Consumer complaint received 2021-11-13
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CT
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I spent 4 months setting aside money to buy my family a new bengal kitten for the mental health of one I already own. 

I ran into XXXX and contacted them. I did some minor checking ( though not enough clearly ), and they seemed legit. All their initial info was what you would expect of a typical and experienced Bengal breeder. The website listed multiple names of people claimed to be involved. Phone numbers that appear to actually be located in the area they claim to be. The hours they communicated with me were typical of the east coast. And they send you a contract to digitally sign that included their physical location as well, which matched up with the area code of the phone numbers given. 

I was asked to send payment through XXXX on my bank app. I have never used it before, but given that XXXX was a feature built in to the application of my bank I believed it would be a safer function to use as opposed a third party application. 
I sent them the initial cost of {$660.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, and they said the next day the kitten would be shipped to me for pickup at the airport. 

Next day came ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and I receive an email that there is a problem, and that regulations had changed, and kittens under 5 months old can only use certain crates, and additional pet insurance fee. It would cost me {$380.00} for the crate, which if I returned the crate on pickup they would return {$350.00} to me, and {$120.00} for the insurance. I attempted to call the listed contacts, the first number did not work, and the second number went to voice mail with multiple attempts. 
I asked if I could simply drive to pick up the cat since Im 90 minutes away. They said the arrangement for the air transfer was already set and it would cost money to change it now anyway. 
Given their business was in selling kittens and they didnt already know this stuff, I immediately decided this was not legit, and called the bank to dispute the first payment. Wells Fargo informed me XXXX is more for people I trust rather than a payment system ( this warning was not listed in the application before payment was sent ). And Wells Fargo stated they can file a dispute, but I likely wont get my money back because it was up to XXXX to decide the outcome. 

So Wells Fargo filed the dispute, and I then immediately went to the local police at XXXX, Ct. I spoke to an officer and handed him all the information I had at the time ( emails, images, signed contract ). The office called one of the phone numbers given. And the person picked up. The name on the site and contract was XXXX and the payment on XXXX went to an account named XXXX XXXX. But a man with an XXXX accent picked up claiming to be XXXX husband. 

The officer pretended to be an interested buyer by asking various questions about several kittens. And when the office mentioned the one I bought the person said that kitten wasnt available, and that it was paid for on the previous day. He also mentioned the buyer might have changed his mind due to new shipping costs, so he could check back in a few days to see if the kitten became available. 
The officer then tried to offer more money for the kitten I purchased and the person declined. 

Both I and the officer agreed that the answers given by the person on the phone made the business appear to be legitimate. So after leaving the officer I called the person back and said I would pay the surprise fee. I asked why these new charges were surprise, and was then informed by the man on the phone it was a new regulation with the shipping agency they used. I asked other questions such as which airport the pet is coming from and was told XXXX, as well as if it was possible I could speak to the shipping agent. But was told it would not be possible at this time. I did not like I was not able to confirm any of the information with anyone, and voiced my concerns, to which the person apologized for. But given that I already had {$660.00} in this purchase, and he told what he believed to be another potential buyer my cat was no longer available, I went ahead and attempted to send the person the total of the new cost. 

When I attempted to transfer the money, XXXX said I could not send the full amount due to a 24 hour transfer limit, and was only able to send a partial amount of {$330.00}. So I sent that on XX/XX/XXXX and said I can send the rest the next day. After this, the person emailed with me for a while about things such as the best time to have the kitten arrive on my end to pick flight times. 

Next morning came ( XX/XX/XXXX ). I had to do the rest of the payment. But before this I had a friend of mine call and attempt to buy two kittens because he lives in MA, 40 minutes from their claimed location. As a pet owner he was able to ask a lot of questions and the person I was speaking to was able to give my friend all the answers he expected of a breeder. He asked for two snow bengal kittens, a male listed, and the female I paid for. When the call first started my friend was told all the cats on the page were available. But when my cat was mentioned by name, again the person said that animal was already taken and paid for. 
My friend asked he asked if could stop by to see the kittens, but he was told no because of Covid. Then when they talked about the shipping my friend said he can simply pick up the animal because of distance, and the person hung up the phone on him. 

So at this point the person I gave the money to had me, my friend, 4 co-workers, and a police officer believing the sale was probably legitimate, but not without some reservations due to weird behavior. 

So on XX/XX/XXXX I sent in the last of the payment ( {$170.00} ), and then I received an email reply saying he will hurry with the final steps and get back to me shortly with the transport details. 
Then 5 hours later it was time for me to leave work to start going to the airport. I attempted call several times and only got to voice mail. When I got into my car to leave from work I called once more, and was given an immediate automatic message that the number was no longer in service! And my gmail was not able to send any more replies. 
I then attempted to call with a different phone, and the call went through to the voice mail, confirming my phone number was blocked. 

After this I then returned to the XXXX, Ct police station and spoke with a different officer. I provided the updates to the case. The officer informed me that it is still possible the sale was legitimate, and a possibility that I could simply be experiencing poor customer service, and asked me to be patient to see what happens. 

Today is XX/XX/XXXX and I have not heard anything from the people I sent the money to. I have called Wells Fargo to follow up on my claim numbers, and they state all 3 cases are closed, and that they sent a request to XXXX for a refund of the money. I then called XXXX, and they say they will not protect buyers and that it is up to the bank to refund my money. And they also outright told me the scammer is going to get away with it. 



Case Information Scammer Website : XXXX Scammer Phone Numbers : XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX ( blocked but working ) / XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX ( not working ) Scammer claimed address : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, MA XXXX, XXXX Scamer Email Address : XXXX Received-XXXX : pass ( XXXX : domain of XXXX designates XXXX as permitted sender ) XXXX XXXX User Email : XXXX XXXX Name : XXXX XXXX Transactions, through Wells Fargo XX/XX/XXXX XXXX TO XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX REF # XXXX {$170.00} XX/XX/XXXX XXXX TO XXXX XXXX ON XX/XX/XXXX REF # XXXX {$330.00} XX/XX/XXXX XXXX TO XXXX XXXX ON XX/XX/XXXX REF # XXXX {$660.00} Federal Trade Commission Report # XXXX Bank Dispute Claim IDs XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Ct Police Case Number : XXXX Officer XXXX XXXX I have submitted a complaint to the XXXX XXXX XXXX, as well as submitted a report to the XXXX FBI XXXX XXXX ___________________________________________ I contacted and spoke with a detective at the local PD of the XXXX, MA. She has attempted to go to the physical location given, but nobody answered. And she informs me the phone number is not leading back to anyone. 
___________________________________________ Today I have found a new website appear that is a copy of the one I used, with the same phone number and different email. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX

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