Consumer complaint received 2021-07-01
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NY
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
I was a victim of wire fraud. I wired money from my XXXX XXXX  account to a Wells Fargo account. The beneficiary of this wire was " XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX '' but the account that the money went to was " XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ''. I wired the money on XX/XX/2021 and found out on XX/XX/2021 that my money was missing when the law firm that should have received my money notified me that they had not received the money. On XX/XX/2021 I went into the local XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and spoke with the branch manager, XXXX, who said he would file wire recall request to recover the money from Wells Fargo. I called Wells Fargo on XX/XX/2021 and spoke with a representative named XXXX in Loss Prevention ( XXXX ) who advised me that my {$81000.00} was frozen in the account and that XXXX XXXX will recover it if they file a wire recall. I recorded the conversation with XXXX and can provide that to you. I was advised on XX/XX/2021 by XXXX at XXXX XXXX that the wire recall was unsuccessful and my money can not be recovered. I had a conference call with XXXX at XXXX XXXX and Wells Fargo Loss Prevention and we spoke with 2 different representatives that told us different information. One representative at Wells Fargo said they did not receive the wire recall request from XXXX XXXX, and the 2nd representative said they see the wire recall but since the account was frozen, that XXXX XXXX  would need to file a " hold harmless '' or " indemnification '' letter to Wells Fargo to recover the funds since they were in the " General Ledger ''. At that time, XXXX requested the case with XXXXXXXX XXXX to be assigned to " XXXX '' or " XXXX XXXX XXXX '' I called XXXX XXXX on a daily basis from XX/XX/2021 until today XX/XX/2021 and received the same answer, that they filed the paperwork with Wells Fargo and there was nothing more that could be done. The only information I have is that an investigator with XXXX, named XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) faxed the hold harmless or indemnification letter to Wells Fargo on XX/XX/2021 and there has been no response. Today, XX/XX/2021, I called Wells Fargo Loss Prevention and asked to speak with a supervisor. I was transferred to the " executive team '' and spoke with a representative, XXXX. XXXX was friendly and patient with me. He was unable to release specific information about the account, but gave me general information as it pertained to me. XXXX said at some point prior to XX/XX/2021, another victim sent a wire transfer into the fraudulent account in excess of {$100000.00} from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  to Wells Fargo. This money was withdrawn or transferred from the fraudulent account. At some point XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  filed a wire recall and indemnification with Wells Fargo to recover the money that was sent. At that time, Wells Fargo sent XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX the {$81000.00} that I wired into the account on XX/XX/2021. Therefore, Wells Fargo used my money to indemnify the victim that lost more than {$100000.00}. I have been told by many Wells Fargo employees in different departments ( Fraud XXXX, Customer Service XXXX, and Loss Prevention XXXX ) that Wells Fargo flagged the account as fraudulent and had my money on hold. It was not until today when XXXX advised me that Wells Fargo used my money and sent it to another customer. At this point, I have lost my money and have lost the house that I was purchasing along with the XXXX money that I put down on the house. 

I reported the incident to IC3.gov and have been in touch with FBI Special Agent XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). Agent XXXX advised me that he has done all he can and that he linked my incident with another crime that was being handled by XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) with the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX. I spoke with Agent XXXX who advised they are in the process of trying to arrest the criminal that has been receiving the fraudulent money, but there is little hope of any liquidated damages. 

At this point, my complaint is with the way that XXXX XXXX and Wells Fargo handled the wire recall, fraud investigation and attempted recovery of my money. When XXXX XXXX branch manager XXXX advised me on XX/XX/2021 that my money was gone and there was nothing more that could be done, I couldn't believe it. It was only when I conference called with him and Wells Fargo that he assigned the case to XXXX which didn't do anything until XX/XX/2021. I was told that the case was assigned to another investigator at XXXXXXXX XXXX  that was on Bereavement leave and the only reason why XXXX XXXX called me is because the FBI Special Agent XXXX XXXX emailed XXXX XXXX at XXXX to have someone call me. If XXXXXXXX XXXX  had responded to the fraud issue from the first day I found out about it ( XX/XX/2021 ) and filed the hold harmless indemnification letter on that date, maybe I would have my money instead of someone else.

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