Consumer complaint received 2022-12-15
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CO
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
To Whom it May Concern : I am a member of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX called The XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX  Wells Fargo bank account was fraudulently accessed by an unknown third party and {$12000.00} of funds were electronically transferred out of the XXXX account without authorization. 
Despite prompt and determined action by XXXX  XXXX  and XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX Wells Fargo has repeatedly denied the fraud claim without meaningful investigation and without providing any concrete reasons for denying the claim. 
It is my understanding that this fraud constitutes an unauthorized electronic fund transfer ( EFT ) under 12 CFR 1005.2 ( m ) and because Wells Fargo was timely notified in accordance with 12 CFR 1005.11 ( b ) ( 1 ), the liability protections in Regulation E section 1005.6 would apply. Furthermore, Wells Fargo failed to conduct a reasonable investigation, as required by 12 CFR 1005.11 ( c ) ( 1 ), as it summarily denied the fraud claim without even contacting XXXX XXXX XXXXo obtain details regarding the claim. 
The following pages include a summary by XXXX XXXX of the events leading up to the fraudulent and unauthorized EFT, as well as the events that followed, along with supporting evidence substantiating the fraud and Wells Fargos failure to remedy the harm in violation of federal consumer financial laws. 
On behalf of XXXX, we respectfully request your assistance with ensuring that Wells Fargo properly investigates and remedies the fraud and makes XXXX whole by promptly refunding the full {$12000.00} to the XXXX account. We thank you in advance for any assistance that you are able to provide and we would be happy to answer any questions you have, or assist in any other way we can. 

Respectfully, XXXX XXXX XXXX -- -- -- -- -- - Wells Fargo Account Fraud Summarized by XXXX XXXX XXXX Founder and Director : At XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX I received a call on my cell phone that showed up as Wells Fargo. The woman on the line said that there was a suspicion of fraudulent charges being made in XXXX  with my debit card ending in XXXX ( for clarity, the card ending in XXXX is for a personal account owned by me, but which was not actually the account from which the fraud occurred ). 

When I confirmed that I had not made any recent purchases in XXXX  as I reside in XXXX, the woman on the line said she was sorry and that in order to shut it down she needed to file claims over the phone for each of the charges. Having experienced this exact issue on multiple occasions in the past with Wells Fargo, I stayed on the line with her while she allegedly verified my identity and sent multiple codes to my cell phone, which she asked me to repeat back to her. ( See Exhibit A with screenshot of example of text messages I was being sent during the call. ) At one point during this process, we got disconnected and she called backagain, the call rang from inside Wells Fargo. She got me back on the line at XXXX and completed the supposed filing of the fraud claims for the use of my debit card. The call concluded at XXXX. The calls appear to have been placed from inside Wells Fargo, as the incoming phone numbers match legitimate Wells Fargo numbers. ( See Exhibit B with screenshots of incoming calls described above and Exhibit C with printouts of Wells Fargo website Contact Us pages with phone numbers that match the calls I received. ) As I have later discovered, what was really happening on XX/XX/XXXX was that the caller from inside Wells Fargo was distracting me with the fake debit card fraud alert, so that a hacker could get into my online account, change my username and password, and give themselves access ( without my authorization ) to all of my Wells Fargo accounts. For clarity, there were never any fraudulent charges in XXXX  on my debit card ending in XXXX ; however, there may have been an attempted purchase at XXXX as I did receive a text message asking me to confirm a declined transaction in the amount of {$400.00} ( see Exhibit D ). 

The next morning, on XX/XX/XXXX, I discovered that I was locked out of my online Wells Fargo account. ( See Exhibit E. ) I called Wells Fargo Online to find out what the problem was. After providing a brief overview of the calls I received the previous day, I was informed by the representative that I was probably a victim of fraud, as the text messages with codes that I was sent the prior day did not, in fact, come from Wells Fargo. I subsequently found an email confirming that my password had been changed on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX I was on the phone with what I thought was the Wells Fargo XXXX department. ( See Exhibit F with email confirmation of password change. ) After the bad actor had access to my Wells Fargo online accounts, s/he actually went after an account owned by a small XXXX  non-profit organization called The XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) XXXX as the XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX, of which I am the XXXX  and XXXX XXXX ( a small business account ending in XXXX, the XXXX  Account ), not my personal checking account that was connected to the card ending in XXXX. On the morning of XX/XX/XXXX, the starting balance in the XXXX Account was {$13000.00}. 

Upon receiving online access to my Wells Fargo accounts and changing my password at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, the bad actor applied for wire transfer service ( Wells Fargo Wires XXXX at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ( also, while I was still on the phone with what I thought was the Wells Fargo fraud department ) ( see Exhibit G with email confirmation of sign up for Wells Fargo Wires ). At XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, on or about the time the call ended with what I thought was the Wells Fargo fraud department XXXX a wire transfer recipient by the name of XXXX XXXX XXXX was added ( see Exhibit H with email confirmation of wire transfer recipient added ). Shortly thereafter, the bad actor wired {$12000.00} from the XXXX Account to a XXXX XXXX XXXX account in the name of XXXX XXXX XXXX without my knowledge or authorization ( see Exhibit I with XXXX Account statement showing wire transfer ). To be clear : I do not know the bad actor; I had no reason to suspect that I was being scammed when I received the call from Wells Fargo regarding the allegedly fraudulent charges on my personal debit card ; and I did not authorize this wire transfer. 
In addition to the fraudulent wire transfer, I later discovered that the bad actor was somehow also able to hack into my XXXX and set up call forwarding, so that all of my incoming calls were going to a number in XXXX, namely, ( XXXX ) XXXX. ( See Exhibit J with screenshot of call forwarding that had been set up on my XXXX without my authorization or knowledge. ) I discovered that my calls were being forwarded when various people and the Wells Fargo claims department mentioned to me that upon calling me, the answering service said my voicemail box had not yet been set up, which was abnormal. 

