Consumer complaint received 2023-02-12
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: AZ
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with cash advances

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I received a text from Wells Fargo stating : Verify Wells Fargo activity. Card XXXX {$17.00} @ HELP XXXXXXXX XXXX {$0.00} @ XXXX XXXX XXXX  Reply Y if recognized, or call XXXX. Shortly after that I also received a phone call. The gentleman on the phone informed me that he was from Wells Fargo and they were contacting me about suspicious activity on one of my debit cards. They had declined charges to one of my debit cards due to suspected fraudulent activity. I confirmed to Wells Fargo that the activity was indeed fraudulent and I was grateful that they had flagged and caught it. Through that phone call a fraud claim was automatically created on my behalf. Exactly 8 days later, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received another text message stating : Did you or someone authorized use your Wells Fargo debit or ATM card for Declined Transaction XXXX {$400.00} Reply 1 for YES Reply 2 for NO. Given the fraudulent activity a week prior, this message raised my concern that something fraudulent had happened again. Right after that message was received, I received a phone call from a man claiming to be from Wells Fargo and informed me of the same fraudulent activity mentioned in the text message and asked if it was legitimate. Of course, I said no. He then said he would be able to help me submit a claim for that activity ( just like the actual Wells Fargo representative on XX/XX/XXXX ) as soon as he verified my identity ( just like I have done many other times over the phone with Wells Fargo ). When I provided the code sent to me by Wells Fargo, the man ( who I will refer to hereafter as the criminal ) used it to change my password and login to my Wells Fargo account. It is worth noting at this point that the criminal already had, at a minimum, the following personal information about me : my full name, knowledge that I was a Wells Fargo customer/account holder, phone number associated with my WF accounts, and, most troubling, my Wells Fargo online username- all of which I never told him. I suspect the criminal XXXX have also had knowledge that I had a fraud claim recently. In fact, all of this happened the day after I received an email confirmation that my previous fraud claim ( # XXXX ) for the activity on XX/XX/XXXX was closed. With access to my online account, the criminal then proceeded to consolidate funds from multiple checking and savings accounts totaling {$12000.00} to one single checking account. He also made a {$12000.00} cash advance from my credit card to that same central checking account. He then wired the total {$24000.00} to himself from that checking account. While he was doing that activity, he was providing me fraud confirmation codes for each of several supposed fraudulent transactions to buy himself additional time. The process to this point sounded and appeared so similar to the incident on XX/XX/XXXX I had no idea what was going on at the time. He proceeded to make additional transfers between my accounts totaling {$20000.00} in an attempt to send another wire, but I received a text alert ( because my primary personal checking account was set up for minimum balance alerts ) telling me that my checking account was below my alert threshold, which alarmed me and I became suspicious. I tried to logon to my Wells Fargo account and could not because the criminal had changed my password. At this point I realized something was wrong and ended the call with him immediately. I immediately looked up the number for Wells Fargo fraud and called and had them freeze all of my accounts and informed them that I couldnt see anything on my accounts but was frantic that a criminal had access to my accounts and had already/was stealing money from me. Wells Fargo created a claim ( # XXXX ) and began investigating it. I received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX for claim # XXXX from Wells Fargo informing me that they had reversed some of the transfers completed by the criminal, but that they couldnt reverse the remaining transfers, because there werent enough funds in the accountsYour claim is now closed. This meant that WF had reversed {$20000.00} of transfers between accounts ( which is simple and I could have done myself ) but did not reverse any of the actual stolen funds from my checking accounts totaling {$12000.00}. WF did reverse the {$12000.00} fraudulent cash advance which I knew because it was taken off of my account when I regained my online account access. However, a few days later, presumably when WF concluded that they could not recover the fraudulent wire funds of {$24000.00}, they retroactively posted the {$12000.00} cash advance back to my credit card account with a date of XX/XX/XXXX. I believe I should be protected from such fraudulent activity on my credit card through the unauthorized activity provisions of the cardholder agreementjust like I was in the XX/XX/XXXX fraudulent charges incident. Under the cardholder agreement I am not liable for unauthorized activity so long as ( 1 ) I report the activity immediately and ( 2 ) the activity was not done by me or anyone previously authorized to use the account. In this case, I ( 1 ) called Wells Fargo and reported the activity within minutes of it happening and ( 2 ) the activity was clearly not done by me and no one else is or has been authorized to use the card. I have cell phone, computer, and eye witness evidence that I was not the one that made those transactions. Even a simple IP address locator on the part of Wells Fargo would prove as much. I think it is dishonest of WF to assert in any way that I authorized that activity. In addition to notifying Wells Fargo right away, I permanently froze all my accounts and immediately began the process of closing them and opening new accounts altogether to ensure security and protection, which required a significant amount of time and effort to do. Not to mention updating every aspect of my life that involved those accounts, including autopays, direct deposits, etc. 
