Consumer complaint received 2023-10-04
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: MO
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Trouble using your card
Sub-issue: Can't use card to make purchases

Complaint:
XXXX I received notice from Wells Fargo that a suspicious charge to my card was declined and request verification of a series of charges prior to that date. Confirmed the suspected charge was fraud and that all previous charges were valid. The next day I tried to use card and was declined. A check on my account was blocked. I received a txt message and email from XXXX requesting my confirmation on the questioned charge and I confirmed the declined charge : XX/XX/2023 XXXX XXXX XXXX Unknown {$3000.00} Declined was a fraud attempt. When I tried to find out why my account was blocked I got no explanation and was transferred from person to person in a well-known blocking tactic to keep such inquiries from reaching the people responsible while using my airtime at my expense! After XXXX weeks of this insulting denial of responsibility and no replies to the emails I sent to the above fraud department email address which had replied to my verification of fraud I today made the XXXX miles round trip to the nearest Wells Fargo Bank branch and presented this issue. This rep spent an hour passed from person to person within WF until he was able to get someone to admit why my account had been blocked. They were responding to the FAILED phishing attempt by punishing me by blocking my account! I was subjected to an interrogation of all my background information, presented my VA photo-ID card as proof of identity and treated as a suspect in this fraud attempt. The investigator was trying to blame me for this attack when WF has become a target due to their lack of intelligent structure and easily overcome system checks. I'd used my card only since XXXX, only one card was issued to me, and I was the only authorized user. Yet this WF XXXX was trying her best to fix blame on me for this event rather than the failures of WF to verify this childish and amaturish attempt inconsistent with a true phishing scam. Obviously attempted by someone not familiar with this scam, and possible done by WF personnel to force me to prove identity at a branch bank presenting a Federal issued ID as proof becuase they are incompetent and too stupid to know how to confirm identity without resorting to these bizarre actions. No other bank card has created this problem and with my XXXX  credit score of XXXX is not in question... but, these fools ignore common sense and punish the customer for their own failure to provide safeguards and their propensity to blame the victim /customer for the criminal act of another. Rather than going after the person presenting the bogus charge using the trail of connections used to make the claim, and reporting this Felony incident to the FBI, which they are required to do. 

WARNING : DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH WELLS FARGO WHICH HAS DEMONSTRATED LACK OF KNOWLEDGE, INTELLIGENCE, OR COMMON SENSE IN DEALING WITH MATTERS OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY OUTSIDE THE CUSTOMER 'S CONTROL OR KNOWLEDGE. DON'T SUBJECT YOURSELF TO THE SAME PUNISHMENT BY WELLS FARGO FOR ACTIONS OF CRIMINALS ATTRATED TO WELLS FARGO BECAUSE OF THEIR LACK OF INTELLIGENCE OR COMMON SENSE.

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