Presumably, the bad actor was forwarding my calls in order to intercept any calls from Wells Fargo inquiring about the abnormal activity ( the password change followed by the wire transfer ) on the XXXX Account ; however, it is impossible to know for sure what other nefarious activity the bad actor could commit by having access to my incoming calls for approximately one week after the theft. 

Summary of Aftermath After speaking with Wells Fargo Online on XX/XX/XXXX when they informed me Id been the victim of a scam, Wells Fargo put in a request with the receiving bank ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) to recoup the wired monies. The request was apparently denied. 

It has been over a month since the XXXX Account was hacked and the bad actor fraudulently transferred {$12000.00} out of the Account. Wells Fargo has denied the fraud claim and sent a letter ( see Exhibit K ), implying that I am somehow responsible. 

I have spent many hours on the phone with multiple departments, only to be transferred to other departments, and to no avail. Each department claimed it was within another departments jurisdiction. I have filed multiple complaints with Wells Fargo asking why I was not interviewed within days of the incident as promised on the XX/XX/XXXX call. Finally in speaking to the person who worked on my wire fraud claim ( XXXX XXXX ) on XX/XX/XXXX, I asked why he had not called immediately to get all of the pertinent information as to how the scam was perpetrated BEFORE my claim was denied. It took three plus weeks to be called by this caseworker and he had no plausible answer as to what the compelling evidence was to deny my claim of wire fraud. 

Furthermore, in the denial letter dated XX/XX/XXXX ( see Exhibit L ), Wells Fargo stated, Under our Online Wire Terms and Conditionsyou are responsible for online wires that originate using your username and password, whether or not actually authorized by you ; however, it is worth noting that I never signed up for the Wells Fargo Wires service, so it is unclear how or why I would be bound by those terms. The bad actor signed up for this service and less than ten minutes later, was able to transfer nearly all of the funds out of the XXXX Account The following are the notes from my calls with Wells Fargo when I was attempting to get this matter resolved and the money returned to my account : XX/XX/XXXX Spoke with Fraud department and was told a manager would return my call. She informed me that someone tried to call on XX/XX/XXXX. This is when I discovered that all of my incoming calls were being forwarded to another number as my cell phone was also hacked and call forwarding was set up. 

XX/XX/XXXX Filed another claim w/XXXX - XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX find an actual person at a XXXX Wells Fargo branch and speak in person. Spoke with XXXX XXXX # XXXX at the XXXX and XXXX  branch and she helped by getting in touch with and filing an escalation claim with a Small Business Resolution team member. She relayed the pertinent info accurately to the Small Business Resolution team.. 

XX/XX/XXXX Waited to hear something from the Resolution team I called again and spoke XXXX XXXX in XXXX, Wells Fargo office. He tried to no avail to get additional assistance. 

XX/XX/XXXX Spoke with a XXXX representative and received calls back. 

XX/XX/XXXX Received a XXXX Denial Letter ( see Exhibit L ) Called Consumer Help Center who advised me to speak with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX - XXXX ( option 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 File a complaint Case number within 48 hours Explain in detail. 

Speaking with Case manager ( XXXX XXXX - # XXXX ) to find out what compelling evidence they claim to have in light of the fact that they have never interviewed me directly. 

She sent me back to Fraud Dept, who sent me back to the Resolutions Dept XXXX - Called Claims Department - Spoke with XXXX @ XXXX got disconnected I called back and got her again. She referred me to theXXXX XXXX Department XXXX XXXX in Small Business Resolutions ( XXXX ) informed me that they ( Small Business Resolutions ) should have been handling this from the very beginning creating a new case number. Then they shouldve sent me to Account Takeover Department - ( XXXX ) - XXXX M-F - XXXX S-S Spoke with XXXX who said it isnt handled in her department Was told that theres a hard hold on my business account ending in XXXX and Loss Prevention now has my account Loss Prevention Department ( XXXX ) I was told to call National Business Banking - and give them the XXXX XXXX XXXX This is supposed to be info on a new account to be opened to replace the o XXXX that was hacked. None of this is possible until the complaint has been resolved. 

New non-Profit business Account # XXXX Reference # XXXX XXXX I called again and spoke with XXXX ( Case Manager ) who is starting a new case number - # XXXX She informed me she has 10 Days to try to resolve. 

XXXX forwarded me to XXXX who forwarded me to - XXXX XXXX XXXX Assistance XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX she put me on hold to try to uncover what compelling evidence my case manager has that would have them deny the claim? 

She ( XXXX XXXX came back with the info that a person assigned to my case- XXXX ( incorrect ) - in Business Accountability ( no such department could be found ) Spent XXXX hours on the phone XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Finally XXXX XXXX XXXX me and is the wire fraud personnel who actually handled my case ( XXXX ) - Check Fraud He told me he can not receive calls and can only be reached by email - would not give me a way contact him - I asked why he never called to interview me before he began his investigation on XX/XX/XXXX and he replied that he thought he had all the information, and that the hours he was to call were not in my file initially. 

He also informed me that because Ive filed a complaint with WellsFargo now the complaint department is trying to recoup my money He gave me this Complaint Case # XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX ( Case Manager ) called with news that On XXXX fraud recall was put thru and it was too late money is gone Receiving bank ( XXXX XXXX ) suggests these next steps Was given Delroys email - ( XXXX ) She attempted to research the complaint case number that I was given and can not find it listed anywhere. XXXX XXXX would not respond to her email inquiries. 

She suggested I speak with : Federal Trade Commission FBI XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

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