING THEIR CUSTOMERS WITH THIS.

WTF is going on. What kind of a business are you running when your own employees believe you are scamming people.

I was only able to go back to my october statement and as far as i could see they charged me over 100 dollars. Can someone help me? I really can afford this and i need to fight this somehow.

-Jolly Dinh Orange County

Paul Gomes said

at 10:03 pm on Sep 26, 2009

This Credit protection plus of Bank of Anerica is the biggest scam possible. They charge you money without your knowledge. I am a bad victim as I lost my job in march and they said ooh yeah we will cover your minimum payments. just provide us these details and its ok. repeated calls provided the information they requested still they never covered what they promised. however they charged money every3 month. Finally I call ed to cancel this crap as when they approve things I do not know. hey refused to cancel and charged more money.
I think we should get together and file a claim against bank of america. We need to be reembursed the money they charged provide us with all transactions and compensate us for damages caused due to their greed. I think this is greed on the part of Bank of America. I Call on our president Obama to help his people to stop this corporate greed. We innocent consumer use this credit you provide us with terms specified. Banks should be institutions serving the needs of its consumers. After all we keep out hard earned money in Banks. We do not need to have Corporate greed like Bank of America ruining the Basic morals of the Banking system.
Anyone interested in furthering this action please email me and we can talk in more detail of our circumstance and how we can overcome the situation.

Please email me at paul.gomes2009@yahoo.com
Thanks
Paul

Bert said

at 4:21 pm on Oct 16, 2009

Like many of you I had no idea I had been enrolled, this is totally outrageous

Michael J. Kim said

at 11:56 pm on Nov 5, 2009

Total thieves.

Joel Silverwatch said

at 6:39 pm on Jan 19, 2010

I have started a complaint discussion on Boston's Fox 25 News Undercover Boston Facebook Page. Click on the link below and add your stories and maybe we can get them to pickup this story of pathological deceipt and fraud. I'm completely amazed at the amount of people who have been scammed by a reputable (or now dis-reputable) institution. We need to make this hurt folks. Do your part. Copy and paste this link to your browser. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/topic.php?uid=211831702656&topic=12106


Joel Silverwatch said

at 6:40 am on Jan 21, 2010

http://www.ripoffreport.com/banks/csi-card-processing/csi-card-processing-llc-bank-669mc.htm

A Harry Lomax, who lives in Charlotte, NC might have some interesting info if anyone can actually prove that hes a BofA employee. He is the official name on the letter Below.

http://dig.abclocal.go.com/wpvi/pdf/news/BAC%20CP%20Plus%20Welcome_Package.pdf

I just received a welcome letter from this scam and noticed it was generated NOT from Bank of America but from emcom.bankofamerica.com. There is a possibility that this is a phishing scheme. See below.

http://www.fraudwatchinternational.com/phishing/individual_alert.php?fa_no=233048&mode=alert




Matthew Behrens said

at 9:23 am on Mar 25, 2010

They got me too. my records only go back to 4/16/09. odd that they charge a different amount each month. I don't have the energy to fight them, but might join the class action lawsuit. time to switch banks.

Emily B said

at 12:08 pm on Jun 2, 2010

I recently received my first charge, I'm assuming after not answering their UNKNOWN calls. I finally answered two days ago and informed them that I had lost my job which is why I am behind on my payment. But my account in not overdrawn and I will get them the money as soon as possible. I also have Mint to help with my finances, and I saw the Protection Plus charge on Mint. But when I went to my bank of america account where it was coming from, that charge was not listed. They charged me, but they don't have a transaction listed.

In the past I have also received offers and bills from Banc of America that bore Bank of America's logo on the front but was in no way connected to the bank. I never followed up with those letters and never heard anything further. I checked online and thsoe were a scam as well.

I have had this credit card for 6 years. This is the first charge (that I know about) and, as a Student card it still has the lowest APR of everything I've looked at. I wonder if its worth it.

KAT said

at 4:04 pm on Jun 7, 2010

Got me too!
Thanks to the recent FDIC law that all financial institutions must be more transparent with fees etc on all statements as well as online. I realized that I've been paying into this Credit Protection Plus program since 2004. It now shows up with a brief description and contact info.

The kicker is... I moved to another state less than 30 days after receiving a Bank of America credit card and of course updated my information with BOA immediately. WELL, Credit Protection Plus was never informed of my change of address and claims to have sent detailed information about the program I was automatically enrolled in to the former address.
Credit Protection Plus has had my former address on file since 2004. I haven't lived in that State in 6 years.

CPP claims it was BOA's responsibility to inform them of my change of address and BOA says the responsibility is on me, the consumer to update their third party company.

I NEVER had the option of choosing to enroll in this program, I was automatically enrolled.

Has anyone else experienced a similar situation? If so, how have you approached it? BOA isn't taking responsibility and neither is CPP. It's so unfair.
HOW CAN I JOIN THE CLASS ACTION SUIT?
KF

wheresbuck said

at 5:05 pm on Jan 3, 2011

I'm so glad I found this page. I have been dealing with BofA for almost a year now to no avail. They fraudulently signed me up for this scam back in February of 2010 and I'm still battling with them to remove the charges and refund me. Does anyone know if there is still a class action suit happening? And I noticed that there haven't been very many posts lately, but I intend to get the word going again until BofA stops scamming their customers!

MindOver said

at 4:30 pm on Mar 31, 2011

Thank you for settng up this Wiki. I really hate BOA. In January 2011, I discovered that all three of my BOA credit cards were signed up for CPP without my authorization. I have been back and forth with multiple letters to BOA as well as the OCC. BOA owes be $490 for one card, $850 for the second, and $7000 for the third. YES $7000. So far I got back $245 from one card. Basically, BOA refuses to provide proof of anything. The only thing that I have on my side is that for one of the cards, they sent a letter verifying that I signed up for this protection in September 2008. Only probem is, I didnt get this card till March 2009. I hope that proves to the OCC that BOA is full of shit. Only setback was a letter that I received today from the OCC stating that because I didn't inform BOA with 60 Days, I'm out of luck. They really don't care that BOA has refused to provide any proof. BOA states that they have no recordings and that the transcipt is propreitery and wont release it. Such bullshit. I think my only option is to try suing them in civil court. Not sure if contract law is the same with credit card issues. Maybe I can prove that there is no contract and win that way. Any ideas?

fcmateo2011 said

at 7:36 pm on Oct 19, 2011

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fcmateo2011 said

at 5:02 am on Nov 9, 2011

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PCBubba said

at 11:05 am on Nov 24, 2012

Just completed the Claim Form re: The BofA Credit Protection Marketing ans Sales Practices Litigation. The letter I received says that the Defendant's records indicate that I may be a member of the Settlement Class because I was enrolled in the program at some time between January 1, 2006 and July 17, 2012. So, it looks as if BofA has been forced to turn over the names of all of the participants in the Credit Protection program. If you haven't received this notice that you are included in the settlement (either a letter or a postcard), you should write or call the Settlement Administrator at P.O. Box 8060, San Rafael, CA 94912-8060 or call(888) 213-5294. You can also go to www.creditprotectionsettlement.com. It's worth at least $50.00, maybe $100.00 for your time

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