Consumer complaint received 2023-11-30
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I received a call from a number that showed ID on my phone as Wells Fargo ( XXXX ) at XXXXXXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX asking to speak with my son. After telling them I was the primary account holder, I googled the number to verify that it was a Wells Fargo number and it was. The rep said he was calling because I had a suspicious transaction and asked if I authorized {$640.00} to purchase a generator from FL. When I said no, he said he would stop that charge, and asked to read back 5 transactions from my checking account to verify if I was the primary account holder which I did. Then, he said he'd look in to recurring charges as well and found recurrent charges for a rent in FL and asked if I authorized it. When I said no, he said that was recurring payments that was so far totaled in {$11000.00}. He said I had to reverse it and told me to go to my wallet for my XXXXXXXX XXXX  and needed to transfer my money in checking account to reverse it. I work in XXXXXXXX XXXX and was at work. I had to ask multiple times why the transaction was necessary while trying to attend to patients. He explained 3x but still didn't make sense but said the transactions would go through at XXXX XXXX and had to hurry. He instructed to transfer for each transactions and listed {$2500.00}, {$2000.00}, {$800.00}, {$1100.00} to my XXXX XXXXXXXX. Then instructed to go to Wellsfargo app to connect with XXXX card which didn't work. Then instructed me to connect my wellsfargo account to XXXX Debit card and instructed to click " instant transfer ''. At that point, I heard an auto female voice in the back ground that " in one minute, this call will be terminated ''. When I asked what that was, the 'rep ' said " we are only supposed to be on the phone with customers for an hour '' and was a warning. He said he'd call me right back. He then called from XXXX ( XXXX XXXX PA ). I looked up the number again and found that was not a number from Wells Fargo. I put him on hold and called Wells Fargo from my work phone and asked if they were reaching me about the matter and was told no. I reported what was happening while I still had him on hold. He called back 11 more times before I blocked the number. Wells Fargo took the report. I sent an email to " XXXX '' which I found on their website about the incident. I called the rep to follow up with the claim and was given a claim number. I received an email on XX/XX/XXXX to notify me of " changes to your delivery preferences '' which had a list of my accounts of delivery preferences. Then, another email on XXXX with a title Confirmation needed to release temporary suspension protecting your account ending XXXX  to notify me that they discovered unusual activities or updates on your account that we believe may be unauthorized. Same email for 2 of my other accounts including the checking account for my sons name under my account. I called them and told them that I did not give out any of my checking account info, nor my SS # to jeopardize my actual debt card or checking account. They said that my debit card had suspicious access and not my sons card. They said that my card was stopped and a new card would be mailed to me- which I received. During the call, they assisted me to change username and password to access my accounts online. I received an email from Wells Fargo to notify me that they were processing my claim on XXXX and on XX/XX/XXXX, and an email about deactivating my digital card in XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Wells Fargo that they were processing my claim with a new reference number I have never seen. In the emails, there is an instruction to go to dispute transactions under Security and support in Wells Fargo website to check the status. The new number had all the 4 transactions in the total of {$6400.00} but the reference number I was initially given only had {$2500.00} listed. I received mail to notify me of provisional credit in the amount of {$2500.00} until they settle the claim. I returned a call/VM from Wells Fargo associated with their claim processing on XX/XX/XXXX and was told that all charges had valid billing address and zip code and was concluded as a valid transaction and was closed. I explained to them again what happened, how none of my debit card nor credit cards were used in any of the transactions, and told them it did not make sense for them to verify billing address nor zip code for this fraud. The rep said oh this is not responding to a text case and said she was escalating the matter and I would receive a call from a higher level of claim processing staff within 2 business days. I received a letter from Wells Fargo dated on XX/XX/XXXX to notify me that the claim was resolved and closed due to their findings that the transaction was authorized or no processing error did not occur. I found out that there have been similar incidents occurring with other Wells Fargo customers this year via TV news in other states in the US and a Wells Fargo website page to warn customers to watch out for calls from Wells Fargo numbers. Despite having the knowledge of this specific type of fraud, they simply dismissed the claim stating that the transitions were authorized and closed the claim. Most importantly, they failed to notify their customers to send emails, or letters to warn customers of the specific type of fraud. As another victim of similar fraud on the news, how do we differentiate calls from legit Wells Fargo rep vs someone taking over their numbers when they are very knowledgeable of Wells Fargo system including each step on their website and mobile app, how they make phone calls, and steps they take to verify our identity.

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