Consumer complaint received 2019-04-04
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: FL
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low
Sub-issue: Bounced checks or returned payments

Complaint:
I am writing this complaint because I was scammed. And the reason for this scam is because of a practice by Wells Fargo. If they did not have this policy ( practice ), I would have lost {$2300.00} to a scam artist, and I would not be filing this complaint. 

On XX/XX/2019 I received a text message from a man claiming to represent a movie production company from XXXX, and they wanted to hire me to photograph a movie that was scheduled to be filed here in XXXX. ( I am a XXXX  XXXX and they found my resume on XXXX ). I was told I would be paid {$1500.00} for all 3 days but that I would need to act as their agent prior to the start of the filming. 

I researched the name of the production company and it is a valid company in XXXX. And while I was still dubious about this offer, I received a Cashiers check by XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$3800.00} made out to me. I was told to deposit it into my account and once funds were available to advise them of this. 

I deposited the Cashiers check on XXXX XXXX and onXX/XX/XXXX100 % of the funds were made available to me. At the time I personally had approximately {$2000.00} of my personal money in the account, so there was no way I could have covered this check. On XX/XX/XXXX I was instructed to withdraw {$2300.00} from my account and deposit it into an account at the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. This was going to cover the rental cost of the technology that would be used in the filming of the upcoming movie. 

After I advised them that I had deposited {$2300.00} into the XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, I was then told to withdraw {$1500.00} to over the rent of the warehouse where the filming was to take place. That {$1500.00} was going to be my salary for the upcoming shoot. They told me that they needed to cover the rent of the warehouse and that they would send me a replacement check the next day. 

At this point I became instantly suspicious and after much thought, told them I was no longer interested in being part of their movie and that I would return the balance of their money ( again believing that this was a valid check because Wells Fargo released funds ). 

On Friday, XX/XX/2019 I agreed to return their {$1500.00} and was given information on how to XXXX XXXX the funds to a point of contact in XXXX, New York. ( Fortunate for me, the person receiving the money in XXXX did not have matching ID and so XXXX XXXX did not release the funds ). 

On Saturday, XX/XX/2019 I received text notification that my account was in the negative and that the Cashiers check was no good. Fortunately I heard that the XXXX XXXX funds did not go through so I went and was able to retrieve the {$1500.00} from XXXX XXXX that morning. I then went to the XXXX Police department and filed a complaint. I also went to a Wells Fargo bank location and spoke to one manager there ( Mr. XXXX XXXX ), who called their Fraud division. I was they would get back to me. While talking to Mr. XXXX, I was told that this was a common scam scenario ; that he has seen several checks like this, usually in the amount of {$2500.00} - {$4000.00}.

Approximately 2 weeks later I received a letter from Wells Fargo claiming their investigation into this matter shows that Wells Fargo lost no funds so there was nothing more to investigate. I contacted their Fraud department and was basically told that just because funds were released does not mean that the check cleared. I was basically told that this was my problem and not Wells Fargo. Case closed.

My complaint to all this is simple : I did not have enough funds in my account to cover the {$3800.00} of the ( fraudulent ) Cashiers check. So why did Wells Fargo release the funds to the entire Cashiers check 24 hours after I deposited it?

And how can you make funds available if a check has not cleared?

It appears that the term funds available and cleared check have 2 entirely different meanings to Wells Fargo.

In the meantime, my account is now - {$1200.00} and Wells Fargo is looking at me to transfer funds to cover this. I have no other funds to transfer. All my money was in that account, and now its all gone. 

I am a XXXX years old XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX, living paycheck to paycheck literally. And I can not believe that Wells Fargo has a practice such as this a practice that basically makes it very simple to defraud hard working individuals of their money. 

If Wells Fargo had not made those funds available, I would not be in this situation. If Wells Fargo had a policy to wait 48 hours before making funds available, I would not be filing this complaint. If Wells Fargo had a policy where they released only a portion of the cashiers check, I would still be ok. But they dont.

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