Consumer complaint received 2023-05-06
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I was returning home to California from a trip to XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX My husband and I stopped at a gas station near the airport before returning the rental car. I tried to use my Wells Fargo American Express credit card for the purchase. There was a gas station attendant that took my card for payment. He had a handheld card reader and tried running the card multiple times. He said the internet wasn't working well and couldn't get the card to go through, then asked for another form of payment. I was feeling nervous as a few people were hanging around the car and seemed to be trying to distract my husband as I paid. I decided to use cash to pay for gas ( estimated about {$40.00} ) so we could leave quickly. I was given my card back, but was not given a receipt and I DID NOT sign anything. 

After returning home and checking my account I found 4 fraudulent charges on my account. Each charge was for appx {$990.00} US and for a company I have never heard of or done business with. I immediately called Wells Fargo and reported the fraudulent transactions. Since I still had my card with me and I understood how the fraud was committed, I was told I could keep my card open if I wanted. 

In XXXX Wells Fargo reversed appx {$950.00} on 3 of the transactions ( supposedly they deducted {$40.00} dollars from each of these transactions that I estimated I paid in cash for the gas ) and the 4th transaction they rec 'd a merchant receipt so they have denied that dispute. This resolution makes no sense. Why would I have paid for gas 4 times? {$40.00} 3 times and then an additional {$990.00}? I have escalated within Wells Fargo complaints department and Executive Office and each time my dispute is denied. I was told that the original claim was processed as " non-Fraud '' and as a partial claim. They have fundamentally misunderstood and mishandled the claim. This should never have been processed as a partial claim and I should have been advised to close and destroy my card. The transactions were obviously not for Gas. 

Wells received a merchant receipt from XXXX XXXX and therefore they are claiming that the purchase was legitimate, but the receipt was from a merchant in XXXX ( I was not there ), and I can not find the merchant or even the address existing online. The signature appears as a squiggle and certainly not my signature. Wells Fargo claims that I have not provided PROOF which contradicts the merchant evidence. I have not been advised on what proof they would need to honor my claim, they simply listen to my complaint, and send it off again to another department. 

What I can provide here is the following. 
1. My letter to the Executive office with a full explanation of the situation, including where I was at the time of the incident, signed by me 2. My Car rental and airline receipt showing that I was leaving XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) on XX/XX/XXXX and traveling back on that day. 
3. The fake receipt from the merchant " XXXX XXXX '' The time stamp is correct, our flight departed at XXXX and we were getting gas at the airport prior to departure, but we were in XXXX  ( not XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 4. I do not believe this is a legitimate merchant as there is no listing for XXXX XXXX, and the address XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX does not appear to be an actual address. What was purchased? What is XXXX XXXX? No one from Wells Fargo has talked to me about these details. Only to say, They have an itemized doc with transaction details and a signature so case closed. 
5. That is not my signature. I have 3 business accounts and 6 credit cards with Wells fargo, all my Wells Fargo contracts are signed in the same way, they can verify my signature in any number of ways. This is an obvious fake signature.

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