Consumer complaint received 2020-11-27
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: TX
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Account opened as a result of fraud

Complaint:
Hello XXXX, email sent to XXXX Ive copied ( Name redacted ) on this email. Attached is an authorization allowing me to speak on her behalf. This is not regarding a mortgage but a Wells Fargo bank issue regarding Wells Fargo steering ( Name redacted ) into accounts that were not needed. Before I detail the actions of Wells Fargos employees, I want to recite the recent history of Wells Fargos employee sales goals which resulted in accounts being created that were unknown to the customer and accounts that were pushed on borrowers so that employees kept their jobs. 

Effective XX/XX/XXXX, Wells Fargo announced that it would be ending its controversial employee sales goal program that had resulted in the fake accounts scandal. This misconduct was revealed when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ), the XXXX XXXX City Attorney and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ( OCC ) fined Wells Fargo {$180.00} XXXX for more than 2 million bank accounts and/or credit cards that were opened and applied for without customers knowledge or permission between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. 

Wells Fargo stated We regret and take responsibility for any instances where customers may have received a product that they did not request. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, a Senate panel hearing was held wherein both Republicans and Democrats lambasted XXXX. The committee chairman, XXXX XXXX ( R-Texas ) stated : Fraud is fraud. Theft is Theft. And what happened at Wells Fargo over the course of many years can not be described any other way. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, WF disclosed in regulatory filings that the SEC was investigating its sales and practices. WF stated that formal and informal inquiries, investigations or examinations were being undertaken by agencies such as the U.S. Department of Justice, congressional committees, the SEC, California state prosecutors and attorneys general. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, Wells Fargo is accused by a federal agency of egregious, discriminatory and illegal practices. Top banking regulators severely downgrades Wells Fargos community lending rating. The decision is due to factors beyond the fake account scandal. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, Wells Fargo settles the class action suit for {$110.00} XXXX for wronged consumers. On XX/XX/XXXX, the cost of the settlement for the class action is increased to {$140.00} XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, Wells Fargo is sued for allegedly ripping of small businesses. A lawsuit accuses Wells Fargo of overcharging small business credit card transactions by using a deceptive 63-page contract to confuse them. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, more fake accounts were discovered. Wells Fargo states it has found 1.4 million additional phone accounts bringing the total number of fake accounts to 3.5 million. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the Federal Reserve punishes Wells Fargo in an unprecedented move by not allowing Wells Fargo to grow its assets until the bank cleans up its act. 

I state all of this history as Wells Fargo has promised to federal regulators, CFPB, the SEC, Congress, attorneys general and the public that it has cleaned up its act regarding these fake accounts and steering customers to accounts not needed. However, in this instant case, ( Name redacted ) was steered by Wells Fargo to apply and purchase accounts that were not needed based on her specific needs. 

( Name redacted ) reached out to Wells Fargo to determine if it could assist her in processing ACH payments for her business, ( Name redacted ). ( Name redacted ) was advised by Wells Fargo to schedule an in-person meeting at the branch and to bring with her the articles of incorporation and other documents relating to her business. She was told that she needed to create a profile to be able to speak with a XXXX  representative. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, ( Name redacted ) came into the branch located at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, Texas XXXX. She spoke with WF employee XXXX XXXX whom she had met at a SCORE workshop. MsXXXX XXXX appeared to by soliciting business at this workshop. ( Name redacted ) was informed by a branch employee that since it was a weekend the XXXX representative was not available and that she needed to create a profile prior to speaking with the representative. This is the first that ( Name redacted ) was told that she could not complete a profile on the weekend. 

While at the branch, ( Name redacted ) inquired about the business secured credit card as she wanted to build credit for ( Name redacted ). She was informed by Ms. XXXX that she would need to have a Wells Fargo account to apply for the business secured credit card and that she could give the promotional {$300.00} is she met the number of required transactions and deposits for the account. ( Name redacted ) was advised that she had to open an account to apply for the business secured credit card so she did despite the fact that ( Name redacted ) already had three business accounts for XXXX XXXX XXXX with other banking institutions. ( Name redacted ) was required to provide her social security number to obtain the account. 

It was later that ( Name redacted ) discovered via three Wells Fargo employees that the XXXX phone number could have simply been provided to ( Name redacted ). The employees also informed her that she should not have been required to submit her social security number when obtaining an account for her business as her business EIN should have been sufficient. These employees also advised her that she did not have to have an established account with Wells Fargo to apply for the secured card as she was physically in the branch at the time of the application. 

The XXXX representative called ( Name redacted ) and forwarded ( Name redacted ) emails to escalate the situation as clearly Ms. XXXX should not have required ( Name redacted ) to open the account. 

As ( Name redacted ) did not now trust Wells Fargo, she did not have the required balance of {$1000.00} on the 60th date to meet the criteria for opening the account. Per Wells Fargo, if ( Name redacted ) had a balance of {$1000.00} on day 60, her account would be credited {$300.00}. Clearly, this was part of the scheme, entice ( Name redacted ) to open an unnecessary account by offering {$300.00} that would be used to open the secured credit card account for her business.

Wells Fargo required ( Name redacted ) to open a personal account using her personal social security number when in fact that was not a requirement. ( Name redacted ) solely wanted an account for her business that would accept ACH payments. Wells Fargo should have relied only on ( Name redacted ) EIN number for the business account. Wells Fargo has caused financial harm as well as emotional harm and detriment to ( Name redacted ) by requiring her to open an account under the premise it was a requirement for her to have a business account with Wells Fargo, a requirement that is false. 

In XXXX of this year, Wells Fargo agreed to pay {$3.00} XXXX to settle potential federal criminal and civil charges that, for more than a decade, the banks aggressive sales goals led to widespread consumer abuses. Under this settlement, Wells Fargo acknowledged that it had collected millions of dollars in fees as employees falsified records, forged signatures, and misused customers personal information to open fake accounts in order to meet unrealistic sales goals. XXXX XXXX stated The conduct at the core of todays settlements and the past culture that gave rise to it are reprehensible and wholly inconsistent with the values on which Wells Fargo was built. While todays announcement is a significant step in bringing this chapter to a close, theres still more work we must do to rebuild the trust we lost. 

In the instant case, the account was opened with ( Name redacted ) knowledge. However, there was no need to open the personal account, to obtain ( Name redacted ) social security, as all she wanted and needed was an account for her business. It appears that Wells Fargo is playing fast and loose with its claim to stop opening fake accounts without the borrowers authority but instead to steer borrowers to unnecessary accounts to earn the fees it's lost with the fake account scheme. 


I look forward to your response.

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