Consumer complaint received 2023-03-20
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NV
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX -- I was outside of my house connected to wifi paying off my credit card bills via the mobile banking App for Wells Fargo on my XXXX when a crazy, aggressive man saw I was logged into my bank app, assaulted me by pushing me and snatching my phone out of my hand, and proceeded to run away with it ; my boyfriend and other bystanders chased him and eventually he tossed the phone and fled ; upon retrieving the phone, I noticed XXXX USD was transferred through ( unauthorized ) XXXX to some person " XXXX '' who I have no knowledge of ; I suspect they were trying to steal all my money as that amount is only XXXX missing XXXX away from the approximately XXXX USD in my account ; my neighbors told me they would call the police as my boyfriend helped me call the bank as soon as possible ( within 45 minutes of the transfer ) ; despite how traumatic the physical assault and the experience of being stolen from was, i had to recount the event in great detail to multiple people from the bank, including members of the fraud department ; they assured me i had XXXX liability for this as it was clearly unauthorized and that the details of how the thief was able to transfer the money due to me being logged into the app already made sense to them ; i asked if I should go check in with the police and get a report, to which they told me it would not necessary for now and that the information i provided was adequate ; i was assured multiple times i would get this money back ; they told me they would call and ask for a police report if this was necessary ; i spent 3 hours on the phone explaining everything that happened, answering questions with great detail, not to mention having to go through the hassle of changing all of my banking account information and being without a physical card for more than a week due to this incident XX/XX/XXXX -- upon not hearing anything from the bank, I called fraud support, only to be told the investigation was internally resolved and that the bank would not refund this stolen money to me ; i asked for the basis of this decision, which they refused to provide me ; the first person i spoke to told me I had to physically fax a letter and a police report ; i asked to escalate the case to a senior manager, who not only refused to provide the basis of the decision but also said that the information we provided was inadequate to rule in our favor but also that further information would not help change the case decision against me as a customer ; per the bank, the fact that I was logged in means the transfer was allegedly " authorized '' ; as someone who was stolen from, and as a woman who has undergone physical XXXX during this theft, I am disgusted by the way in which the bank 's customer service led me to not provide information that might have supported my case ( I asked specifically despite still being in shock from the incident whether it'd be best for me to go to the police station or a physical bank branch immediately ; the bank 's representatives told me this was unnecessary at the time when I first called upon the theft occurring ) ; the bank now says I must wait up to 30 days to receive a letter explaining the basis of their decision, whilst stating they do not need to cover the full detail as to why for this is an internal investigation ; i made it clear i did not feel protected as a Wells Fargo customer and that I did not accept the bank 's resolution ; i demanded to speak to a senior representative, which the bank says will call me back in 24-48 hours ; i told them i am filing a CFPB and XXXX  complaint in the meanwhile ; as someone who could have lost all her money, only to be told there is nothing the bank can do, has left me with XXXX confidence as to wells fargo 's complience with consumer protection, in particular, XXXX liability for fradulent, unauthorized transactions ; i feel mocked and betrayed as a customer who is now struggling to make payments and who must deal with the XXXX XXXX  of undergoing a XXXX XXXX, theft, and being unsupported by a massive financial institution to whom this amount of money does not constitute significant cost, but for me, means XXXX of all the money I have to my name the lack of transparency, empathy, and overall support from Wells Fargo 's fraud department XXXX not to mention the clear violation of the spirit of consumer XXXX liability protection against fraud, has left me desperate for the CFPB to help resolve this issue with the bank in my favor

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