Consumer complaint received 2023-07-05
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
Wells Fargo Claim XXXX  XXXX ( Wells Fargo Debit Card ) o  Total Fraudulent Spend ( Debit Card ) : {$17000.00} XX/XX/XXXX : DATE OF INCIDENT - XXXX PT I was surfing XXXX  of XXXX , California ( on the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). My roommate was with me and we had driven his car, a blue/gray XXXX . He hid his car keys in a hiding spot under the car and we went surfing. Approximately 2.0 hours later, we came back to the car to find that the keys had been stolen and we were locked out of the car. We looked in the windows of the car and saw that our wallets and phones were also stolen. We were later able to get into the car via a XXXX worker that helped us get in. 

I used another surfers phone to call Wells Fargo in an attempt to close my accounts and was told that approximately {$4000.00} had been spent on his account in the last hour. I immediately told them to freeze all accounts, shut down my debit and credit cards, and was told by that representative that they had successfully closed down the accounts and submitted a claim to have the transactions refunded. Later that evening, I called Wells Fargo again using a friends phone and was told that over {$17000.00} had been spent that day on my debit card. 

I tried to login to my Wells Fargo account on my personal laptop at home but was unable as it appeared my credentials were changed ( either username or password ). I then chose to suspend my Wells Fargo account in an attempt to stop the thieves/hackers from being able to access my account further. Due to the Wells Fargo claims and fraud department being closed on the weekend, I was unable to discuss further with a representative of Wells Fargo from those departments but I was able to speak with a representative that marked all of those days purchases as fraudulent and begin the claims process. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I filed police report with XXXX XXXX Sheriffs Office ( report number XXXX ), a copy of which is attached. The report verifies that I had the following items stolen : o  XXXX wallet o  {$150.00} cash o  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  o Wells Fargo Credit Card o Wells Fargo Debit Card o Washington Drivers License XX/XX/XXXX : I received email notifying that Wells Fargo Claims Assistance Center was still processing claim inquiry. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I was able to get through to Wells Fargo representative via phone call after several attempts and with a banking assistant at the Wells Fargo branch located at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX to close the checking account ending in XXXX  XXXX. A new checking account ( ending in XXXX  XXXX ) and username and password were created. This shows that there was no way ( as described later by the Wells Fargo claims department ) that I was able to access the account after the fraudulent transactions, which was cited by XXXX ( the Wells Fargo debit card claims representative ) as the reason for denying the claim. To restate this fact, I was unable to access my Wells Fargo online accounts from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX because I was locked out of my account. Subsequently, I had new accounts created ( and the old, hacked-into accounts closed ). Further, when entering my new account ( with a new username and password ), I was able to see the following transactions : o XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX, CA for {$4300.00} o XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX, CA for {$6000.00} o XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX, CA for {$7200.00} XX/XX/XXXX : I received email notifying that Wells Fargo Claims Assistance Center was still processing claim inquiry. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I received email notifying that Wells Fargo Claims Assistance Center was still processing claim inquiry. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I received email notifying that Wells Fargo Claims Assistance Center was still processing claim inquiry. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I received email notifying that Wells Fargo Claims Assistance Center was still processing claim inquiry. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I received email notifying that Wells Fargo Claims Assistance Center was still processing claim inquiry. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I received email notifying that Wells Fargo Claims Assistance Center was still processing claim inquiry. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I received email notifying that Wells Fargo Claims Assistance Center was still processing claim inquiry. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I received email from XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) notifying me that they were still looking into my claim and they would respond within 10 business days. Representative XXXX XXXX sent email. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I received the police report ( report number XXXX ) and sent the police report to Wells Fargo via email at XXXX XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX PT I had a phone call with Wells Fargo debit card claim team ( representative named XXXX ) notifying me that claim XXXX  XXXX was denied by Wells Fargo due to inconsistency with the claim. Specifically, XXXX ( the representative from the debit card claims department ) told me that because the IP address that accessed the Wells Fargo online account had accessed the account prior to and after the fraudulent charges, the claim was denied. I stated that this was impossible given ( i ) my phone was stolen with my wallet ( as referenced in the police report ) and ( ii ) I had been locked out of my account immediately after the XX/XX/XXXX theft and had been unable to get back into my account until XX/XX/XXXX when I created a new checking account with Wells Fargo and new username and password. 

XXXX PT Phone call with Line of Business Executive at Wells Fargo representative named XXXX . I explained that claim XXXX  XXXX for {$17000.00} spent on Wells Fargo debit card ( account ending in XXXX ) had been denied by the Wells Fargo debit card claims department. XXXX created a case XXXX  XXXX so that another member of the Line of Business Executive at Wells Fargo could review my claim and see if they could overturn the decision by Wells Fargo .

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