Consumer complaint received 2021-12-15
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: TX
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a text message stating " Wells Fargo Fraud '' asking if I had authorized a {$2000.00} transaction, and if not, reply " NO '' I replied no and almost immediately my phone rang. The person identified himself, asked again if I had verified this transaction and an additional transaction for {$1500.00}. I stated I did not. He asked if anyone else had access to my bank account, to which I replied my husband does but I know he did not authorize this. He asked if my husband  was in XXXX, Georgia where he claimed this transaction originated. The previous week my XXXX account had been used for a purchase in Indiana, and I had requested a new Wells Fargo debit card in case my number had been obtained. This man then proceeded to tell me I could recover my funds immediately if I used XXXX to send them to myself. I did ask if I could call back at a better time as I was at a playdate with my kid, and he said that if I wanted to have the funds immediately available instead of the 3-6 weeks it would take normally, I had to deal with the issue immediately. He proceeded to walk me through the steps of adding myself as a new XXXX recipient on my XXXX account. I input my own name and phone number, so I thought surely I can't be sending money to anyone else as this is my information. XXXX then texted me a code which he asked for, and unfortunately I gave him. He had me send the money in 3 transactions, the first for {$1000.00} each and the final for the amount that remained in my account, which he was able to see as XXXX. He then instructed me to make sure I changed my password on my Wells Fargo account and we hung up. I finished up the playdate quickly and headed to a local branch of the bank. The man who had I had spoken with did call back and asked if I had changed my account password, to which I stated I had and we hung up again. There at my local bank I spoke with a banker who informed me that this was a scam and directed me to call the help center for fraud. I filed my complaint with the WellsFargo fraud center, and they said they would investigate and inform me of the outcome at the end of 10 business days. They did ask if I had any accounts at XXXX XXXX  to which I did not, but they encouraged me to call them to ensure that no one had fraudulently opened an account in my name. I called XXXX and this had not happened. I called Wells Fargo back after approximately 6 business days and the agent said he could not update me, that the claim was being worked and I needed to give them more time. After the end of the 10 business days, I received a letter ( dated XX/XX/XXXX ) in the mail stating they had researched my complaint, but since I authorized the XXXX transactions, they would not be refunding the money. Wells Fargo said that " as a courtesy '' they had reached out to the receiving financial institution ( XXXXXXXX XXXX  ) to see if they could recover the funds. I called upon receiving this letter to complain about the handling of the case, they stated they would escalate it and someone would call me back in 3 business days. No one ever called. I called again on XX/XX/XXXX to speak to someone. This time an agent named XXXX did at least explain the process more in detail so I could know how the investigation was done, but she stated that XXXX had also been unable to recover the funds and had closed the case. I asked to again escalate my case as there should be better handling and consumer protection. The manager over XXXX called, and offered no additional help. I also received an email on XXXX XXXX from the escalations department stating they were looking into the case, but no phone call from that department. I received an additional email XX/XX/XXXX from the escalations department stating the case had been handled appropriately, listed the XXXX customer service number and stated there would be no further action on their part. When I called that number a recording states that if you are using XXXX through your online bank they do not have access to your account and to hang up and call your bank. At this point, it seems I have exhausted my options with XXXXWells Fargo to recover the money.

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