Consumer complaint received 2023-02-04
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NC
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
I believe I am the victim of internal Fraud within Wells Fargo Bank. There was an unauthorized transaction of {$10000.00} taken out of my Wells Fargo business checking account without my knowledge or consent on XX/XX/XXXX. I saw it when I logged into my Wells Fargo online account on XX/XX/XXXX and called them immediately. 

They said the situation was handled, they said they processed a stop payment and that the amount would be back in my account in XXXX days. That never happened. Instead I received a letter in the mail a few days later saying my report was denied due to too many days having past between when the money was taken and when I reported it. 

However the letter had the wrong dates on it, and the wrong amount. I escalated the issue XXXX times over the last month. It's been denied every time, with them saying the amount was {$10000.00} ( XXXX cent more ) and that it took place on XX/XX/XXXX and I reported it on XX/XX/XXXX. ( Neither are correct ). 

I've spent XXXX hours over the past month both in branch and on phone with their customer service, and every department you can think of. The claims dept, the fraud dept, etc. 

The situation has been grossly mishandled for the beginning and I still have not been able to retrieve my funds. 

On XXXX occasions, they have sent me conflicting information, with phone numbers to call for the merchant who supposedly received the money but both have been phony. 

I filed a report both with the police and the FBI. 

No one at Wells Fargo can tell me who they sent the money to when they took it from my account. They can not provide me with a swift number, an account number, a name, a bank name, a trace number, nothing. They have sent me around in circles on a wild goose chase. 

No one at Wells Fargo has been able to give me correct or accurate information about who took it or where it went or how to get it back. I've had the case escalated to the top XXXX times now since it happened, and the responses I get from them do not have accurate information, they also have conflicting information, the contacts they give me for the merchant have been different XXXX now, and those merchants have either a fake phone number or have no record of ever receiving the money from Wells Fargo. The dates, and amount, are also not correct on the emails they send me. I've been working with the police on the case and they have advised to escalate to FBI, which I have done. 

The last message I received from this morning was an email, pasted below. When I cal the merchant they listed, the merchant has no record of any transfer from Wells Fargo. They said they can not look up the person 's account without Wells Fargo providing the account number it was supposedly sent to, which Wells Fargo has been unable to provide. Every one at Wells Fargo I get transferred to says they do not have access to that information and then transfer me to someone else. 


Case number : Account number ending in : Client name : ________________ Dear __________ : Thank you for your patience while we looked into your concerns. Weve completed our research and are ready to share our findings. 

In your inquiry, you expressed that you disagree with the decision to deny your claim number __________ on your Initiate Business Checking account ending in ______. 

Research We have completed our research of your inquiry about a {$10000.00} charge with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to your business account above on XX/XX/XXXX, that was posted on XX/XX/XXXX. We are not able to reimburse you because too much time passed before you notified us on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Since you revoked the authorization after the transaction posted to your account, we are unable to return this transaction. For this reason, the decision to deny the claim remains. We recommend you contact the merchant directly for reimbursement What you need to know The charge was a Cash Concentration or Disbursement ( CCD ) electronic payment between businesses. To meet the requirements of the National Automated Clearing House Association ( NACHA ), we need to return any unauthorized CCD payments to the originating bank no later than the second business day after the transaction occurred. 

We recommend you contact the merchant XXXX, XXXX XXXX ACCT at XXXX XXXX to resolve this issue. 

Per our Deposit Account Agreement, page XXXX, funds transfers to or from your account will be governed by the rules of the funds transfer system ( s ) through which the transfers are made ( system rules ), including Fedwire, the National Automated Clearing House Association, the Electronic Check Clearing House Organization, any regional association ( each an ACH ), the Clearing House Interbank Payments System ( CHIPS ), the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication ( SWIFT ) and the RTP system ( RTP System ). Were under no obligation to honor, in whole or in part, any payment order or other instruction that could result in our contravention of applicable law, including, without limitation, requirements of the U.S. Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control ( OFAC ) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ( FinCEN ). 

Per our Deposit Account Agreement, page XXXX, under the ACH Rules, the Bank can return any non-consumer ACH debit entry as unauthorized until midnight of the business day following the business day the Bank posts the entry to your account. In order for the Bank to meet this deadline, youre required to notify us to return any non-consumer ACH debit entry as unauthorized by the cutoff time we separately disclose. The cutoff time is currently XXXX XXXX Central Time. If you dont notify us in a timely manner of the unauthorized non-consumer ACH debit entry, we wont be able to return it without the cooperation and agreement of the originating bank and the originator of the debit entry. Any other effort to recover the funds must occur solely between you and the originator of the entry. 

Additional Information To review our complete Deposit Account Agreement and Business Account Fee and Information Schedule, please visit https : //www.wellsfargo.com/biz/fee-information/. If you have additional questions, please contact our National Business Banking Center at XXXX, available Monday through Saturday, XXXX XXXX to XXXX XXXX, Sunday XXXX XXXX to XXXX XXXX Central Time, or visit a branch location. 

If you have questions regarding your claim, please reach out to our Claims

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 monetary relief