Consumer complaint received 2022-12-28
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
When the official hack happened and my Wells Fargo account information was somehow obtained and then used to transfer all of my money to a different Wells Fargo account that was created by a ( fake ) Wells Fargo representative was on Thursday XX/XX/2022 at approximately XXXX am. 
The hackers were able to freeze my computer due to activity that was not permitted and a virus has been detected call XXXX to remove the virus infecting the computer. The person, XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX and the Wells Fargo representative who I was transferred to XXXX XXXX XXXX ) XXXX, informed me that my Wells Fargo account was hacked and someone internationally charged XXXX of XXXX to my Wells Fargo account. He informed me that the first thing to do is to move my funds to another Wells Fargo account since the charge is still pending so when it went through there would not be any money in the account. He created a Wells Fargo account somehow- XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX, XXXX CA XXXX. XXXX Account XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX ( XXXX ) : XXXX to transfer all of my money into. Wells Fargo bank address XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, CA. When I asked how the transfer of that large amount of money could have gone through Wells Fargo without raising any red flags he said that on his records someone from my phone called Wells Fargo and okayed the transfer and the transfer was pending. Hackers told me that my phone was hacked too as it has been connected to my computer with my Wells Fargo information. He told me that there has been other account holders that have been reporting the same type of issue and that there is an investigation going on internally within Wells Fargo as the thinking is that it is an inside Wells Fargo employee doing the hacking. He then put me on hold as he reported the fraud to my Wells Fargo account to the Federal Trade Commission for XXXX and he gave me the Federal Trade Commission report number # XXXX that he received from the commission for my files. He directed me to go into my bank immediately to transfer my funds to the new Wells Fargo account he created before the transfer of the {$47000.00} was able to be completed. He said once the XXXX  charge to my account is completed and closed, within XXXX days, the money would be put back into my Wells Fargo account for me to then sign up for increased security on my Wells Fargo account XXXX I went to my bank and went to the teller and had him transfer my {$50000.00} that I had in my savings into my checking account to have all my money in XXXX account. Then I sat with a personal banker to proceed with a transfer of my life savings totaling {$91000.00} over to the new created account so there would not be enough money in my Wells Fargo account for the illegal transaction to be completed. The bank was not busy and I was able to speak with XXXX XXXX, personal banker, immediately after the banker transferred my money in my savings account into my checking account. The hacker who was impersonating a Wells Fargo representative told me that since there is an internal investigation going on within Wells Fargo to figure out who the employee is that is doing these acks of fraud to Wells Fargo account holders that I should not give any information on why I am transferring all of my money to a brand new created account in XXXX. He said to not mention the hack that I am experiencing so there would not be any red flags alerting the Wells Fargo employee that I was participating in the investigation on the fraud being done to other Wells Fargo account holders. He informed me that the personal banker will ask me about the reason for such a large transfer and to say that I am purchasing land and that I would be asked how I know XXXX XXXX and for how long and to respond that I have known him for over XXXX years. XXXX XXXX did not question me about the transfer even though I had just transferred all of my savings into my checking and immediately was transferring all my money ( {$91000.00} ) to a different branch in XXXX Ca, in a different name and a place with a XXXX XXXX XXXX that I have never had Wells Fargo transactions before. 
The bank XXXX later informed me that XXXX XXXX XXXX raise a red flag and are not permitted and the transfer of my funds should not have been made without a permanent address. If she would have questioned me about the transfer and learned of the circumstances, she would undoubtedly have contacted a superior or the fraud unit and not done the transfer. 

That Thursday afternoon ( XX/XX/2022 ) I received XXXX text messages to my phone stating that the people I was talking to in tech support and the bank was not from tech support and bank, theyre scammers from XXXX and they will contact you to transfer funds from your account to their account in the name of the Wire - dont transfer any funds, if you did the transfer stop that wire immediately from the bank before its too late! From # ( XXXX ) XXXX. 
Can this number be investigated to see who this came from since they are connected somehow to the Wells Fargo fraud to accounts? 
I called Wells Fargo right away and was informed that Wells Fargo would not do this and to go to the bank as soon as they opened in the morning and stop the transaction. I requested to have the transfer stopped right then though was directed to go into the branch where the transfer was made. I would expect banks should have a means of intervening to protect depositors accounts on an emergency basis. The customer service representative I talked to must have had some way to connect me to a fraud department or something similar to be able to put a stop to the whole thing that evening. 
