Consumer complaint received 2018-03-15
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Banking errors

Complaint:
Bank : Wells Fargo XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX Personal Banker : XXXX XXXX Branch Manager : XXXX XXXX On XX/XX/XXXX I was contacted by XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) via a freelance website ( XXXX ) to hire me as a XXXX XXXX XXXX. He ended up being a scammer who put me through an online interview and chatted with me for a couple weeks. He said that I would meet with my supervisor and undergo training but first I needed to have office equipment shipped ( hardware, software, printer, fax machine, etc.. ). He sent me 2 checks ( 1. {$4900.00} and 2. {$4900.00} ). The first time on XX/XX/XXXX, he asked me to deposit the check into my bank account at Wells Fargo and then withdraw {$4900.00} in cash to deposit to a " vendor '' account at XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. I attempted to deposit the check at the ATM machine but the alert on the screen said that the value of the check was too high to deposit into the ATM machine and I had to go inside the branch to deposit it and so I did. I deposited the check with XXXX XXXX. I attempted to deposit at XXXX and was denied because the " vendor '' account was blocked. I then went back to Wells Fargo and deposited the cash in-branch, into a " vendor '' account ( Acct holder 's name : XXXX XXXX, Acct # : XXXX ). I even showed the teller the account information from the XXXXXXXX on my phone. 

The second check was received on XX/XX/XXXXand I went through the same process, only this time the scammer asked me to do the deposit of the check, withdrawal of cash, and then subsequent deposit into a vendor account ( Acct holder 's name : XXXX XXXX, Acct # : XXXX ) all at Wells Fargo. I did this process again with XXXX in-branch at Well Fargo this time, and XXXX XXXX remembered me from the previous correspondence. 

When I received another check from the scammer I knew something was suspicious. I called Wells Fargo XXXX XXXX to let them know that I was suspicious of recent activity on my account and that's when I was informed that both of the checks I deposited bounced. I then immediately filed a police report, a fraud claim with Wells Fargo, reported this to the FTC and the FBI. 

Wells Fargo denied my claim stating that I authorized the deposits. I asked them why the branch tellers did not warn me that the activity was suspicious and they then responded that I did not deposit the checks in branch. They responded that all teams at Wells Fargo corroborate that I deposited the checks at the ATM machine. I told them that the first time I did attempt to deposit the check at the ATM machine but the alert said that the value was too high to deposit at the ATM machine so I went in-branch. They restated that I deposited the checks at the ATM machine. I asked them to check the security camera footage and the manager said he would request them and then get back to me the next day. He did not get back to me and when I went back to the branch XXXX XXXX ( the personal banker of the case ) said that XXXX ( the branch manager ) was gone for 7 days. The next time I spoke to XXXX XXXX he stated that the resolution team has the footage and it is internal information only. I asked to talk to the resolution team and he said that it is not a client-facing team. 

I am very disappointed that the information about the fraudulent checks were inaccurate. I have been a Wells Fargo customer for forever and expected better handling of this case and my complaints.

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