Consumer complaint received 2023-08-30
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: GA
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
My Wife and I have been a loyal Wells Fargo Customer for over twenty years. Ive always appreciated my relationship with Wells Fargo until recently. After sub-par efforts and responses from routine Customer Service, Ive reached out directly to the General Counsels Office for Wells Fargo, for a fair and expedient resolution. No change in course yet on their end. 

In summary, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call from someone who presented themselves as a Wells Fargo Fraud Representative. They said that Wells Fargo had found fraud on our checking account and proceeded to provide exact locations of the fraud and dollar amounts via text messages. They said Wells Fargo needed to close our credit card account. The person also said that a new credit card would be mailed to us and they needed us to verify additional information. This person began to send " authorization codes '' to my phone via text communication from them to verify the fraudulent transactions, asking me to confirm receipt and they apparently hacked my phone. The call occurred while I was at work, and I eventually explained that I had a meeting to attend and had to end the call, get back to work and that I would have to call them the following day if anything additional was needed. The next morning approx XXXX XXXX my wife and I woke up to find that two Cash Advances from our Credit Card were made to our Checking Acct, and 2 wire transfers had occurred in the amount of {$500.00} and then {$9300.00} out of our Checking Account, to an individual who was not us. Wells Fargo had allowed the two Wire Transfers equaling {$9800.00} to be sent to an individual named XXXX XXXX XXXX in South Carolina. Myself, nor my wife have ever made a cash advance on our Credit Card, we are clearly not XXXX XXXX XXXX and we do not live in South Carolina. 

We immediately went to our local branch and let them know what had happened that morning. We sat down with a Wells Fargo banker as soon as the bank opened, explained all that had transpired and were advised we needed to close our long-standing checking and credit card accounts and open new ones. The banker told us not to worry, that Wells Fargo would carry out an investigation and resolve the situation, and that we would not be liable for the stolen funds. She said it was clear from our history with Wells Fargo that this was not normal behavior on our account. She had us call into the fraud team from her desk and provide a detailed account of what transpired. In return, their Fraud Dept. did a seemingly cursory investigation, and informed us in 10 or so days that it was our fault, that we would be responsible the stolen money, and that the balance would remain on our credit card so as not to overdraw our checking account. 

I am at a loss. How can Wells Fargo NOT stop this via Security protocols and allow/ make a transfer of almost {$10000.00} to an individual that is not myself or my wife, and in a different state, and not request verification from us that this was a valid transfer? There are red flags all over these transactions. What protocols does Wells Fargo have to prevent or verify large transactions that are clearly out of the ordinary for a long-standing customer with the 20+ years of banking history? TYP actions by CC companies/ Banks stop you immediately from buying groceries, gas etc if they find purchasing activity NOT in your typical home area/ places you frequent routinely. Wells Fargo let these transactions slide right on through w/out any verification. These Criminals knew well enough to stay under the XXXX XXXX mark, so they didn't flag for a SARS Report Wells Fargo has now burdened us w/ not only the almost $ XXXX in Fraud on our Credit Card XXXX but now they're ALSO Collecting on the 30 % Interest, AND ALL the Fees- Late Fee, Over Credit Limit, etc. My wife is in tears night after night lately, and Im at a loss on what to do next. Standing by and letting them saddle us w/ this burden directly caused by THEIR Neglect is not fair and we're fighting to NOT let it happen. Ive filed a report with my local police department and have a case #, Ive filed complaints w/ the FTC , OCC , and left a message with the FBI and Homeland Security . 
- Ive also received a letter from WF stating they discovered during their investigation that the Credit Card transfers were Fraudulent activity NOT authorized by us, and they claim was resolved in our favor. 
- Their resolution in our favor is them saying were still responsible for the Wire Transfers from our bank acct ( meaning the {$9800.00} cash advance from our Credit Card that was not authorized after they concluded their investigation ), and were paying @ $ XXXX month + Fees and Interest monthly in an effort to mitigate total destruction of our Credit scores. Its dropped our Credit Scores XXXX points in the last 2 months and killing our family financially. 
- Please see attached docs showing Wells Fargo Stating to me that the Credit Card transactions were Fraudulent and Unauthorized- they are the ROOT CAUSE of ALL of these issues we're facing. 

Respectfully,

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