Consumer complaint received 2024-06-08
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (TX)

On XXXX  I became a victim of fraud through a scam.  I received a phone call that read Wells Fargo on my caller id.  Wells Fargo is my bank and I am in the process of purchasing my very first home and so I answered.  The male on the line addressed me by my name and told me he was calling because he and his team see some suspicious activity on my accounts.  I was working and preoccupied when this call came through and plus it was supposedly from my bank and he called me by name (last name). I panicked and he rattle off a couple of amounts and said it looks like they are from Alabama and then asked do I know anyone from there and I said no to both that I do not recognize the charges he was referring to and to not knowing anyone in Alabama.  He said they are trying to charge your savings account and XXXX  account.  I told him I do not have an XXXX account but I knew I had money in my savings and it was in the amount of XXXX I pulled money from XXXX XXXX  in the amount of XXXX  to close on my house and XXXX electronically deposited this amount into my checking account ending in XXXX on XXXX  I transferreXXXX XXXX  to my savings account ending in XXXX  on XXXX and this happened the next dayXXXX XXXX around or between XXXX XXXX cst. The caller went on to ask me do I remember my last transaction and I told him yes and told him it was to my electric provider, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  He kept putting me on hold saying his team is communicating with him. He then told me that his team is advising him that they need to shut down my savings and XXXX  account and he made mention that they were trying to get XXXX through XXXX   I realize now that he was trying to get information out of me.  I told him again that I do not know anything about an XXXX account.  He asked me do I have online banking and if I could access it on my phone and if so, log in and transfer all of my funds to my checking account so they can shut down the other ones and once they are done closing those out, I will have a new savings account and then I can transfer my money back to there. Again I was still in panic mode and was trying to save myself from being scammed because this would be about my 5th or 6th time going through this process with Wells Fargo.  He told me to also check my accounts to see if I see any other charges that may have gone through that were not authorized. I realize now that, that was a stalling method to keep my phone open for him to get full access.  He put me on hold once again but this time was a lot longer than the other times. I forgot all about this part but he asked me if I had an XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and I said no, I have a XXXX  I started to think that was weird to ask and so by now red flags started to come up to me and I started to feel like this was not real but I still was not sure. I remember thinking that maybe they are trying to track where this is coming from. How? I do not know but now I feel XXXX  and embarrassed that I caught on to this too late.  When he came back I told him that I do not feel like this is a legit call and he was trying to assure me that it was by telling me that we, the customers, do not get to see everything that they get to see so this is why he called because he saw this happening.  While talking to him I went back in to transfer my money back to my savings and I honestly thought I had did this and was unaware at that moment that their process had already started.  Even though I transferred the full XXXX to my checking account, they were able to get XXXX XXXX in XXXX and XXXX  through XXXX XXXX We had a few more words and then I hung up. I put my phone down to go do something and went back to get it like 10-15 minutes later and it was locked down.  It showed XXXX up in the right corner of the phone and I could not access it for anything but emergency calls.  I panicked even more so I rushed up to the bank XXXX XXXX) which is 5 minutes from my complex and rushed up to the teller at the window and I told him that I believe I may have been a victim of a scam and could he please check.  I tapped my card on the machine and he pulled it up and sure enough, back to back to back transaction payments through XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  These all say XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX with different reference XXXX  The big one, XXXX shows a transfer by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX CA with the last 4 digits of my card XXXX  The young man got me face to face with banker XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX  and the branch manager, XXXX XXXX XXXX  They both began to assist me.  They asked what me what happened and I started to explain what I could remember at the moment.  I was in complete shock of it all. They both told me I was like the 2nd or 3rd person that was a XXXX customer that came in there for the same thing.  They both saw my phone and saw that it was inoperable.  XXXX XXXX called the fraud line to place claims and she had my checking and savings accounts shut down immediately, deactivated my bank cardXXXX XXXX and had my online access taken down permanently for those accounts and any funds I had left was transferred over to my new checking, XXXX that she opened up for me. A new savings account ending in XXXX  was also opened up for me. She ordered me a new bank card but left me offline because for the 2 step verification, the code would have gone to my cell XXXX and the scammers would get it.  