Consumer complaint received 2023-08-29
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NC
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Banking errors

Complaint:
Im in a security breach situation with Wells Fargo Bank that has dragged on for almost eight months and hasnt been resolved to my satisfaction. I suffered no financial loss but I cant get answers to my questions. Ive changed banks because of the way that I was treated. I received a letter this week from Wells Fargo with its explanation of what happened, and Ive attached it for your perusal ( wf, XXXX ). Its terrible, in my judgment. Ive included my response to the person who sent the letter. 

XXXX what happened : On XXXX XXXX I checked my Wells Fargo account online, as I always do on XXXX. I could not login. The telephone number to send the security code was not my number. I called customer service and explained what happened. I gave the agent my checking account number and he found the account. After a few seconds pause, he told me that he could not help me. I asked why and he said that the name on the account was not my name. 

I asked for the name on the account and he would not tell me. I asked to speak to a supervisor and one came to the line. I explained the situation and gave him my Wells Fargo credit card number to see if a different account would reveal the problem. Same answer : the name on the account was not mine. This agent also would not tell me whose name was on my account. The supervisor, very coldly in my judgment, told me that he couldnt help and I had to wait until XXXX  to go to a branch and resolve this issue in person. Two hours later I called Wells Fargo fraud, explained the situation, and asked if a freeze could be put on the account until I could go to my branch on XXXX. I feared that my account could be cleaned out and charges made on my credit card. This agent was more understanding than the previous two but said that she could not help. 

This part of the incident is the source of my anger with Wells Fargo. I was not willing to wait XXXX hours with someone elses name on my account. I spent an anxious weekend worrying about what had happened and was at my branch at XXXXXXXX XXXX on XXXX. 

After XXXX and XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  of work with one of the branch officers, we found that an account had been opened in XXXX, XXXX, the previous week. The Wells Fargo agent in XXXX typed mistyped the applicants social security number and it matched mine. Wells Fargos security system did not pick up on a duplicate social security number. My account was merged with the applicants and he had control of his account and mine. 

I opened an account at a different bank the next day and closed my Wells Fargo account in XXXX once the transition was done. In XXXX, still upset by what happened and how I was treated, I lodged a complaint with Wells Fargo. I spoke with a pleasant woman named XXXX from Wells Fargo Executive offices and she began to help me. I was promised an answer by XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX called on XX/XX/XXXX to tell me the investigation wasnt complete and the bank would contact me by XXXX XXXX. 

I received a letter from Wells Fargo on the XXXX, and it is the attachment that I mentioned earlier. There are at least XXXX typographical and grammatical errors in it. Some of the explanation is so unclear that, to me, its gibberish. The man who sent it didnt even sign it. For me, theres no empathy or sincerity in the letter, especially for what I went through on the weekend that the situation happened. Its mostly a letter backing XXXX XXXX handling of the incident. Again, thats my thinking. 

Im still furious about this. I let it be known in a letter back to the Wells Fargo agent who sent the letter. In my judgment, Ive been treated horrifically since the first day when no one at customer service or fraud would help me. I held this account for 47 years, mostly at XXXX before it was bought-out by Wells Fargo XXXX And Wells Fargo ruined it in 15 years. For the time that I held this account, no one would help me and I had to go to a branch and prove my identity. 

Im sure that you have more serious cases than this. I didnt lose money, no charges were placed on my credit card and my debit card was not compromised. Wells Fargo still hasnt explained how a duplicate social security number wasnt detected and matched to a person who held the account since 1976. And it simply doesnt seem to care, at least not to my satisfaction. Im just a retiree with a checking account, but Wells Fargos actions were sloppy. Cold-hearted banking at its worst. Ive had bad experiences with businesses, but never one at this level. 

Thank you for reading this, and for any help you might be able to offer.

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