XX/XX/2022, I was at the XXXX XXXX branch when they opened and XXXX XXXX XXXX, personal banker XXXX XXXX : XXXX, who assisted with the transfer of funds to the Wells Fargo created account on Thursday, put a freeze on the transfer as the transaction was still pending. During this time the Wells Fargo hacker continued to call me and text me from ( XXXX ) XXXX. I let him know that I was in the bank branch and to contact XXXX to discuss the freeze on the transfer which he did not and the calls and texts from him stopped immediately. 
I then went to drop off my government computer as it was hacked and the government had to wipe the computer and all information from it for security purposes. 
I was again at Wells Fargo Monday XX/XX/2022 to check in on the status and to make sure that the transfer was not completed and to see if any additional information was known about how this could have happened. I was told that the transfer was not frozen. I cried. XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX ID : XXXX, looked into transactions and what had happened and what to do next. 
Background status. XXXX and XXXX filed a case recall Friday XX/XX/2022 - # XXXX and claim # XXXX on the created fraud Wells Fargo account XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX CA XXXX. XXXX Account XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX ( XXXX ) : XXXX. 
XX/XX/2022 - filed the fraud to the Wells Fargo XXXX XXXX case # XXXX. 
I went to the police and filed this fraud and all information with the XXXX XXXX XXXX. Police Report XXXX : XXXX. XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX : XXXX # XXXX. 
XX/XX/2022 - I went to the bank again to inform them that I did receive a confirmation email from Wells Fargo line of business XXXX office with a case number. The banker was surprised I got confirmation overnight. I also provided the police report number for their records. The banker inputted the additional information into my action including the police report file number and XXXX name I obtained. He said that the escalating team will respond by XX/XX/2022 to the XXXX branch. 
XX/XX/2022 - Information from call to escalation/research/executive branch XX/XX/2022, XXXX closed my case Monday XX/XX/2022. Wells Fargo XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX # XXXX. I responded and XXXX was now assigned. XXXX is new lead and new case number for this claim is XXXX ( Old case number # XXXX ). XXXX has a direct number XXXX XXXX. Investigation complaint department does not oversee any other departments. XXXX has to reach out to wire and fraud division if the wire department responds with a dead end. XXXX will send out any additional information and then get back to me. 
XX/XX/2022 sent XXXX email to check in on status and any additional information that is needed. At the bank again, Bank XXXX, XXXX, called and the fraud and wire department did not have an update and said they were looking into it. He sent XXXX an email and left her a message. He has not received a response. I emailed XXXX again XX/XX/2022 to acknowledge that XXXX contacted her and to let me know if there is anything I can do to help get my money back. 
XX/XX/2022 - I called the fraud and wire department at XXXX and was told they are working/waiting on the debit authority to get ok to retrieve funds in the account. A resolution is due XX/XX/2022 or a request for more time to investigate will be sent to me. 
XXXX got back to me XX/XX/2022 at XXXX and let me know she contacted the fraud department and they are still investigating the claim. She doesnt know how long it will take but she cant do anything from her end until it is resolved from their end. She is going to forward all my emails to the fraud department so they have all the additional information that I have provided XXXX in case they do not. She gave me the fraud number XXXX. I sent an email to XXXX ( bank XXXX ) XX/XX/2022 to update XXXX on the conversation with XXXX and give him the fraud number so he has it too. 
XX/XX/2022 - wire and fraud transfer team # XXXX claim # XXXX - # XXXX. Wire transfer department waiting on debit authority and said that there is nothing I can do at this point as the wire transfer department is waiting to hear from the debit authority before they can move forward with putting money back into my account. Debit authority is looking into the beneficiary of the other account and reaching out to get the money back from them. If no account, they are still looking into contacting who opened the account. Message sent out to other banks that this is fraud. Waiting on other bank to get back on authorizing putting funds back into my account = debit authority. 
I asked - Who is the debit authority who oks the money to be put back into my account? Who do I contact from debit authority to make sure they have all the information? answer that they do not know Do I contact the fraud department to ask this? Does the fraud department communicate with the debit authority. Answer no the departments are separate and only get messages regarding the status of the claim i.e., being investigated, or waiting on debit authority. Nothing about the information on the case just the status from other departments that are working on it. Wire transfer department forwarded me to fraud department. Transferred and hung up saying that they can not process my call right now. Called back multiple times and got number to fraud department XXXX call back they are busy XX/XX/2022 XXXX. Call back again need extension to fraud contact. Nobody knows. Called number representative gave me XXXX. They told me that they could not complete my inquiry and to hang up. I called police department to follow up on my investigation left message at XXXX on XX/XX/2022 requesting an update on my case # XXXX XXXX XXXX # XXXX. 
