Consumer complaint received 2023-08-10
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: PA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2023, I was involved in a wire fraud scam. The scammers called me off of the Wells Fargo customer service number and changed the caller ID to appear as though they were the bank. The scammer told me that someone illegally wired a large amount of money out of my account this ended up being a lie but they ultimately tricked me into unknowingly granting them access to my account in which {$13000.00} was sent to their bank account, under the guise that I was inputting their names, as Wells Fargo agents, and this amount of money to cancel out the fake request and return the stolen amount back into my account. Obviously, that was a ruse, but it was too late. 
I quickly notified Wells Fargo within XXXX minutes of the final transaction. Upon speaking to a real Wells Fargo banker, I was told that I would receive a resolution within a MAXIMUM of XXXX business days ( XX/XX/XXXX ). Since then, I have called Wells Fargo almost every single business day, and until today, the XXXX business day, I had received no concrete update aside from that they have requested XXXX recalls from XXXX XXXX, the bank the money was apparently sent to. I was told multiple times that there was no resolution up until XX/XX/XXXX, and suddenly, on the morning of XX/XX/XXXX, despite having called Wells Fargo the day before, I receive a letter in the mail stating I will not receive my money back. They did not tell me this the day before, nor did they imply I would not receive this money. This is not a trivial matter nor a trivial amount of money ; this is money I had saved up and relied on as I just moved XXXX miles across the XXXX to a new city. At this point, I am relying on their response and resolution to survive. 
To make matters worse, I was also implicitly told by a Wells Fargo banker and in the letter that was sent to me on the XXXX that I willingly did this to myself, so, therefore, I am responsible, and this is my fault. I would argue that that is not true, as willingness is contingent upon both parties consenting based on unwavering truth. Since the scammers were clearly lying, I did not WILLINGLY give my money and account information to them. 
Because this scam rested upon the fact that Wells Fargos customer service number is easily spoofed, this seems to be a problem the bank needs to be responsible for, as Im sure they know because they have insurance to cover scams like this. I was never contacted by the real Wells Fargo during the scamming or before these transfers were made ; nothing was done to try and prevent this scam. Nothing has been done since, and apparently, scammers can still easily spoof the Wells Fargo phone #, which seems to be an issue the bank needs to resolve, as this is the ONLY number present on the back of each debit card. 
In the end, the bank possesses the necessary means to assist me, and it is imperative that I see the return of this money.

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