Consumer complaint received 2023-09-01
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: TX
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem

Complaint:
There are two primary parties involved in this situation : ( 1 ) Wells Fargo, ( 2 ) XXXX I was in XXXX XXXX over the summer for an internship and my phone got stolen on XXXX XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ). My phone has a password for autofill on other applications, so I feel like whoever had taken it must have been shadowing or closely watching me on my phone. 

There were the following unauthorized transactions : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  There were also XXXX payments were directed to a XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX. This XXXX XXXX is under investigation with an arrest warrant on the charges of access device fraud and bank fraud by the XXXX XXXX Police Department relating to a separate crime on XX/XX/XXXX. There is literally an article in XXXXXXXX all about this individual titled : XXXXPD Seeking Suspects in Fraud Investigation in First District. A response from XXXX XXXX Escalations Representative from Wells Fargo states " Wells Fargo believes these transactions were either authorized by you. '' ( note : that is the exact phrasing taken from the message and there was no other alternative to the " either '' - this message was sent to me on XX/XX/XXXX ) When my phone was stolen, all of my my credentials were changed. On XX/XX/XXXX my information with XXXX had been changed and my online banking with Wells Fargo had been changed, and even some of my emails had been changed. XXXX was also disabled so there was not an appropriate way to stop this. All secondary verification was out of the option. 

I submitted both a police report with the XXXX XXXX police department, and a report with the FBI. For XXXXPD my police report is under # XXXX and there are additional documentation reports XXXX, and XXXX. 

After XXXX directed me to my bank ( XX/XX/XXXX ), I went to the closest Wells Fargo ( in XXXX Mississippi ) the next day to try to solve the problem. After changing accounts, a fraud claim with Wells Fargo was initiated. I provided all of the documentation to the banker ( particularly the police report ). This police report was not attached to the claim Wells Fargo had with XXXX and XXXX. From my understanding the variables of someone stealing my phone was not even included nor considered in their case. I was told from Wells Fargo that the fraud claim would be resolved within 10 days, and I was given provision credit. I was given assurance that the charges were visibly fraudulent granted that they were spread across different cities in the XXXX ( the destination interface is no longer available with the charges being moved to the new account ). To my knowledge, I was not informed that outside this 10 day period the case was ongoing. I then went to XXXX XXXX XXXX and blacklisted the previous device. I also put a one year fraud alert on the three major credit bureaus. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Wells Fargo that my account had reached or dropped below XXXX dollars. They had reversed my provisional credit. I went to Wells Fargo to understand why I had not been included in their XXXX liability fraud protection. The banker was extremely helpful in letting me understand my options. She connected me with the fraud department and filed a report with the XXXX Complaints Management Office. The fraud department made it clear that they had not attached the police report from when I was in XXXX Mississippi, and that they had very little understanding of the circumstances I was facing. As a customer of Wells Fargo, I am shocked at the response of the fraud department. They wanted to push me away as the situation was being further explained. On the phone, even the fraud representative stated loosely that my actions in providing documentation, the fact my phone was stolen, and those factors not being considered, would likely encompass protection. The XXXX Complaints Management Office did absolutely nothing to " clarify Wells Fargo 's actions ''. There was no explanation. All they said was that the decision stands without acknowledging anything about the situation. I haven't been provided any rationale for why I am not qualified for fraud protection. 

Whatever Wells Fargo is seeing internally does not match the situation at hand. When the crime was committed I contacted Wells Fargo the same day. The person who committed this crime currently has an arrest warrant for bank and access device fraud. My information had been fraudulently changed so I drove without GPS to a different state to meet with a banker. I provided the police report and all of the information to Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo did not attach this information I provided. I was not informed the case was ongoing outside the 10 day period. Months later I have a decision that does not reflect what happened whatsoever. I sought out the Fraud Department ( again ) and the XXXX Complaints Management Office to reevaluate. I still have not been given a reason as to why I am not protected. I feel like I did everything in my power to resolve this situation given my circumstances.

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