Consumer complaint received 2024-10-24
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (CA)

On XX/XX/year> around XXXX while at work, I received a phone call from Wells Fargo Banking . The caller ID came up as Wells Fargo and the phone number also matched the same phone number on the back of my Wells Fargo debit card. I answered the phone and the person on the other line had informed me that there was someone trying to wire {$9800.00} out of my account and they were calling in to confirm if I had initiated the wire transfer. I responded with no, that was not me trying to initiate a wire and they had assured me that there was nothing to worry about and that they were working on getting it resolved. They told me to call back later in the day to get an update and after getting off the phone with them, I had a bad feeling about the call so I went ahead and dialed the XXXX number on the back of my Wells Fargo debit card just to make sure that it was a real call from Wells Fargo . I was put through the authentication prompts and after reaching a Wells Fargo representative, I had asked them to confirm if the call that I had just gotten was actually Wells Fargo themselves about an illegal fraudulent wire transfer and the representative on the other line had assured me that yes that was indeed Wells Fargo that had just called and I was told thanks for calling and staying vigilant.. After calling in to talk to a Wells Fargo representative and them confirming that yes that was actually Wells Fargo that had just called. I felt reassured and didnt feel the need to worry about the situation any longer since I had just called in a second time about the first suspicious phone call. Later that evening around XXXX, I had logged into my online banking app and that's when I had noticed my money goner. In a panic I immediately drove to my local Well Fargo branch to where I had opened my Wells Fargo account at and when I walked into the branch, I had explained to a bank teller what had happened to me and bank teller tried to get ahold of the two of the bankers that were there at the time including the branch manager at the location and after the teller had explained my situation to the two bankers there, none of the bankers at the local branch wanted to help me or offer any sort of advice for my situation even though the bankers at the branch werent busy with customers or had any meetings at that time. I felt betrayed after receiving no help at the first branch so I desperately rushed over to another branch in the next city to where I finally got help from a banker there to file a fraud claim, close my account, reopen a new one and initiate a wire freeze/recall to stop the funds. The next day on XX/XX/year>, I filed a police report, I called back the banker at the branch to get an update on the transfer and they kept reassuring me that the wire transfer was still pending in my account and that the money had not fully gone through. I once again checked my transaction history later that day and still saw that the wire transfer for the amount of {$9800.00} was still pending. The following day on XX/XX/year>, I logged into Wells Fargo app to check the status of the wire transfer and upon checking I saw that the wire transfer was no longer pending and it had successfully gone through. I then quickly called the XXXX number on the back of my Wells Fargo debit card to try and get a hold of Wells Fargos fraudulent department but had no luck since it was the XXXXXXXX XXXX weekend. I called Wells Fargo fraudulent department again on XX/XX/year> and I was told that it could take up to 10 business days to get a response back regarding my claim. I also mentioned to the Wells Fargo Fraud department representative over the phone that this was a very serious matter that needed to be settled as soon as possible because I couldn't afford to pay my rent and bills for this month or last month 's. I was persistent in calling them everyday that week to try and get an update as well as gather any information of names and account numbers to where the money was sent. That way I could forward it all to my local police department detective that is helping me with my police report. After waiting almost a week for a response back regarding the illegal fraudulent wire transfer. I finally received a letter in the mail stating that I am responsible for online wires even if I did not initiate them and that they also wouldn't be reimbursing me my money and have closed my claim. After reading the letter, I was very frustrated with the outcome and decided to call back the banker at the branch that had been assisting me with the claim and had asked them for help on how to further escalate the situation regarding the claim decision. The banker had mentioned to me that there was only so much they can do themselves at the branch regarding the situation and I was told to call the Wells Fargo online wire department and get a hold of a manager to further escalate the situation and so I called into the Wells Fargo wire department to get a hold of a manager and was told that I would be put on a manager call back list as they were not available at the moment and that I should be expecting a phone call within the next 24 to 48 hours. After waiting over 48 hours to receive a call back and not once did I ever get a manager to call me back. I had the banker at the branch file a complaint that I also never got a response back from either. I called the police detective helping me with my case to also try and get some type of information but was told that there was no information such as names or phone numbers that the detective was able to find. I believe my case has been overlooked by Wells Fargo because I had also called in that same week to file a transaction dispute of {$15.00} from XXXX that was not authorized by me. That same week I filed for the fraudulent transaction dispute, Wells Fargo shouldve noted that there was already some suspicious activity going on with my account. As of XX/XX/year>, I had still not received help so I decided to file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau against Wells Fargo Banking for letting an illegal unauthorized wire transfer of {$9800.00} be made out of my online account. I drove to my local Wells Fargo branch and spoke to a banker and notified them about the illegal unauthorized wire the same day it had happened. I had also closed my old online account, filed a police report and had Wells Fargo issue a wire recall as well as executive manager call back that I have still not spoken to and as a result I have been feeling extremely stressed out and anxious. I did everything I was supposed to do as a customer when it came to being a victim of fraud and Wells Fargo did basically nothing to help me. In fact Wells Fargo had still let the wire transfer go through even though it had already been reported as fraudulent the same day it had happened and that had also made the wire stay pending for almost two days but the funds were still released. Also want to mention that there was already a previous fraudulent transaction of {$15.00} from XXXX  that I had already reported that was made on my account that Wells Fargo was aware of and took reasonability of fixing but now they do not want to claim responsibility of fixing the illegal unauthorized wire transfer that they decided to go through after being reported the same day. I notified Wells Fargo within the same business hours about the fraudulent wire and after it had already been pending for almost 2 days they still let the wire go through. After waiting 10 days from the initial CFPB complaint, I had finally gotten back a response letter from Wells Fargo stating they now deem ME responsible for wiring the funds and that the claim will remain denied and the credit will not be provided. Wells Fargo has already been aware that my money has been stolen out of my account not once but twice and that the illegal unauthorized wire transfer had not been initiated by me. I would also like to mention the fact that the money that was stolen out of my account had been the same money that I had received from insurance XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I did not have the money in my account for more than a week before it had been stolen not once but twice. My account had been compromised days before the illegal wire transfer was even made and thieves were aware of the fact that I had just gotten paid from insurance and somehow were able to hack/steal {$9800.00} out of my account. The Electronic Funds Transfer Act states that a consumer is not responsible for any unauthorized electronic fund transfers unless the transfer was made using a card accepted for their account and the issuing institution provided a way to identify the person using that card. This means that a consumer is not liable for fraudulent transactions if the bank did not provide adequate security measures to verify their identity when making the transfer. I never received any type of verification of my identity such as the last 4 digits of social, date of birth or secret code to even initiate the transfer. I usually get text authorizations when I sometimes go to pull out some money out of the ATM or when I spend a little more than normal, which I do appreciate but don't understand on why the same thing didn't happen for this wire transfer though. The largest transaction in my banking history and the first wire transfer was approved within a couple minutes. I have never written my personal information down anywhere or have even shared any sensitive or personal information with anybody. I have also never logged into any other type of device with my online banking except for my personal cell phone. I am now having to deal with family, work and financial issues that have been brought on upon me because of something that I did not partake in and now my financial institution doesnt want to reimburse me after being a victim of fraud. All I want in life right now is for my money to be reimbursed so my life can go back to normal before.