She also told me the reason they told me to move everything to my checking was so they could have access to it because my checking is tied to my digital and bank card.  I was there for a couple of hours trying to get this in to the fraud department and as soon as I was able to leave I went directly to XXXX which is 5 minutes away from the bank and I got to them around 3 something.  I was immediately greeted and assisted by XXXX XXXX XXXX.  I told him somewhat of what happened and he was able to restore my services.  When opened, it was like a brand new phone.  I had lost everything, pictures, notes, reminders, texts and the one that really hurts was losing the last texts between my dad and I before he passed away in XXXX. I left and went home but went back to the store on XXXX  to ask if there was any way their system would show a breach on my account.  The young man that was helping me then asked me what happened and I started to tell him and he told me their corporate office had to fire a lot of people in the I.T. dept because they were doing fraudulent activities.  He was saying really smart people have messed up their lives with this.  This was the second time of me hearing XXXX.  I wanted to change my phone number and ask questions about if the phone was scrubbed do the people still have access to my stuff because I was not sure how much information they took so yes I am very paranoid, suspicious of everyone and I felt just violated and I still do but now with disappointed, angry and I feel all alone in this fight to recover my money.  My close is coming up on XXXX  and this has put me and my family in great jeopardy of losing our new home but no one cares or is listening. I have been going through it with Wells Fargo. Their fraud department who was supposed to look into my case never called me before just denying my claim and this is the XXXX.  They told me I had to take this up with XXXX  I had heard of sims swapping and I made mention of that because there was no other way because I had not given them any information on myself so this had to be what happened.  I made mention of this to Wells Fargo high dollar fraud representative and he told me at that time my case would remain denied and if I can get anything from XXXX that show I was a victim then they would reconsider my claim. I did put in a claim with XXXX but have not heard back from them and mainly because I feel like this is a Wells Fargo problem because the money came from my account.I went back to XXXX  to try to get anything that would prove my theory but the store really did not have anything and they could not write a letter from their store saying my phone had been breached and they had to restore my services.  They only could let me take a screenshot of their tablet showing my account and my account activity.  I sent this to Wells Fargo where it clearly shows that on XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX someone called in to XXXX pretending to be me and the call came from the bank.  I told them I wanted suspend my line, ending in XXXX and an employee name, XXXX XXXX  took that call.  Then it shows where I went to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  to restore my services. This was still not enough information for Wells Fargo and they still denied my claim. I called over to check on my other claim with the XXXX department and I was told that a letter went out to me dated XXXX explaining they were closing my case with them and now Wells Fargo have a lead that my money was sent to another Wells Fargo customer so my case had escalated up and the new department would get in touch with me.  Everything has been 10 business days.  I have called and talked to numerous people regarding my claims.  Every time it escalates or start over it's another 10 days. These are 20, 30 days I cannot afford to be patient with because it is getting close to my close date.  I have had to re-explain myself to everyone I spoke with.  There were 2 complaints made on my behalf from Wells Fargo employees and I did finally get a call from the complaint department and I explained to the gentleman what kept happening. I also went back up to the bank to see if there was anything else they could do.  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX were both there that day.  XXXX XXXX called the fraud department and put on record that when I came in she saw my phone and saw that it was inoperable but she nor XXXX XXXX could do no more than that. If it seems I am all over the place with this, I am because I have been dealing with this every day since my life got turned upside down on XXXX   I did speak with XXXX and the lady (I don't remember her name) but it should be in the recordings.  She looked me up and said I have never had an XXXX card or applied and that I was not ever set up in their system and she was trying to figure out how these people were able to do this.  I received a phone call from a XXXX in the executive dept and she told me she would be my point of contact from now on and she asked me what happened and told me a little of what she had and that they did see something in the XXXX  transactions and that both claims could be connected.  She said she put a call in to the high dollar claim dept and told them this status and she was waiting on them to respond back to her.  She told me that if I had any questions or concerns or have anymore information, I could contact her directly and she gave me her phone number.  I felt like finally some light out of the darkness.  I had also placed a call to XXXX trying to get a copy of my detail phone log for that day,XXXX  but the bill had not generated yet so I would have to wait until XXXX XXXX called me back on Thursday, XXXX and told me all of my claims are denied and that I did not prove that I did not willingly allow myself to be scammed, meaning that I participated in it involuntarily.  