Consumer complaint received 2021-12-20
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NJ
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
On XX/XX/21 {$1000.00} was transferred out of our account via XXXX to someone else 's account. It looked like it went to one of our regular payee 's, but we confirmed that that person had not received funds and we advised them to call the fraud dept of their bank as well. I called Wells Fargo fraud department that very day to open a case. I was on hold for nearly 30 minutes before reaching a fraud rep. I was told in that first phone call that myself and the payee were both hacked, that the payee 's SSN was used to open an account at a different bank than the account that was previously listed with XXXX. The payee ran their credit report and could not find any new account having been opened with their SSN. 

I made a 2nd phone call on or about XX/XX/21 to the fraud dept to look in on our case. I was on hold 40 mins before getting a rep. I was told that there are a lot of open fraud cases having to do with fraudulent XXXX payments. I was also told that what that first rep told me was absolutely incorrect, that no one opened an account using our payee 's SSN, but that it was just his name that was mirrored in my XXXX account so as not to arouse suspicion. I was also told that the first rep should not have given me that information even if it were true, for privacy reasons. This rep kept saying " you probably clicked on something '' " Maybe you gave your login information '' etc. I said that I did no such thing, nor did my husband. I advised that we are both careful and that I also work for a financial institution, we are quizzed about security all the time and I did not make such a mistake. I further told him that I was very uncomfortable with the repeated suggestion that this was my fault, because it sounded as if they were setting the stage to take no responsibility for my account being hacked. He advised that if the claim was denied, I could appeal the decision. I was then told that there was no progress report to be gotten, but that it would be decided by the XXXX. 

I called back today XX/XX/21 and was told that our claim was denied and the case was closed. I was told that the investigation found that our log in credentials were used to login to the account and send that money via XXXX, so they can not take responsibility for it. I demanded to know where this login took place, and was refused any further information. I asked to whom do I speak about appealing the decision, and this rep repeatedly told me that there were no next steps, I could not appeal, this was a final decision. I pushed back that I had been told different by the previous rep, and this current rep would only reply " I apologize that you were given false information ''. It was only when I became extremely irate that she finally forwarded us to the department where we could, in fact, appeal the decision. We were told that a caseworker would be assigned in the next few days. I called our local PD and filed a police report for this theft, as I was told by this rep that they would not release any information on the investigation without a police report. 
We couldn't pay our rent until we were paid again on the XXXX, which was embarrassing. And we finally were able to pay it and now have just a few XXXX dollars in our account until the end of the month.

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