Consumer complaint received 2022-02-10
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: MA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I logged into my Wells Fargo bank account and saw my balance had been wiped out and upon reviewing I noticed several strings of fraudulent charges using my debit card, credit cards, many linked to paypal, totaling around {$23000.00} over 50 transactions. The charges ranged from {$39.00} to {$2500.00} and a {$4000.00} cash advance taken from my credit card. 

When I filed the claim the representative was in a hurry to get me off of the line, and did not want to go through the transactions one by one, but instead just blanket listed the transactions from XXXX, and XXXX from the XXXX forward. I had never gone through this before, asked if we needed to go through them specifically, but was told that the investigator will investigate and call if any more information is needed. I removed the accurate charges to the best of my knowledge with the investigator when they called. 

I followed the steps outlined on both the Wells Fargo claims website and several XXXX searches to check for/identify compromised accounts. I also contacted my Identity Protection service provider through XXXX XXXX XXXX. When I did, I found that my information had been involved in two data breaches, including the accounts I used to log in and verify with XXXX, as well as my XXXX account recovery email along with 24  other websites such as XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX. I also use XXXX Messages for texting, which lets me see and respond to text messages online in real time, so I dont have to touch my phone. Not only this but upon looking into the security of my phone, I noticed that the makers of my phone stopped releasing security updates since XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). 

I reviewed my XXXX account and it was clearly compromised too as XXXX had presented me with a security screen stating I had suspicious logins, that my account had been accessed from multiple countries and IP addresses, as well as potentially fraudulent activity on my account. The thieves accessed both my Wells Fargo account and XXXX account, drained my funds, and maxed a few credit cards, including non Wells Fargo cards. Some charges were exact duplicate values of previous valid ones I had made. I called and informed my other card providers, who investigated and gave me credit for the charges made as they were clearly fraudulent. XXXX being partnered with Wells Fargo should enable Wells Fargo to see this easily, yet 8 days later when I spoke with XXXX again to get more information, I was told they have not been contacted by Wells Fargo regarding my account. 

XXXX showed clearly suspicious fraudulent activity as in their own account activity tracker, showed my account being accessed from various cities and countries including XXXX and XXXX, as well as several devices and operating systems, some even show up as unknown or blank. 

When the Wells Fargo investigator called me regarding my claim, there was a clear disinterest in verifying these transactions, OR in the research I had done of my own and the subsequent highly relevant findings. I offered the information above several times, offering screenshots and transaction information but the investigator did not want anything, and stated he was just there to verify which transactions I am disputing, complaining about how many there were as he had to go through them with me. There are 60 of them! This was extremely concerning right off bat, as if me being robbed was an inconvenience. I explained to the investigator that I do use XXXX but had not used it since a few days prior, and the transactions seen were clearly different as the fraudulent charges had stated my card was entered in manually by merchant in the details. 

This investigation and claim was only for the debit card use, as Wells Fargo apparently has three departments, Debit, Credit, and Online. Part of what was stolen from me was in the form of a cash advance. One of my Wells Fargo credit cards had a 0 balance and the thieves moved {$4000.00} from available credit to my balance, and then made purchases with my debit/checking account with it. I had to call in to the customer service again, to a different number, to make the credit card claim, upon doing so I was transferred 3 times, and disconnected once. When disconnected, the agent had just disconnected my accounts due to the activity, created new ones for me, and was about to get me online access again. While sitting again on hold for 45 minutes ( 6 hours total ), when someone picked up I explained the whole situation again and how I needed to be transferred to who was just handling my claim since we were at the activation stage. I was then shockingly informed that Wells Fargo treats identity theft and fraud as regular customer service calls, and that there is no transferring back to who was helping me. The agent explained that as soon as one call disconnects, the next one comes in and there is nothing they can do. It turns out this caused my claim to be submitted twice, not to mention there being a difference in information between the two regarding if I need a second replacement debit card. ( I was told from their own Online Claim Department that this was unfortunately a common occurance ). Both of the Online Claims reps I spoke with noticed suspicious account access online and recommended completely closing my bank account, having them create a new one, with new username/password/authentication. 

The representative I spoke with regarding the denial of my claim stated on the phone that Wells Fargo did not verify all the transactions, and that there were only two transactions they verified which were the {$39.00} and {$51.00} charges on XX/XX/XXXX. The fact that these are the only ones listed as verified is absolutely outrageous, but even worse still was the answer I received when I immediately asked how Wells Fargo verified these transactions. The rep told me that since I logged in to my account with my credentials, that they were valid. This is the Online Account claim agent telling me this, the person in the department responsible for handling when peoples online accounts and credentials are compromised, the definition of identity theft and fraudulent charges. 

Here are the fraudulent charges listed in the claim : XX/XX/XXXX - {$100.00} XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$500.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$550.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$500.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$2500.00} Coinbase XX/XX/XXXX - {$2500.00} Coinbase XX/XX/XXXX - {$1000.00} XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$250.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$2100.00} XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$850.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$820.00} XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$170.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$180.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$180.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$890.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$1600.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$110.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$850.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$190.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$190.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$270.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$300.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$850.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$190.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$73.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$1000.00} XXXX  XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$910.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$130.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$79.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$83.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$51.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$61.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$510.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$51.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$85.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$40.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$58.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$1000.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$58.00} XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$36.00} XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$510.00} XXXX XXXXXXXX XX/XX/XXXX - {$520.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$62.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$68.00} XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX - {$39.00} XXXX  I can provide screenshots for anything required. 
I currently have screenshots of : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX showing a data breach leaking my accounts and passwords. 
XXXX XXXX security center also showing a data breach where my passwords are compromised for 24 accounts, including XXXX. 
XXXX  activity tracker showing my account being accessed from numerous locations/countries including cities near me, XXXX, and XXXX. Also showing access from XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, and Unknown operating system, as well as browsers. 

There is more than enough evidence across the board that someone fraudulently accessed my accounts, and completely robbed me. I have been with Wells Fargo since they were called XXXX, I even had one of the old, longer, account numbers. This is completely reprehensible and Wells Fargo needs to make this right.

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