Consumer complaint received 2020-12-04
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: TX
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, the day after I was paid, I received many emails alerting me that someone changed my username, password, and contact information to my Wells Fargo checking account. They were able to control all of my banking accounts and immediately got to work spending all of the money I just got in. As soon as i saw this ( the transactions were made around XXXX CST ) I called up the Wells Fargo customer support line at around XXXX CST and explained to the woman on the other end what was going on, that someone hacked my account and spent my money in another country and made transfers I didn't make. She apologized for the situation and ended up closing the affected account, opening a new one, and telling me that my fraud claim would be taken care of and to check my account within 7 to 10 business days for my stolen money to get reimbursed. 

I got off the phone and on the XXXX i made a phone call to the support line again because not only was i still locked out of my own account, I didn't know how to check on my claim status. Every single fraudulent transaction still ended up being posted to the brand new account. So i called up and a different person answered me. I explained what happened and they sounded confused that i wasn't able to get into my account. They asked if the first lady changed my information back to my own and I realized that no she didn't. In fact all it did was give the criminal a brand new account to work with. The criminal declared my debit card ( the one in my posession ) as lost and shipped a brand new one out to them. My money was all still gone and nothing had been stopped or solved. After talking over 30 minutes the lady told me I needed to make an in person appointment to a wells fargo branch because for some reason, she who was at the online department couldn't access my account in order to change my information. So i had to wait for the rest of the week to pass until i saw a teller. 

On Thursday the XXXX I spoke to a wells fargo teller in person, told them the situation and again, watched them as they couldn't believe that none of my information could ve changed for me over the phone. She helped to officially expedite closing the correct accounts and she helped me recover my username and password and phone and new email and debit card and everything. She told me since i filed a claim everything should be reimbursed within 10 business days. 

Of course, that was not true either. On the XXXX I called WF again to check on my claim status and it turned out they didn't know what i was talking about. Apparently the first woman i spoke to NEVER EVEN FILED MY CLAIM FOR ME. I was wasting time for nothing. I called through at least 3 other people to find out what i was supposed to do, if my credit was affected, anything. I was finally transferred to a supervisor who told me that there was never a fraud claim under my name and the person who told me otherwise was going to get checked up on. She submitted the claim for me instead, told me she was going to put it on high priority because wells fargo takes fraudulent activity very seriously and i got an email alert with the claim number. Okay cool. She said 10 business days max. 

I called on the XXXX to double check my claim. At this point it existed, yes, but the person on the other end was asking me questions like none of it was already put on file, like if i had the card with me when this happened. Finally they told me that " since i provided this information they are now going to process this claim '' to which I THOUGHT the supervisor woman meant she was already getting it processed but i guess " high priority '' doesn't mean what I think it means. 

On the XXXX I called again and a man by the name of XXXX ( pronounced XXXX, I dont know how to spell it ) answered me this time. He said my claim was there but he didn't know which of the listed transactions were fraudulent. I cut him off and listed every transaction, the ones to the XXXX XXXX  that I dont go to, the random coffee shops and XXXX XXXX in XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX  in XXXX, and a wire transfer that i never approved of and of course, all the international transaction fees that accrued due to 'my card ' being physically used in countries i wasn't even in. The transactions totaled around $ XXXX He apologized that there were so many fraudulent uses of my account and said he was GOING to process my claim ( which is very strange considering someone already told me this ) and put it high priority so that he could apply the credit to my account within 3 business days. That meant that by XXXX or XXXX I was supposed to have at least {$760.00} credited back to my account. 

I called back on XXXX when nothing happened. 
A different man picked up and we looked up my information again and in the middle of me trying to explain the whole run-around I had been given he said " Well, you know it's only been the XXXX day. '' I said what? And he said " You only filed this on the XXXX of XXXX right? Well processing these claims for getting credits back into your account usually take 7 to 10 business days to complete. It hasn't even been 10 days yet. So I recommend waiting the full 10 days and we will go ahead with this claim. '' If someone was showing distress in the fact that their money and identity were being stolen and manipulated and you are the financial institution that is supposed to help, don't you think that you would find a way to resolve the situation and quickly and efficiently as possible? This man just told me that they were going to use the maximum amount of time possible in order to process my claim. Time that I DONT HAVE. 

Keep in mind I am a person who lives paycheck to paycheck. With only one other person in a family of 4 who is currently working due to the pandemic and this check was supposed to go to parking at work ( XXXX dollars a day for 10 to 14 days mind you ), helping get food for the family, gas for the car, the property tax, my utilities, my XXXX seller bill, my miscellaneous recurring payments, my therapy appointments, and my antidepressant medication. I haven't been on my antidepressants since this mess started because I couldnt afford a refill after my money got stolen, and people on XXXX who stop taking it are at an increased risk for XXXX and XXXX  behavior relapses. This situation is directly affecting my livelihood and my mental health. 

How is that fair that workers for a place that directly impacts how people live get to CHOOSE when they feel like helping those in need? Their own customers! It's completely asinine and extremely embarrassing. 

Yesterday XXXX I filed a police report. I am hoping having legal action take place on my behalf would SOMEHOW express the seriousness this situation is having on my life. It's been over two weeks and i haven't gotten any real help and im late on my utilities and creditors keep calling me and i have to borrow money from people doing stuff i don't want or shouldn't even have to do just so i can go to work in the first place, and I need to get back on my XXXX so that i don't fall any further than i already am, and that's so XXXX far. 

Today XXXX I called wells fargo again. A woman picked up and i have her as much info as I could, expressed that I needed my money back as soon as possible, that i have to get the law involved, that I had been pushed from person to person getting only promises of " processing my claim, '' and she apologized and said she was going to process my claim for me RIGHT NOW and get my credit applied. 

Except she couldn't. Because according to her, my claim was locked by another agent. She said she COULD HAVE sent my claim through that minute, that i COULD HAVE had my credits in, but my claim was under the charge of someone who was OUT OF THE OFFICE AND LOCKED OUT THE ACCOUNT. 

I was told to try again in a couple hours, they reached out to the agent who was in charge of my claim and that maybe in a few hours they might be around to unlock the account. 

How absolutely convenient to have someone " truly want to help me '' after 20 whole days but can't because they're not the correct agent. I asked for a name so that i could reach " the correct agent '' directly and I couldn't get one because they'd apparently never been asked that before. But i was welcome to call again later. That hopefully they'll be there. 

So now im here with nothing. Again. After day 20. And 5+ promises of getting reimbursed for my own money. Wells Fargo is a complete and utter embarrassment when it comes to customer service in regards to resolving fraudulent activity.

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