Consumer complaint received 2021-11-17
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: VA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Back on XX/XX/2021 an acquaintance of mine on XXXX started posting stories pertaining to a cryptocurrency company that she has recently joined. Further on her posts she was claiming how this company ; Basecoinmining.com, provided her great wealth in just a matter of hours. She was highly advertising it to her followers on instagram how easy it is for them, including me, to be on the same financial path like hers. She was stating that if were interested in joining the platform shes marketing she is tagging a friend- the broker, in her story and we can just directly send her a private message with our inquiry. I'm XXXX years old with a family here in America and in the XXXX that I'm fully supporting. Investing has always been on the back of my mind, it's a matter of how to start it and who to approach prior, so when her story was presented to me i took it as an opportunity to grab. On that same day I sent her friend- the broker, a message of interest. Her XXXX page is named XXXX with a username of @ XXXX. After a while she responded back and thats when we started to exchange messages. She was telling me that she has people from different age groups and financial statuses that shes mentoring about cryptocurrency mining and how they are earning up to {$3000.00} - {$5000.00} daily. She then was asking me first how much Im willing to start to invest and if I'm truly certain in joining she asked me to purchase bitcoin worth my investment via cash app and send her a screenshot to get started. I did purchase Bitcoin from a cash app worth {$1000.00} on XX/XX/2021 using my Wells Fargo debit card that was linked in my cash app wallet and after I completed the transaction I sent her a screenshot of it as a proof that I bought it. The broker, XXXX, told me to send it to the platform address of their crypto mining company which is XXXX and If needed I have their wallet address. Prior to that we had some small problems because I was having issues purchasing bitcoins from cash app with a large amount of money. She then recommended a few websites to buy bitcoin from- she was sending me links for moonpay.com and simplex.com, but still nothing was working. I was having the same issues - error on purchasing bitcoins. Afterwards I asked her if I could send it through XXXX or XXXX instead, in which she agreed to do all the transactions through XXXX. I used two bank accounts, my Wells Fargo and XXXX Federal account for most of the transactions, but there were two transactions where I bought bitcoin from a Bitcoin ATM ; this was one of her suggestions with regards to purchasing bitcoins as well. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent her money through zelle with an amount of {$3500.00}. She instructed me to have this email XXXX as the recipient. She was stating that this fee is to upgrade my trading account so i can have a bigger profit limit and subsequently an email was sent to me stating that I need to make another payment for conversion rate code because it being required to be issued to verify that there is a legal transaction between me and basecoinmining trading company, they further stated that this is mandatory for withdrawals via crypto wallet deposits for investors within the united states, as within regulations on trade being monitored by the XXXX and XXXX. I adhered to all their requests and I sent the amount of money that they were asking. I was entrusting them my money, I was asking for reassurance of business and she was telling me all the promises and how my trading account is blooming thanks to their work. She was telling me that I can watch and check how my money is working for me through their website. It was a perfect scheme, I was under the complete impression that everything was legit. It wasnt until later on when it dawned on me. But I further went on trading with them, i am receiving emails from the company on what are the next steps for me and my trading account, on the emails they kept asking me for fees that I need to pay such as, transfer license so I can make withdrawals from my trading account to cash app account, payment for conversion rate codes, as well as payment to them for TAX charges for IRS, and payment for high traffic charge due to high price of bitcoins. After a while with all the payments I was being asked for, my suspicions started to surface. I was messaging them back on how and when I can withdraw my profits, but all the response I received was soon, when I made this additional payment. On XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX I sent the broker another transaction through zelle using my XXXX XXXX bank with the amount of {$2200.00} and I was instructed to send it to the same recipient XXXX. She was stating that this is another payment that I need to make so I can withdraw my money from their website. The two other transactions were through a Bitcoin ATM and I paid that with cash. I got both of the receipts with the wallet address of the fake broker that told me to send the bitcoin to. The first transaction was {$2500.00} on XX/XX/2021 and the second one was on XX/XX/2021 with the amount of {$1500.00}. On XX/XX/2021 still with no definite answer on when can i receive my funds I found out that that friend of mine from XXXX who initially posted the story referring us to the fake broker have her account hacked, I have on my phone the information and proof that her account got hacked by someone else that might be link to the person who is behind the fake brokers account as well. I tried to confront the fake broker but I did not get the response that I needed. I sent them a couple more messages prior to the matter but they stopped responding to me. I already filed a report of fraud to my banks and I also submitted a report to the Federal Trade Commision. I am with high hopes that I'm able to retrieve all of my money, if not just even a percentage of it. I was blinded with the thought of having fast money. But all 's too good to be true, I invested all my savings and basically every XXXX that I have. I am greatly seeking help on my case. I am an honest citizen of the United States, I am actively serving this country. I work in the military in which we arent highly compensated with money. I hold so many plans for my money which are mostly to help my family, but all of which seems to be impossible. I am struggling so badly and am having a hard time seeing the light in the tunnel that Im in, despite it all I'm still hoping to get through this matter. I am desperately asking for help that someone will get back with me prior and assist me in furthering my case. I am willing to cooperate if any more information is required. Thank you and God bless!

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation