Consumer complaint received 2022-02-23
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: MD
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I was at work when I received a text message from XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX with a message stating, " Thank you for confirming this recent activity ; a representative will be in contact with you. I disregarded the message because I did not confirm anything. I then got a phone call from XXXX. I did not answer the phone call because I was at work. I was called a second time by that same number, and I decided to look on the back of my Wells Fargo card and saw that it was their customer service number, so I picked up the phone. Since it was their customer service, I thought nothing of it, and the Wells Fargo " representative '' who I thought it was told me that someone from Texas has access to your online account and that they are attempting to send themselves money and that I must act quickly because they got into my online account with my username and password. Frantic, I asked what I should do, and the " representative '' told me that he would create a new account for me and transfer my funds. He said that wiring the funds would be the quickest way to move the funds to the new account. He then went through the protocol by asking me for my name, account number, and phone number so that he could text over a verification code to verify my identity. Again, I thought nothing of it because this is what typically the Wells Fargo representatives would do and have done in the past. 

The transfer of {$15000.00} was initiated, and the account was the account I thought he had created for me, but it turned out not to be. There was a confirmation number, and I saw that my old account had reached zero dollars, so in my mind, the funds were being taken out and transferred to the new account he told me he was creating for me. He then concluded by saying that my supervisor would give you a call tomorrow, XX/XX/XXXX, to finalize and that you would receive a letter in the mail stating that you now have a new account. 

The next day, XX/XX/XXXX, I've waited and no phone call, so I called the customer service number located on the back of my card and did the exact same protocol as the person who I spoke to on the XXXX. I told the representative the situation, and she said that we did not call you, ma'am, and then transferred me to the fraud department. From there, the fraud department did the same protocol and once again told me that we did not call you ma'am and that I was being scammed. The representative then went ahead and closed my account and created a new account for me, along with sending me a new credit card. 

I asked her about an account that was made for me on the XXXX, and she stated, there is no account made for you. At this point, I was hysterical because I am a student, and I am paying for my tuition and paying for rent, and other bills. So I filed a claim, and she gave me the claim number on that same day, XX/XX/XXXX. 

She then told me to wait 2-10 days, or it could even be longer, and I will receive a phone call. Days went by, and I decided to call the fraud department at XXXX and ask for an update. This was on XX/XX/XXXX, and when I called, the representative did the same protocol to verify my identity, and she told me that this was a wiring transfer, so she then transferred me to the wiring department. I reached someone from the wiring department, and I once again explained the entire situation that and this representative told me that since this is an online wiring transaction, I would need a claim number. I asked her about the claim number that I received from the fraud department, but she stated they are a different department, so that claim number would be invalid in this case of a wiring transfer. She gave me a new claim number, and told me to continue waiting and that a claim specialist will contact me. I also asked her to note to please call me after 5 because I work, and all three times that I received a phone call, I'm assuming from the claim specialist were all in the morning, and because of that, I was unable to answer. Someone called me on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX AM, I called back, and they told me that they are still working on it, and again, I asked them to please note to call me after 5. The second time I received a call was on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX AM, unable to pick up. I called back, and they said that the claim specialist is still working on it, but the representative told me that it might be best to file a police report. Again, I told the representative to please note to call me after 5. I got the last call on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX AM, but I could not pick up, I called back, and the representative told me that the claim was closed and denied since they could not pause the transaction or receive back any funds. 

I am very disheartened and felt that the entire time I spoke to all of the representatives, I felt as if they were taking this situation very lightly and that the attitude was, well, it happened to you and not me and gave me tips to avoid fraudulent activity. I also went into the bank 's branch on XX/XX/XXXX and was with the banker for 2 hours and they could not help me. 

I filed a police report on XX/XX/XXXX and I was told by the officer to wait for a week to go and pick up my police report at XXXX Headquarters, as a result, I do not currently have the report.

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