Consumer complaint received 2017-08-20
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Other banking product or service
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Account opened as a result of fraud

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX two accounts were fraudulently opened online in my name at Wells Fargo. The SSN used to commit this fraud matched mine but the Drivers license did not match and the email address originating the request was not the one the bank has on file for my account. Even so the bank opened the accounts!! The accounts have since been closed and after weeks of stress and inconvenience I have changed all of my accounts, direct deposits, email etc. that were in jeopardy as a result of the fraud. The bank also emailed me a notice identifying all my direct deposit information and account numbers as a " reminder '' to switch them to the new accounts I had to open, Making me further vulnerable since the type of fraud I experienced was an online take over! Wells Fargo 's on line practices for opening new accounts are irresponsible in this day of hightened on line fraud and clearly do not protect their customer. It is a sharp contrast to their in branch practice where you have to present picture ID to open an account. My husband XXXX XXXXy XXXX XXXX, in XXXX I went into my local branch to remove his name and add my daughters to my accounts. In order to accomplish this my XXXX daughters had to appear in the branch WITH me and PHOTO ID. It was n't acceptable for one of my daughters to go to her local branch. This took some coordination to have the three of us come in together but I understood it was a safeguard. Why do they handle there on line business so casually when the risk for fraud is so much higher!! I wrote to XXXX XXXX ( Wells Fargo CEO ) about my experience and concerns on XXXX XXXX and received a response on XXXX XXXX from a research/remediation associate. It was clear they did not understand my complaint, and that it will not affect change in there policies. The most ridiculous part was there response to sending my full account numbers and direct deposit information in an email. They blamed the direct deposit originators ( social secrity, my pension and my healthcare reimbursement account ) for putting the information in the merchant details. Wells Fargo cleary was wrong in sending such an email, I did not request it nor need it. The letter did not acknowledge any wrong doing on the part of the bank, it felt patronizing. The way the fraud came to my attention was a call from the XXXX fraud unit because my XXXX with them was used to fund the checking account that was opened. When a second attempt was made, this time to open a savings account, it raised a red flag for XXXX and they contacted me. Thank goodness for XXXX fraud unit, Wells Fargo did n't even care that the Drivers License did n't match and it was n't my email address. When I take a breather from all of this upheavel I will change banks. It is n't necessary for you to forward my email to Wells Fargo, I do n't think they will care. My complaint is for the purpose of adding my voice to others who may have spoken up.

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