In addition to reposting the {$12000.00} cash advance to my credit card account in late XXXX, WF also posted {$170.00} cash advance fee and a few days later on XX/XX/XXXX ( at the end of my billing cycle ), WF posted {$100.00} finance charge/interest. Note that I have always paid my credit card on time and never carried a balance from month to month and therefore never incurred any interest charges on it. After the XX/XX/XXXX fraud incident and after regaining my online access, I also promptly paid down the remaining legitimate charges incurred on the card. Following the closure of my claim, I called Wells Fargo on multiple occasions to dispute the conclusion and also added a request to reverse the Wells Fargo charges related to the fraudulent credit card activity ( fees and interest ). Each phone call was a hassle of being transferred between departments ( Personal Banking dept, Online Fraud dept, Online Fraud Claims Assistance dept, Credit Card dept, Credit Card Fraud dept, Small Business dept, etc, etc ), with every representative claiming my case or my question was handled by someone else. Eventually someone gave me an email address ( XXXX ) and I was told to send my questions and complaints there. I emailed them on XX/XX/XXXX. I never received a response. On XX/XX/XXXX I sent a follow up to that email address inquiring on the status. I never received a response. With no response of any kind despite using the channel WF had instructed me to use, I reached out on XX/XX/XXXX to the banker at my local branch, XXXX XXXX, who had helped me setup my new accounts ( incidentally, she was the first person I felt had any personal interest in helping me whatsoever ). She, I believe through her branch manager, escalated my situation and questions to the Escalated Complaints department. XXXX, from Escalated Complaints department, contacted me via phone on XX/XX/XXXX and informed me that the email address I had been given was for internal use only and should never have been given to me at all. I still dont understand why that elicited no response whatsoever, but, trying to think positively, I hoped that explained the lack of communication and, more importantly, the lack of action. XXXX reviewed my case and, I believe after speaking with the Credit Card department, said it should be taken care of but could take some additional time. He stated that he would then close my case with him in Escalated Complaints dept. 
I continued to see no action taken on my account for either the credit card or the checking accounts and called Wells Fargo again. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I spoke with XXXX in the Online Fraud Claims Assistance department. I shared my concerns with the way the case was handled and closed and inquired about the credit card activity ( the fraudulent cash advance as well as the fees and interest associated with it ). I was told the credit card department had to process those reversals and it can take up to 60 days to reverse the cash advance and related fees, which meant it should be taken care of by XX/XX/XXXX or XXXX ( 60 days from the claim ). No reversals happened. In addition, Wells Fargo continued to accrue fees to my account : {$39.00} late charge on XX/XX/XXXX and {$290.00} interest charge on XX/XX/XXXX. I called back on XX/XX/XXXX and was told that XXXX was wrong and that it actually takes two billing cycles ( not 60 days ) to reverse the charges, which would mean it would be done by XX/XX/XXXX. No reversals happened. In addition, Wells Fargo continued to accrue fees to my account : {$39.00} late charge on XX/XX/XXXX and {$290.00} interest charge on XX/XX/XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I called Wells Fargo again to see if someone could give me an answer why nothing is happening. I spoke with XXXX from Online Fraud who cold transferred me to the Credit Card Fraud dept, who transferred me back to Online Fraud, who said they couldnt help and then transferred me to a voicemail of another department I didnt even know, and then the hung up on me. Feeling unbearably frustrated, I called XXXX in Escalated Complaints again for help. I didnt reach him but left a voicemail. I didnt hear back from XXXX XXXX so I called again on XX/XX/XXXX and was able to get through to him. I explained that I was literally at a loss with how to proceed as I seem to be getting nowhere. XXXX put me on hold for a bit while he called around to different departments trying to figure out who could help. He admitted to me that even he, as an employee of the company, was being transferred multiple times and struggling to figure out where to go or who could help. He spoke with his supervisor, then with the Credit Card department directly, then with the Online complaints department. He said he was researching further the interest and fees situation and would email me ( I havent received an email ), but was passing me to XXXX in the Small Business dept to help with the cash advance. XXXX put me on hold for a long time ( admitting when he returned that he was on his 8th transfer trying to get to someone that can help ). He ended up transferring me to XXXX in the Online Fraud Department, who then transferred me to XXXX in the Small Business Customer dept. XXXX said that she told XXXX that she couldnt help me but XXXX refused to accept that and transferred me to her anyway. XXXX put me on hold for a long time trying to figure out where to send me. Eventually she talked to her supervisor, XXXX, who reviewed my file. XXXX said wed have to reopen the case, but after she spoke with Online Fraud I dont think that was an option. She said if I wanted to refute the claim I would have to go through the Customer Advocacy team. So I spoke with XXXX on the Customer Advocacy Team who subsequently created a case ( # XXXX ) and submitted it on XX/XX/XXXX. From the time I got on the phone with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX until I got off the phone with XXXX I had been on the phone for 4 hours and 20 minutes straight and my case is still unresolved and sitting somewhere in the labyrinth of Wells Fargo. To add insult to injury, I am getting calls from Wells Fargo about my past due credit card balance. Im apprehensive that this prolonged process will also create messes for me to address with regard to my credit reports/scores. I believe my consumer financial rights have not been upheld. I believe that as a customer of Wells Fargo I have been abused and mistreated in this process which has taken nearly three months ( so far ), easily consumed 50+ hours of my time ( so far ), had significant ramifications in my life personally and financially, and is STILL not resolved. I feel that I have given a good faith effort a hundred times over to work with Wells Fargo to resolve this and that I have no other option but to appeal to the CFPB on the matter. I want nothing more than to be made whole and to put this matter behind me. I appreciate your understanding and your help to clear this up in a timely manner.

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