Consumer complaint received 2023-07-14
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CT
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Wire transfer for home purchase was stolen by someone posing as our attorney. 

Summary We attempted to complete a house purchase on XX/XX/2022 using a wire transfer from my XXXX XXXX account to our presumed attorneys account at Wells Fargo. It turned out that our attorneys email had been hacked and we were actually communicating with an imposter that opened a false account under my attorneys name at Wells Fargo. The entire sum of {$610000.00} ( save {$2200.00} ) was stolen by the imposter through this false account. We reported this immediately to my bank, the FBI and filed an Internet Crime Complaint Center complaint referral form ( IC3 ). We reported this to the Connecticut State police report ( # XXXX ). We also reported the crime to the Federal Trade Commission, report # XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. We subsequently read about sanctions that the government has placed on Wells Fargo ( and recently XXXX XXXX XXXX ) for encouraging and rewarding employees for opening accounts, many of which were not validated for accuracy. Many of these were opened in the name of unsuspecting individuals who were unaware their name had been used fraudulently. This is outrageous! I have been in touch with Wells Fargo, and they indicated that they do have information about this wire transfer, but they would require a court order, search warrant or subpoena to turn over these records. 
As a further issue, our actual attorney and real estate agent did not provide the correct information at any time up to and including the closing date. We had no communication on any aspect of the purchase that would have given us the correct information. The only communication we received was from an imposter. We cant rule out that the imposter was someone from the attorneys office or the real estate agents office. We did not receive any notice on a title search on XXXX XXXX XXXX. We are seeking a refund in the amt of {$610000.00} to recoup our losses in this transaction due to Wells Fargo XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 
From the contract : We will prepare the closing statement, calculating the appropriate adjustments and expenses of your purchase. Buyers ' expenses at the closing include all bank charges ; escrows for real estate taxes, hazard ( homeowner 's ) insurance and flood insurance if applicable ; recording fees ; title insurance ; courier fees ; appraisals and surveys, if applicable. We will confirm the adjustments and expenses with the seller 's attorney and review it with you at the closing. Prior to the closing, we will advise you of the amount of money necessary for your purchase. The figure we give you will be all inclusive of costs, expenses, and funds still due to the seller under the contract. It will give you credit for the amount of your mortgage and any monies previously paid by you for deposits, bank charges, etc. YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO BRING A BANK CHECK FOR THE NET BALANCE DUE OR TO SEND YOUR FUNDS BY ELECTRONIC MEANS ( WIRE ). THIS IS NECESSARY SO THAT ALL CHECKS I WRITE FOR THE CLOSING CAN BE CLEARED THROUGH OUR ACCOUNT ON THE DAY OF CLOSING. 

We did not receive the information promised in the above paragraph from our actual attorney.

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