Consumer complaint received 2023-02-03
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CO
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
I recently placed an item for sale on XXXX XXXX XXXX, a potential buyer contacted me to let me know that she was interested and would be sending a bank guaranteed check via registered mail. When the check for {$1900.00} arrived to cover the purchase price and transportation I deposited the check electronically into my Wells Fargo account on Sunday XXXX XX/XX/2023. While checking my bank account on Tuesday XXXX XXXX I noticed that the check had been cleared which concerned me that it had been cleared so quickly as I had read that checks can take XXXX days to clear. I then phoned the bank ( XXXX approximately XXXX ) to confirm that the check had been fully cleared and approved, I was told that it had, and everything was in order and the funds where available to be used. 

Soon after this call the buyer contacted me to say that her child had been involved in an accident and she needed to cancel the transaction and asked me to return {$1300.00} of the funds. I then transferred {$1300.00} via XXXX into her account in the evening of Tuesday XXXX XXXX. 

On the XXXX XXXX, midday, I was checking my bank details again and I noticed that the check was now showing as pending. I drove directly to my Wells Fargo bank in XXXX XXXX to find out what was going on. I was told by Wells Fargo that the check now looked suspicious, hence the revert back to pending status, and at their recommendation I cancelled my old account checking account and created a new one as this now looked like a scam. 

At the bank they created an incident report and contacted the banks fraud department who said that they would get back to me within XXXX to XXXX days. Due to the lack of response, I phoned Wells Fargo on several occasions to follow up on the status of the {$1300.00} I am out of pocket. I was transferred between the fraud department, customer complaints and the XXXX department XXXX XXXX trying to find out who could help me with this issue. I asked XXXX if they could contact the receiving bank and was told that they had sent a request and that is all they could do. All departments said they could not help me and that I had been scammed. The original deposit was reversed by the fraud department which I totally agree on. On XXXX of the calls, I was put through to a claims dispute department and they said they would follow up. I then received a call from them and they said there was nothing they could do about it. I again told them that Wells Fargo was responsible for allowing me to transfer {$1300.00} from the check and that I would like a copy of the voice recording where Wells Fargo assured me that the check was cleared and there was no problem with it. Again, they said they would get back to me. I received an email Monday, XXXX XXXX stating that I would need a court order to obtain a copy of the recording and if I felt I was a victim of a financial crime I should contact law enforcement. 

By nature, I am a very cautious person, and I would never have transferred the funds if I had not received confirmation directly from the bank that the check had been fully cleared, as such I believe that the bank is accountable and as such should refund the {$1300.00}.

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