Consumer complaint received 2024-07-26
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (IA)

On the night of XX/XX/XXXX, I was selling a bed frame on XXXX XXXX when the individual reached out to me to buy it. She said her name was XXXX and that she wanted to buy it and send me the money in advance so no one else would buy it. Typically I wouldnt agree to this but I was looking to get rid of it fast and she then mentioned she would have her sister pick up the bed frame the following day because her car wouldnt fit it. So she asked for my phone number to give to her sister, so that she would be able to contact me as well. She also asked for my full name to look up my XXXX account to be able to send the money. She then messaged me that she sent the money but XXXX needed my email address as well to confirm it went to the right person. I gave her my email address, as it was already publicly listed on my XXXX account as well. After this, I started receiving emails that looked to be official from XXXX, but werent from official XXXX email addresses. I looked up the email address to find this information out. I made sure not to click anything. I sent screenshots to ask her about them and she told me she received the same thing, XXXX needed her to send money to change her personal account into a business account. I thought this was sketchy, but ignored it. I then went into my bank account to see if the money she had sent had deposited into my account, and I saw two charges for {$320.00} each. This was not authorized by me and I immediately called Wells Fargo. They filed it as a Scam claim, even though I explicitly mentioned several times that it was not me in my account who had authorized these charges. While on the phone with the claims person, I was texting XXXX about these charges and she was telling me to pay XXXX. She said she got the same email and once she paid the amount XXXX had told her, she received a refund of the amount and her XXXX account was now unlocked. I thought this was really sketchy and figured this XXXX person was the one behind the fraud. I didnt confront her in fear of the {$90.00} remaining in my bank account to disappear too. She continued to message me to send XXXX XXXX and I ignored it. The claims person from Wells Fargo told me to wait 10 days for my claim and wait on a decision. Luckily I had a bit of cash but other than that my bank account was drained and I had a very rough week and a half. I couldnt afford to buy anything or take care of myself properly. After waiting, on XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter that my claim was denied because the charges were authorized by me because they were from my account. I immediately called the claims department at Wells Fargo again to explain that the individual must have gotten into my account by using my phone number or email and changing the password. This was at XXXX XXXX XXXX precisely after I open the letter. Regardless of how they did it, Im still not sure, it wasnt me who sent that money. The claims person then told me the previous claims person misfiled my claim as a scam when they should have filed it as fraud. So we refiled the issue as fraud, closed my bank account, debit card, and changed my username and password. I then waited ten more days to see if I would get back the {$650.00}. I just got the letter today with the decision, and Wells Fargo denied my claim again and said that I authorized the transaction, even though I specifically mentioned to the claims representative that I did not authorize the transaction and it was someone else in my account. They will not help me in the claims department anymore and Im at a loss for what to do. I just graduated college and need to pay rent in less than a week, and the individual who committed fraud took my entire bank account, leaving me with nothing. I dont know how else to get Wells Fargo to give me my money back, please help me. Having my entire paycheck stolen has been tremendously impactful and has added so much XXXX XXXX XXXX  to my life. I have had XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX so much so I had to reach out to XXXX XXXX  for help, just because of how much this has impacted me mentally. Please help.