Consumer complaint received 2021-10-08
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
At XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX I received a phone call from what I believed to be Wells Fargo XXXX I called the Wells Fargo customer service department using the number listed on their website to verify I was being called from a legitimate number, and a Wells Fargo employee told me that the number was legitimate. 

I was told there was suspicious activity on my account and that they needed to confirm some information. They sent me a one-time-use passcode to my phone to confirm my identity. After relaying the passcode to them they told me that my account had been compromised, and that they would start a claim. They claimed due to the high call volume they would call me back, but that my account would be locked and I would not be able to log into it. 

They called me back several more times in regards to the supposed claim they were filing. During this time I grew suspicious as to whether or not this was in fact Wells Fargo. I called Wells Fargo directly using a number on their website ( number ), and confirmed I was being called by their fraud prevention number. I still felt suspicious, so at XXXX I called Wells Fargo directly and told them I believed that I may have been a victim of identity theft/fraudulent activity ; it was at this point where I began being perpetually transferred back and forth between different departments with long hold times. 

At the same time I was receiving emails of activity happening on my online account ; I tried logging in but was unable as it said my username did not exist. At this point I was using both mine and my boyfriend 's phone to try to get a hold of someone at Wells Fargo who would actually do something about what was happening. My longest phone call with Wells Fargo started at XXXX and lasted 108 minutes. I told someone about the emails I was receiving telling me that a recipient had been added to a wire transfer ( this was at XXXX ) I was transferred/put on hold. XXXX I received an email that I signed up for Wells Fargo Online Wires, still on hold. XXXX I received an email that a wire transfer in the total of {$10000.00} was being processed. Still on hold. While all this was happening I was also getting emails telling me that my card was also being used and that some purchases had failed while others succeeded. 

If any of the Wells Fargo Employees I spoke to over the course of the day had taken my problem seriously they could have easily stopped these transactions from happening. Their continued inaction allowed this fraudulent wire transfer to occur while I was on the phone with their fraud department. 

Over the next several days I spoke to at least 8 people from different departments from Wells Fargo. Again, every time I explained the situation I was sent somewhere else because " Oh, that's wire transfer department '' or " Oh, you need business accounts '' no one could give me a straight answer, or help in any way. I went into a branch the XXXX and spoke to someone. I was told I would have to wait to see what the investigator said, but based on what I'd told them and my timeline/phone calls they said it sounded promising that this would result in my favor. 

I received a letter dated XXXX - two days after the incident that my case had been denied ; that " after reviewing all the information available to us regarding the disputed transactions, we've determined that the transaction was performed by you or someone who had your authorization '' They refused to acknowledge the timeline of events, and are refusing to let me speak to an investigator. 

I have attached the emails and their time stamps showing the activity on my account and my call log showing at the time of said events I was on the phone/on hold with Wells Fargo trying to stop the theft.

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