XX/XX/2022 - I called XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and left message for XXXX line and extension XXXX Ext. XXXX. Purpose of call - checking in again to see if the additional information on my fraud case included the email correspondence from me to XXXX and you ( XXXX ) and the Wells Fargo branch manager/s was sent to the fraud and wire department and if XXXX received XXXX response from them and a contact who is investigating the case. 
I was able to get ahold of a Wells Fargo representative and was given an update that the fraud department support department is reaching out because XXXX left a message to follow up with them in her notes on the case in the case file XX/XX/2022 or XXXX. Checking with XXXX in on-line wire department. XXXX. Transferred me back to wire department. Started process over. XXXX. Finally got through to a representative who could provide some information. The representative stated that - XXXX was XX/XX/2022. XXXX forwarded my information on XX/XX/2022 to the fraud department. The representative said that the email information I had provided before XX/XX/2022 was sent to the fraud department from XXXX. The representative said that the information she forwarded can be opened by the fraud and wire department. The representative said they can see all the information provided by XXXX on XX/XX/2022. The representative said that a recall attempt was made a couple times and the department is still waiting on the Wells Fargo XXXX branch to respond with the ok to release the funds from their branch and account. The representative said the bank XXXX is working on recalling the money from the Wells Fargo XXXX branch to my Wells Fargo XXXX XXXX branch and get it deposited back into my account. 
I can not seem to get a direct contact to the persons from each department assigned to my fraud case so I dont know who to contact about the case and any information that they might need to investigate and resolve it. Does a lawyer have access to this information? Can a lawyer make contact and get a response to the person in charge of investigating? 

Summary of Bank responses since XX/XX/2022 XX/XX/2022 emailed XXXX to provide update that they are waiting for the Wells Fargo XXXX branch to respond. 
XX/XX/2022 checked back in and same status. 
XX/XX/2022 my case was further escalated to a XXXX  XXXX from the case worker ( XXXX ). Wells Fargo XXXX representative sent out a request for an update. I received a hard copy of the police report in the mail. It is not exactly correct and I don't know how to update it from the website. 
XX/XX/2022 there was not an update recorded in the system. 
XX/XX/2022 no update just that it was escalated and assigned to a Claims XXXX. There is no update on a response yet. Emailed XXXX just to give her an update on the case. XXXX. 
XX/XX/2022 - Wire department said that the account was closed XX/XX/2022. They reached out to the Wells Fargo XXXX branch and the account was closed. The wire department said that my case can only be closed by a banker or loss prevention not the wire department. The representative gave me the loss prevention number to call to check in as the wire department 's role is just to look into a wire and get the money back or stop/start a wire transfer. Basically, the wire department has done its job of requesting the money back and the money was not there to give back, so their step is closed and I need to contact a different department again. I received a letter dated XX/XX/2022 from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, SD XXXX ) The letter states : At this time, we would like to inform you as of XX/XX/2022, no further update has been received by our fraud department. The case currently remains open, pending debit authorization or further instruction. Once our fraud department completes their fraud claim investigation, they will mail resolution letter directly to you, communicating their claim determination. For updates, you XXXX also contact the Wire Customer Support department at XXXX ( the number I have been calling ). 
We appreciate your time and effort you took to contact us. If you have questions, please contact us at XXXX ext. XXXX. We are ready to help you Monday through Friday from XXXX am to XXXX pm central time. 
I left XXXX a message XXXX ext. XXXX asking what to do now that the wire department closed their case. Where does it go now? Who do I contact regarding the investigation? I am waiting for her response. I called the loss prevention number. The representative informed me to go to the bank and talk with the XXXX to get all documentation on my case and to call back so the XXXX can talk with XXXX of their loss prevention people to help assist with what to send and/or save and print for me to take to the police department. I went to the bank and talked with XXXX. He called XXXX and left a message regarding my case and requested she call back with information on how to resolve my case and retrieve my money. He made me aware that he does not have access to all the documentation between all the departments in Wells Fargo and that most likely that information would need to be court ordered by the police department. I let him know that I was going to the police station again to provide all additional information and would keep in contact to give him updates. He provided his card to give to the police XXXX to reach out to him with any questions or if he could help out with the case at all. 
XX/XX/2022 I went to the XXXX Police XXXX and provided all copies of the additional emails and correspondence I have had and updates to Wells Fargo case numbers and contacts descripting all the steps and contacts that have been ongoing since the beginning of my case, XX/XX/2022.

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