I was livid, hurt and crying so hard and she was very unempathetic.  I even told her they are all like robots over there, no feelings.  I asked her why and what else do I prove?  I asked her what happened to the lead on the XXXX  side and that if my money was going to another Wells Fargo customer then there you go because if that person got money and never called in about it then they could possibly be apart of this.  She told me she heard the recordings and that she cannot discuss with me all of the investigation.  She told me Wells Fargo have no one to go after because there is no lead to anyone and that they don't have the power to prosecute and I told her I understand that but they have the authority to prove theft and fraud to have someone prosecuted.  I asked her about the account monitoring which she said Wells Fargo do not have and I know that to be false because how can they send out text messages or calls to people at all times if they suspect suspicious activity going on.  I know because I have been on the receiving end of those texts and calls.  I told her that Wells Fargo is responsible for their customers money.  I trusted you guys. I put my money in your bank and you have people that study their customers spending habits and if they see something off they will reach out.  Why no one reached out to me?  Why didn't you see these transactions and did not freeze my account until I could approve this?  Why wasn't my account flagged?  I feel like they could have helped me in that moment.  If they would have text or called it would have triggered something in me but nothing.  I joined Wells Fargo because I did hear some good things as well as bad things about them.  What stood out with me were things that made me feel like they were for the people and the communities while other banks are for the rich and corporate.  Not even a few months after opening my accounts with them, I was frauded.  Another time I was at the grocery store and my card did not go through because it was blocked due to seeing some suspicious activity.  That was embarrassing but I was very glad they did that. So now we are here and you see all of this happening and you do not tell me anything.  She kept saying because it came from you.  I told her of course it looks like it came from me and surely i am not the first customer they have been put in this same situation.  That was the reason for the phone takeover so they could wipe me out and then erase anything that could lead back to them.  She mentioned that I admitted that the person on the phone asked me to move my money and she thought this was a push back for Wells Fargo to say I unwillingly but willingly participated and I told her I said that from day one.  I am guilty of answering a call that said Wells Fargo and being vulnerable in that moment and I did transfer my money from my savings to my checking but I also tried to put it back.  The fraud operator must have went to sleep on that part.  I told her is it not my fault the line of questioning given do not always align with the entire story.  She is right that I was not yet aware of what was happening to me but I did not share my screen or type in anything to give these people. They made their way into my phone on their own.  I have one more try that I am doing.  When I hung up with her,  I called XXXX and told them I really need their help.  The young man, XXXX  did another fraud report and he looked over the activity on my phone with me and he saw that my services were suspended and it showed that I called in from the bank and suspended my line and i was instructed something regarding that.  Then he saw where my sims card had been changed and he saw when I went into the store to restore that same line.  He said he was putting a note on the file for them to pull the recorded call from and the call detail for that they will give this to me or Wells Fargo (I forget) but they will get together whatever is needed to send to Wells Fargo to try and help me.  He is not sure if this will help but this is what they can do.  I do not have faith that this will even work because the way Wells Fargo changed it up, I feel like they are trying to find any reason to not recover my funds and they are covering something up.  I filed a police report on XXXX and it was recorded as incident XXXX and on XXXX they read and accepted my case and assigned it to an investigator, detective XXXX XXXX XXXX   I filed another fraud report, report XXXX. I went to the social security office to do a name change (marriage) and they redirected me to the credit bureaus where I set up through XXXX to freeze and monitor my social. I even went 1 step further and signed up with XXXX XXXX for that second layer of protection.  I sent a complaint to FDIC complaining about how Wells Fargo is doing me and they redirected me to you.  PLEASE MA'AM OR SIR, please understand that I am a victim and I hope the support that will come from XXXX will help Wells Fargo see this but the way they are responding makes me less assured and I am in need of my money.  I am trying to buy our first house and that money is what it was for.  I had to go back to my XXXX  and borrow against it again and that drained it.  I have no more funds I can pull from and I still have bills to pay. PLEASE HELP ME.

I will also have an issue with XXXX because how did they allow this to happen because no one knows my pin XXXX nor my social security XXXX so this should had been blocked.  This makes me wonder about if they are involved in this sims swapping issue or something like that.