Consumer complaint received 2022-03-07
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
Fraud dispute against Wells Fargo ( including a XXXX doc in the attachments for more readable formatting ) XX/XX/XXXX 1. I was out running XXXX errands in the morning between XXXX and XXXX, and I used my physical Wells Fargo credit card at two locations : o XXXX & XXXX XXXX XXXX TX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX TX XXXX XXXX. Sometime after those errands, my physical credit cards were stolen from my wallet. However, I do not know the exact time or location where/when they were taken. 

3. In the early afternoon, I took my daughters to a movie at the XXXX XXXX XXXX. While there, I purchased some refreshments. I paid for my refreshments with my XXXX XXXX. My XXXX XXXX is linked to my Wells Fargo credit card, which I still had not noticed was missing yet. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX TX XXXX 4. Later that evening, I went to use my Wells Fargo credit card and noticed it was gone. I went immediately to my online Wells Fargo app to turn off my credit card until I could find it so that no other purchases could be made in case it was lost or stolen. 
o NOTE : Two credit cards of mine were stolen, one which is a Wells Fargo card and another which is a XXXX credit card. Charges were made at almost exactly the same retailers on both cards. XXXX returned all my funds ( ~ {$530.00} ) once I reported them ; Wells Fargo has not. 

5. Later the next couple days, I noticed on my online account that several charges totaling {$990.00} were made to my credit card that I had not made. I believe they were made during the time I was at the movie, as the retailers visited were located in the similar area where I was and around the same time as our movie. The retailers included XXXX XXXX # XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I am including the credit card statement from this time ( Appendix A ). The dates listed on the statement are not the same as what was listed on my online transaction log, because I assume retailers submit their temporary transactions at different times as the real-time withdrawals from the account. 

o NOTE : I am also including the statement from my Chase credit card ( Appendix B ) so you can see that the same places were hit with a different credit card in my name. I include this also to note that I could not have been in two places at once. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called to report the cards lost and stolen to both Wells Fargo and XXXX. Wells Fargo reversed the transactions and submitted the funds back to my account at this time. They said they would do an investigation. 

The bank called several times over the next week asking for me to call and verify purchases. Each time, I returned their calls and answered all questions for their research. I verified the XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, and XXXX XXXX XXXX purchases. I said I did NOT authorize the XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX # XXXX, XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, and XXXX # XXXX purchases. 

XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter from Wells Fargo ( XXXX XXXX ) saying that, Our research shows that you made a transaction after you reported that your card was lost or stolen and used without your authorization. Because of this, we can not accept your claim. 

I called Wells Fargo, and the representative said the issue was that I made a purchase at XXXX XXXX XXXX using the card after I reported the card being stolen and during the time that the disputed transactions ( at XXXX XXXX, XXXX, etc. ) were being made. 

I am arguing that this transaction was made using XXXX XXXX, which is connected to that account, before I turned the card off because I had not noticed the physical card was gone yet. 

I asked them to research it further. They sent notices on the following dates, saying either that they were researching the case and/or that no fraud occurred : XX/XX/XXXX ( researching case ) XX/XX/XXXX ( researching case ) XX/XX/XXXX ( no fraud occurred ) XX/XX/XXXX ( no fraud occurred ) XX/XX/XXXX ( no fraud occurred ) In the note from XX/XX/XXXX, the letter states that, Due to you having a valid XXXX XXXX transactions occurring between the charges in question, means you had the XXXX Chip Card in your possession during the charges in question. Again, my argument is that I used my XXXX XXXX during the time the stolen card was being used, so the XXXX Chip is a moot factor. 

To provide evidence to my argument, I reached out to the XXXX XXXX XXXX to see if they could provide documentation that I used my XXXX XXXX for that transaction. Unfortunately, they said they are not able to access that level of detail of my specific transaction. But they did confirm they have an XXXX XXXX point of sale offering at that location. ( Appendix D ) Finally, as another piece of evidence, I am attaching a list of my orders I use at XXXX ( a grocery store chain ). I almost exclusively use the XXXX app to order my groceries for curbside pick-up. I have used the XXXX in question ( # XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX in the past because it is in a nearby neighborhood to mine ( as are ALL the locations where the thieves used my cardsmore to my point that these were physically stolen from me and used in nearby places to where we were in a short amount of time ). But, this list of orders shows that I did not use order anything from that XXXX location in question on the date in question, XXXX XXXX. XXXX. I know this is not a direct piece of evidence, but it does add some validity to my claim that the transactions were NOT authorized by me. ( Appendix E ) Personal Background I have been a Wells Fargo customer since XXXX when I turned XXXX XXXX XXXX. I have had an overall very good experience with the company, using it for my college loans, checking and savings, personal loans, and credit card. I have never experienced any sort of issue like this. But now, I am likely to leave this bank, as it is clear they do not trust and respect their long-term customers. I can not afford for the company to not help me reclaim money that was stolen from my account again. 

I am a single parent of XXXX young children. I work full-time in a highly demanding job, where I have worked for 13 years. Every day, Im extremely busy and stressed which is why it has taken me nearly 2 months to file this complaint. I have no criminal record, I would never steal money, and I would certainly never do anything like this to cause me this level of stress. If it were {$50.00} someone had stolen, I may let it go. But nearly {$1000.00} is a significant amount of money for me, and I must try every effort to reclaim it.

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 non-monetary relief