Consumer complaint received 2021-09-29
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: WA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
On the evening of XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX I received two phone calls from phone number XXXX. The first had no response, so I hung up. The number called back and the call lasted one hour and 57 minutes. On this call, a man with a XXXX XXXX  or XXXX-sounding accent informed me that he was calling from Wells Fargo Banks fraud department XXXX He said there were suspicious charges on my debit card and that someone had called Wells Fargo saying they were me and trying to authorize more charges. He listed around ten charges, all around XXXX XXXX dollars from various sellers, including XXXX. I told them that I had not made any purchases from XXXX or any of the other sellers that he listed. ( I can not remember the exact amounts or all of the sellers that were mentioned. ) While on the call, I logged onto the Wells Fargo phone application and did not see any of these charges on my checking account. 

He asked me various questions, including the card number, and others that I cant recall before eventually asking me for the CVV code on the back of the card. I didnt give it to him right away as this seemed abnormal for Wells Fargo to be asking. I told him I was uncomfortable giving that information and he stopped pressing the issue momentarily. I considered hanging up and calling the customer service number on the back of my debit card. Thats when I saw that the numbers were very similar, so I made the incorrect assumption that this man was truly from Wells Fargo. ( The customer service number on the card is XXXX. ) He continued to ask for the CVV number and, unfortunately, I did eventually give it to him. 

Throughout the call, he would put me on holds that were silent and repeatedly asked me if I was seeing alerts on my account. I reported no alerts since I didnt get any alerts on the app or via email or text. At XXXX, I received an email that a {$4000.00} transfer from my savings to my checking was requested and I let the man know this. Approximately an hour and a half into the conversation, I started seeing new charges on my account to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Address XXXX, followed by further alphanumeric codes listed below, totaling {$5700.00} with {$170.00} in internal purchase charges. These charges posted to my account officially on XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX {$550.00} XXXX XXXX purchase transaction fee {$16.00} XXXX {$830.00} XXXX XXXX purchase transaction fee {$25.00} XXXX {$770.00} XXXX XXXX purchase transaction fee {$23.00} XXXX {$750.00} XXXX XXXX purchase transaction fee {$22.00} XXXX {$720.00} XXXX XXXX purchase transaction fee {$21.00} XXXX {$730.00} XXXX XXXX purchase transaction fee {$22.00} XXXX {$710.00} XXXX XXXX purchase transaction fee {$21.00} XXXX {$680.00} XXXX XXXX purchase transaction fee {$20.00} The man asked me to check if my international usage status was on or off and walked me through the steps to find that out on the Wells Fargo app. He instructed me not to turn it off yet until the investigation was completed, so I did not turn it off. I complained that this call was taking a long time and that charges were coming through my card as we were speaking and he assured me that they were working on it and would be reversing all charges over the next three to five business days. 

At XXXX, I received an email from Wells Fargo saying that my card had been declined due to meeting my daily spending limit. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX {$860.00} After about an hour and a half, he transferred me to someone that he said was with Visa and that this person would be putting free security features on my account. The man he transferred me too had a similar accent and told me his name was XXXX XXXX. He gave me a callback number of XXXX and said the password was my mothers maiden name. I did not tell either man this fact during the conversations and am unaware of how they knew this information. He told me that he was putting a free security feature that would send me a text message every time my card was used so that I could approve or deny the charge. XXXX said that he would text me back on the next day, XX/XX/XXXX, and that I was supposed to call him on that number he gave me. 

I received an email at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX saying that my card was declined because card activity verification was required. 
XXXX *TEMPORARY HOLD in g.co/helppay XXXX XXXX XXXX {$1.00} XXXX texted from phone number XXXX and I called him back on the XXXX number. I reached his so-called assistant, also named XXXX, and was told that XXXX XXXX would call me back. We had two conversations, one at XXXX for 15 minutes and the other at XXXX for 43 minutes. During these calls, he repeatedly said he was sending me security codes and to repeat them back to him as I received them. The codes came to my phone temporarily as a banner were not texts or emails. I suspect that he was trying to use my card again and needing security codes to do so. He also asked me for my log in information for my online Wells Fargo account. I knew my username but did not know my password, so I was unable to provide that, thankfully. 

No further fraudulent charges were noted on my account over the weekend. I called XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX to try and follow up on my case. I was unable to reach him but did leave a voicemail. The voicemail greeting that I was sent to said The text now subscriber you are trying to reach is not available, please leave your message after the tone. The next time I heard from XXXX was on XX/XX/XXXX from a toll free number XXXX. As soon as I heard him speaking, I hung up as I had filed a real fraud claim by that time. 

I finally realized what was happening on XX/XX/XXXX and thats when I called Wells Fargo customer service from the number on the back of my card ( XXXX ) and filed an official fraud complaint. I was told that this was a more severe case as the monetary amount was over {$5000.00}. I was told they would investigate and get back to me within ten business days. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was informed that my claim had been denied and no funds would be returned. I spoke with three different people that evening and each of them appeared too confused by the denial declaration to be able to explain it to me. The only information I was able to get is that the claim was denied because there was no evidence of account take over. I explained that it appeared that way since I had been scammed and had inadvertently given them the information they needed to access my funds. They did not appear to care and said that they would have an executive call me within 24 hours but not to expect any change in the outcome. I was told that once a claim was closed, it could not be reopened, and that I had no further recourse. 

I called Wells Fargo again the following day, XX/XX/XXXX to find out why the executive had not called me as I was told to expect the previous day. I was told that the executive call takes up to ten business days. I was given similar information as the previous day about my claim and the unlikelihood that anything could be done. I spoke with a resolution specialist, who accused me of having a third party spend my money to defraud Wells Fargo of the money I was claiming was stolen. He repeatedly said he apologized for the inconvenience and I told him multiple times to stop apologizing as it didnt seem genuine. He responded each time with another apology and it felt incredibly condescending. This was very upsetting to me. I have been a Wells Fargo customer for about 25 years and even worked as a Wells Fargo bank teller for over a year from XXXX to XXXX. I had two smaller fraud claims in the fall of 2020 that were resolved with no complications. I have made only occasional large dollar purchases and never more than 2 or 3 within a short period of time. This activity was very abnormal and I have been a loyal customer. For me to use a third party and be apart of this complicated scheme is completely out of character for me as a bank customer and a person.

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