Consumer complaint received 2022-01-17
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
Hello, On XX/XX/XXXX someone gained access to my debit card with Wells Fargo. I cant figure out who or how it was possible. They withdrew my balance of $ XXXX and deposited two altered checks, one into my savings account and one into my checking. After the checks cleared they transferred the balance from my savings over to checking and continued to withdraw funds until I noticed the charges and froze the card. I contacted Wells Fargo and answered questions as honestly as possible, they only included a portion of the charges that I mentioned, didnt inquire about a police report, a banker was going to contact me but never did. Instead they denied the dispute within a few days of it being filed. When inquiring information about the situation I informed them that the savings account transactions werent including in the dispute, which apparently opened a second claim that I didnt know initiated. Once again I was told a banker would contact me with additional questions yet no one did, the claim was denied without me even getting the chance to provide them with a statement of events One of the charges on XX/XX/XXXX was in XXXX, Ca. I was working this day and have never been to XXXX XXXX. The check that was deposited to my savings account has reversed and has a negative balance of $ XXXX, after the check was cleared the funds were transferred into my checking account to withdraw, the bank deducted the money from the savings account instead of checking for whatever reason and it left me with a negative balance. The check that was initially deposited in my checking account still hasnt reversed even though I never deposited it and is fraudulent. I explained this to the bank and theyve done NOTHING about it. 

My claim was denied because I supposedly gave out my account information to a third party. When answering the fraud departments questions I was as honest as possible, if I knew they would use it as a catalyst to validate an instant decision against me then I would have reconsidered my answers. I informed them about my mother and co worker possible having my PIN information linked to the debit card. My mother and me had a joint account when I was under 18, my PIN is the same number, I dont believe she remembers it and is incapable of fraudulently altering checks. I simply answered the question they asked truthfully. The co worker I mentioned is In her XXXX and regional manager for XXXX XXXX, she recruited me from Alaska to work at her XXXX studio about 2 years ago. Ive known her since I was a kid, shes not a suspect in the current situation. Shes also informed me since that she has no knowledge of my PIN. Either way Wells Fargo used this information against me to validate their decision and denied my dispute without an investigation. They mislead me to believe I would get a chance to discuss the issue with a banker and denied the second dispute without contacting me! To this day Ive been unable to relay important and relevant information about the claim to anyone in the organization, the second dispute was filed before I was asked questions about it and I didnt even know they initiated another claim ( I got an email saying the claim was filed, but was simply inquiring if the savings account charges were part of the initial claim ). As of now they are holding me liable for the negative balance in my savings account, if the second check that was deposited reverses it will turn the checking account XXXX $!, for some reason they havent reversed the fraudulently processed check and I dont know why. I beg the Consumer Finance Board to investigate the matter, its been extremely stressful and I feel like no one wants to look into what happened. I apologize if Ive over explained some of the details, theres so much information regarding this dispute and no ones taken the time to try and assist me. Please let me know what your organization needs to help rectify this matter, thank you so much for your time. If you need anything please contact me, I can provide my employee time clock sheets and other of information to prove I wasnt involved in this mess. Hope to hear from you soon 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