Consumer complaint received 2022-07-30
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NY
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I was approached online by a man named " XXXX XXXX '' ( video attached ) who positioned themselves as an artist that was commissioned for an art project that they wanted to use my likeness in. I was told that their client would send me a {$3000.00} check from which I was to send {$2500.00} to the artist to complete the project. I was sent the first check on XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX and XXXX ) via email from a XXXX and was advised to submit via my mobile app. I did so and my bank prompted me that a portion, the majority, of the funds would be held for investigation until XX/XX/XXXX. I told the person I was on contact with and they then sent me a second check on XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX and XXXX ) that I submitted the same way, and was given the same message, that the bank would hold a portion until XX/XX/XXXX, and I was told via email from the bank to refrain from using funds until it shows in my balance. The initial {$3000.00} check had never shown in my balance up that that point ( in image XXXX it'll show as if it was added to my balance, but my available balance at the time did not reflect the + {$3000.00} shown, I only had {$200.00} showing ), but on XX/XX/XXXX the second check was apparently " cashed '' onto my account leading me to believe my bank had done their due diligence and that the check was valid Initially for this check I also got a notification that it would be held until the XXXX ( XXXX ) leading me believe that if the money was to show up in my account on or before then I am safe to use it as the whole reason it's held din the first place is to confirm it's a good check. That same day, XX/XX/XXXX, despite the hold notice, the money was made available to me in my balance. 

So in turn believing I was a the clear to complete my portion of what I thought was a legitimate professional deal, I sent XXXX XXXX payments out to people the person claims to be him team of artists. The first was {$220.00} and then two payments of {$1000.00} each was sent, totaling {$2200.00} sent via XXXX. At the time these transactions were only made possible because of the money made available on my account. I initially only had about {$700.00} in my checking account. Image XXXX is how much I had in my account after sending the first {$220.00}, that + {$3000.00} that was shown in XXXX from the second check and was the only money made available i.e. my balance never read XXXX. In addition the mobile adjustments and check return unpaid, despite showing thee the screenshots as carried out on the XXXX before the XXXX 's were sent, those were actually carried out on my account after the XXXX payments had gone through and back-dated by the bank to make it look like I willingly made an overdraft to my account which would have been impossible as I would have been given a warning of insufficient funds ( the proof I have of this is the upper left time stamps in the XXXX confirmation screenshots attached that I took as soon as each payment was sent show times 2 hours prior to when the notification of the returned check was sent ( XXXX ). 

So after these checks were returned as bad checks it became obvious I was scammed. My bank reflected the overdraft on my account and moved to close each account shown in these screenshots but after making my case they chose to retain me as a client. The reason my account had shown a - {$6600.00} balance on the XXXX was in backdating these transactions the bank had reflected the initial {$3000.00} as also a returned check but once communicated it never reached my account, to was corrected to read - {$3800.00} which was then taken from my saving account from my bank to correct the overdraft. The reason that reads so much is because the scammer initially requested I make the payment through XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX so I had sent {$2200.00} from my bank between those apps, but when that method failed I made an immediate transfer back too my account of {$2200.00} ( XXXX ) that reflected immediately. Just stressing here that there was never a time before I made these XXXX transactions that my balance did no reflect that I had enough to make the payment as my banks email would claim ( XXXX ). However that transaction was also delayed until the XXXX after my bank make adjustments to my transaction timeline ( XXXX ). 


So after all this of course I called my bank, put in a claim, go the initial - {$6600.00} corrected to read - {$3800.00} but from there essentially I was told I was liable for all my transactions despite the fraud/scam and also despite my bank not protecting me and not doing the due diligence that holding the money was supposed to protect me from. In the midst of this the scammer is continuing to communicate with me that the checks were real and trying to appeal that they'd work with me to solve this, all while not revealing the identities of who I supposedly sent my money to via XXXX XXXX eventually they tried too promise repayment via XXXX  which I refused ). MY case was that I should not be held liable for he overdraft due to Wells fargo 's lack of due diligence in making the funds seemingly available to me to use and leading m to commit an overdraft that they only made visible after the fact. In their own correspondence ( XXXX ) it reads " To help avoid overdrafts or returned item ( non-sufficient funds/NSF ) fees, make sure the money you deposited is available in your account to cover your transactions. Overdraft fees do not apply to prepaid cards. '' I tried to emphasize that since they made the money " available '' in my account to cover my transactions and gave no additional warning of waiting X days to see if the check is returned, that I shouldn't be liable for the backdated returned check or the overdraft. As a user I had done my part and waited for the hold to be lifted, and them lifting the hold showed me that they had done their due diligence, which after the fact it showed they did not and still they made it seem as though it was all my fault when all signs pointed that I was in the clear. 

In talking to my bank I submitted a claim and was even transferred to the executive office to talk to those who denied my claim and was told that the fact that they retained my accounts was their only resolution and essentially i was just our {$2200.00} and they were not going to correct it. I also submitted another claim to hopefully reverse the XXXX transactions and again the bank said they done their part correctly and that they will not issue a refund, only request that the bank to which it was sent will issue a refund, for which the agent told me that chance unlikely.

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