Consumer complaint received 2023-05-05
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: MD
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
Around XXXX on XX/XX/, I received a call from a scammer with a spoofed Wells Fargo number pretending to be a Wells Fargo representative, who said our account was compromised and we needed to transfer our funds into a new account. When I logged into my account, I could see there was a fraudulent transfer of {$1000.00} from mine and my spouse 's Wells Fargo joint savings account to our joint checking account. My spouse and I were not notified about this transaction, even though it was made through an abnormal IP address & login. Then, {$25000.00} was fraudulently wired from our checking account to a XXXX XXXX XXXX account. The scammer was able to log into our account to enter in the beneficiary bank account details. I immediately called Wells Fargo to let them know the wire transfer was fraudulent and to place a fraud recall on the transfer. The Wells Fargo rep noted that " I '' had called in earlier that day and verified that the wire transfer of $ XXXX into another account was for construction, but that call was not made by me, but rather by the scammer impersonating me. On XX/XX/XXXX, the day that the fraudulent activity was occurring on our account, Wells Fargo did not take enough action to verify the scammers identity to prevent the fraud from occurring. Additionally, the abnormal log-in from the scammers IP address should have been detected and flagged, since this could have prevented the $ XXXX fraudulent wire transfer. On XX/XX/XXXX, we opened XXXX fraud claims with Wells Fargo, XXXX for the fraudulent transfer of {$1000.00} from our savings to checking, and the other for the $ XXXX fraudulent transfer out of our checking account. We also opened a case number with the Wire Investigations Unit.

Since then, my spouse and I have spent hundreds of hours on the phone with Wells Fargo representatives from multiple departments including the ACH Check Fraud Department of the Claims Assistance Center, the Online Fraud Department, and the Wire Transfer Services Department. On XX/XX/XXXX, we received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX from Wells Fargos Claims Assistance Center denying our claim for the $ XXXX fraudulent wire transfer. The letter states : " As a courtesy, we initiated a wire recall on your behalf to attempt recovery of funds. Unfortunately, the beneficiary bank responded that there were no funds available to return. As a result, we are unable to reimburse you and have closed your claim. '' Wells Fargo is not doing their duty to help us retrieve the funds that were fraudulently wired from our account. Since XX/XX/XXXX, every representative my spouse and I have spoken to within Wells Fargos Wire Transfer Services Department has mentioned that we should be completing a Hold Harmless letter with our local banker, so that Wells Fargo can share this letter with XXXX XXXX XXXX to help us retrieve our funds. XXXX has told Wells Fargo that they can not attempt to recover the funds unless a Hold Harmless letter is provided, and Wells Fargo is failing to process this Hold Harmless letter in a timely manner. We've been in touch with the Wells Fargo Wire Transfer Services Department and the ACH Check Fraud Claims Assistance Center Department every week ( and on most weeks every day ) since XX/XX/XXXX, and our local Wells Fargo banker has as well. From XX/XX/XXXX onward, the wire transfer services department has been telling us that we need to complete a hold harmless letter, but the Fraud department in the Claims Assistance Center refuses to process this letter. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I placed a second complaint with Wells Fargos Enterprise Complaints Management Office, requesting that a Hold Harmless letter be processed to recover the {$25000.00} that was fraudulently wired from our checking account to the XXXX XXXX XXXX account. On XX/XX/XXXX, the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX finally responded to our complaint, with an unchanged resolution : that they would not be reimbursing the funds and that there is no specific timeframe for XXXX the hold harmless letter will be completed. 

It is unacceptable that XXXX XXXX XXXX requested the hold harmless letter back on XX/XX/XXXX, when our funds may have still had a chance of being recovered, and it is already XX/XX/XXXX and Wells Fargo has yet to cooperate with any of my, my spouses, or our bankers attempts to process and complete this Hold Harmless Letter in attempt to recover any funds that may be left in the scammers account. 

For clarity, my chief complaint is that Wells Fargo is failing in its duty to its protect customers and our money by : XXXX ) Failing to properly identify an individual impersonating me on the phone ; XXXX ) Failing to flag abnormal log-in attempts and failing to lock our account before the fraudulent $ XXXX transfer was made ; XXXX ) Failing to reimburse us for a $ XXXX fraudulent wire transfer that it was in the best position to prevent ; and 4 ) Failing to process a hold harmless letter in a timely manner to help us recover any funds that may be left.

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