Consumer complaint received 2019-01-04
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: GA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Cashing a check

Complaint:
Problem : Someone counterfeited my Wells Fargo issued check and my signature. Then he/she used the check to cashed out {$4800.00} from my Wells Fargo Checking account on XX/XX/2018. 


-- XX/XX/2018 Discovered the money was withdrawn from my checking account. My checking account didn't have enough money to cash out {$4800.00}, so the rest of money was withdrawn from my savings account. This incident was reported to Wells Fargo bank. Wells Fargo said it will take 10 business days to investigate the incident and will refund the money if identified as fraud. They also closed my account immediately. 

My father, who is the joint account owner, spoke with Wells Fargo branch in XXXX, GA with personal banker XXXX XXXX and branch manager XXXX XXXX XXXX. Then acquired the photocopy of the counterfeited check that was used to cash out money from my account. 


-- XX/XX/2018 My proof # 1 I found that I have the legitimate check with the check number XXXX unused/unsigned with me. I looked at the the photocopy of the counterfeited check had the check number XXXX as well. I knew I have never ordered any additional check/duplicated check with the same check number, so knew the check used to cash out {$4900.00} was counterfeited. I went to the nearest Wells Fargo branch office and showed my legitimate check and asked them to contact the claim investigator that I have the legit check with me. The banker XXXX XXXX verbally said she will let the investigator know. 



-- XX/XX/2018 No one called me to follow up with the claim, so I called the claim department to see the status of the claim. The Wells Fargo claim representative told me that my claim was denied. Later, a letter dated XX/XX/2018 arrived stating the reason for the denial of claim as " We found that the signature on file for your account appears to match the signature on the item ( s ). As a result, we are not able to verify that fraud occurred, and have closed your claim. '' I asked the claim to be reviewed again as I had my own discovery to prove that the check and signature were counterfeited. They told me investigator will call me to discuss further regarding this denied claim. 



-- XX/XX/2018 An investigator called me to discuss the denied claim. I told her I actually have the legitimate check with check number XXXX with me, therefore, the checked used to cash out {$4800.00} was counterfeited. She advised me to go to the nearest Wells Fargo branch office and have the banker send the photocopy of my legitimate check to her. I argued that banker XXXX XXXX should have already told her that I already brought the legitimate check to the branch office. The investigator told me to have the banker send the photocopy of the legitimate check again. 

Meanwhile, I have filed police report on this incident. ( case number XXXX ) -- XX/XX/2018 I went to the XXXX, GA branch again and told the banker XXXX XXXX to fax the photocopy of the check to the investigator. 


-- XX/XX/2018 Meanwhile, I have discovered other evidence that the check used for cashing out money was digitally counterfeited. 

My Proof # 2. 
I have compared my legitimate check with the photocopy of the counterfeited check pixel by pixel. I discovered that this forged check is posing as wells fargo check by adding Wells Fargo logo and my signature, but the check MICR line has different aligning, check number has different spacing and my name and address has different fonts. It was noticeably different from the legitimate check. 



-- XX/XX/2018 I called the claim department since no one called me again. The claim representative told me that claim remains denied, and also there is no indication of any legitimate check submitted to them for review. I demanded the investigator to call me again as I have another proof that the check was counterfeited and would like to discuss further. 

I have sent a complaint letter to Wells Fargo Board Communication to contact the leadership regarding what is happening. I did not receive any reply from them. 



-- XX/XX/2018 I had conversation with the investigator again. I asked her if she received the copy of legitimate check from the banker XXXX XXXX, and she said no. I was irritated but i continued with my explanation saying that the check was digitally counterfeited. She just didn't comment anything and demanded the copy of legitimate check to be sent to her. I hung up the phone and went to the XXXX, GA branch again to see if I could see the banker XXXX XXXX, but she was on XXXX vacation. 

I spoke with the branch manager XXXX XXXX XXXX and explained my findings and asked her to send all the information to her again. Then the branch manager started to argue with me saying all my proof won't help the case because the signature on the counterfeited check matches the signature in their system. She told me that she will contact the investigator to ensure the documents are sent to her properly this time and then give me a call. But I never heard anything back from the branch manager. 



-- XX/XX/2018 I had a strange feeling about the branch manager from XXXX as she was trying to argue with me regarding my proof. I went to other branch in XXXX, GA and had a banker send the copy of my legitimate check and some evidence I have documented showing that the check was digitally counterfeited. The investigator finally acknowledged that she has received the document. 



-- XX/XX/2018 I didn't receive any call from the investigator, so I called the investigator to follow up with the claim status. She told me that since the claim was initially denied, she is unable to overturn the claim status. Therefore, she would escalate the claim incident to the upper manager to review. She said I would be expecting to receive a phone call from her manager within 2 business days. 



-- XX/XX/2018 I didn't receive any call from the manager, so I called the claim department to check the status of the claim. Then the claim representative told me that the claim was escalated, reviewed by the manager and was denied because the signature on the counterfeited check matches the signature on their system. I argued that the investigator never gave me a chance to explain my proof on the check being digitally counterfeited, but it was ruled that claim is denied and nothing could be done further to overturn the case. I believe the person ruled the final on this is XXXX XXXX - Financial Crimes Manager

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 monetary relief