This phone number is inaccessible unless you're willing to enter personal information. This phone number is for Bank of America's property claims department, and the system is set up to prevent anyone who doesn't have a valid claim from using it.
When you call, you're taken to the automated menu and told to enter either your Social Security Number, account number or tax identification number. You can ask to speak to a representative, but the system will not take you forward to speak to someone until you give out that information. Asking to speak to the representative multiple times will get the system to confirm that you want to speak to someone but remind you that in order to speak with anyone, you need to enter your personal information in some manner.
Refusing to enter your information led the system to give a recorded message about tax information and year-end tax actions before the system dropped my call. I was not willing to enter personal information, as I'm not a Bank of America customer, so I ended things there without attempting to go further.
It makes sense that the system is set up to keep people who aren't Bank of America customers from using this number. This is meant to assist people who have had property seized or might soon have property seized, and Bank of America doesn't want people using this number without having a good reason. These types of calls often take a while, so it makes a lot of sense to limit traffic as much as possible.
I also like that the automated system is receptive to the possibility that someone might want to speak to a representative immediately. I understand the need for a chokepoint to keep people from wasting a representative's time, but as long as a person is willing to enter their information, they can easily get help from someone without needing to waste time with the automated system.
It can be quite frustrating to have to go through an automated system when you already know who you want to speak to and what you need help with. This system helps customers who already have a good idea of what they need to get help right away while still allowing less advanced customers to get assistance from the automated system in order to get to where they need.
It's not possible for me to get a full picture of whether or not this number is effective for actual customers. However, based on my interaction with the automated system, it seems likely that this number would be effective for genuine customers, and I would use it if I were a customer.