Consumer complaint received 2023-10-14
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (WA)

On XX/XX/23, I was contacted by Wells Fargo via phone call informing me of a potential fraudulent charge that had taken place on my account. After providing what at the time were reasonable and standard details to confirm that I was the account owner, I was informed that someone had accessed my account via another device and had shut off notifications of transactions at that point. After reenabling the alerts, I was shocked to see that I had been enrolled in Wells Fargo Wires and that a person by the name of XXXX XXXX had attempted to transfer over {$10000.00} from my account. 

That same day of XX/XX/23, I went to my local Wells Fargo branch to do further investigation and determine next steps to fight against the fraudulent transactions. Upon reviewing the transaction history, I had also found that the same bad actor who had initiated the wire transfers had also done cash advances on my credit card in an amount totaling {$8400.00}, and that they had likewise transferred my savings account balance to my checking account to likewise steal that ( amount toalling {$2100.00} ). In total, the bad actor had managed to steal {$10000.00} from my account via pending wire transfers. The branch representative recommended that I freeze and close the affected accounts, and that I report the fraudulent transactions to their wire/checking fraud department and online fraud department respectively. I followed through with all of these actions in the branch, with the representative assuring me that due to my timely reporting that my fund would be protected and that the pending transactions would be reversed/cancelled. After my experience in the branch, I likewise filed a police report with the local XXXX Washington PD. 

The following week on XX/XX/23, I received letters from both the online fraud claims center and check fraud claims center respectively. The online fraud claims center found that fraud had indeed occurred, but were not able to cancel or reverse the transactions that were made and instead opted to cancel any related fees/interest. The Check Fraud center ruled against my claim by stating that because the transaction was performed using my account information via online banking, I was responsible for the transfer and that they likewise were unable to recall the transferred funds. As such, I would be held responsible for the debts from the cash advance totaling {$8400.00}. 

I called to dispute this decision, and after being transferred from department to department ended up filing another claim with the Credit Card Fraud Claims department once again reporting the electronic funds transfers as fraudulent. On a letter dated XX/XX/23, the Credit Card Fraud Claims department found that no fraud had occurred as the transactions had been done on my account supposedly with my authorization. My claim was forwarded to the Online Fraud department, who likewise found against me as they had with my first claim. It was at this time that I filed a complaint with Wells Fargo concerning these investigations and how they had been handled on XX/XX/23 after multiple phone calls to Wells Fargo to find the reasoning behind their decisions. This was responded to via a now deleted secure email on XX/XX/23 in which the denial of my claims was upheld from a representative named XXXX. I called XXXX on XX/XX/23 day to further discuss the details of my complain and the full history of my case. XXXX on my behalf filed another complaint for me. This complaint took further time to investigate and resolve, as I was informed on XX/XX/23, and XX/XX/23 that they needed more time for their investigation. 

Finally in a letter dated XX/XX/23, I was informed that while they had found in my favor regarding the fraudulent wire transfers, they would uphold their decision from XX/XX/23 in that they would be unable to refund/reverse the transfer of funds. They likewise determined that the reason why I would ultimately be held responsible for the debts from the credit card cash advances and the wire transfer is because the person who had accessed my account was able to make those transactions because I had provided them with security codes that were sent to my phone. I will point out at this time that in my previous conversations over the phone with Wells Fargo from the initial conversation on XX/XX/23 up to that point, Wells Fargo on multiple occasions had sent me texts with confirmation codes to confirm my identity. This would mean that the initial call made to me from Wells Fargo was potentially from the bad actor themselves who had spoofed Wells Fargo 's number and followed their business practices for authentication to that point. 

As it has become totally apparent that I am a victim of fraud, I disagree with the decisions made by Wells Fargo to hold me responsible for the wire transfer and the cash advances to my credit card. According to the Electronic Fund Transfers Act and Regulation E, I should not be held responsible for unauthorized charges made by a scammer/fraud actor regardless of them using my account credentials. As I had done my due diligence in reporting the fraudulent actions the day of, I feel that Wells Fargo has ultimately failed me in both protecting my funds as was promised by the in branch representative and in not holding me liable for the actions of a scammer. As such, I call on the CFPB to investigate this situation and advocate on my behalf to right the wrongs of my defraudment.