Consumer complaint received 2024-03-26
Product: Checking or savings account — Savings account
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (TX)

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Texas XXXX Wells Fargo XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX, SD XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX DC XXXX Dear CFPB, I am filing a complaint against Wells Fargo because my son and I are victims of their internal bank fraud via Gaming Strategies. The Wells Fargo embezzlement/gaming strategies included Wells Fargo using my son and Is existing customer identities without our consent to open checking and savings, debit card, credit card, bill pay accounts, to make unauthorized transfers, unauthorized deposits, and unauthorized withdrawals via cash and via check fraud. As a result of these unlawful criminal and civil violations, $ XXXX {$300000.00} has been stolen/embezzled from our bank accounts. It is my understanding that this, XXXX, constitutes bank fraud, identity theft, and the falsification of bank records, and Wells Fargo is under a deferred prosecution agreement with the CFPB for these same actions. I have included extensive spreadsheetS detailing the theft that has occurred. 

The embezzlement occurred via XXXX unneeded checking and saving accounts over a XXXX year period. XXXX of these accounts were opened by Wells Fargo under false pretenses, the use of high pressure sales tactics, and/or without consent. It is my understanding that this illegal misconduct stemmed from Wells Fargo practices between XXXX and XXXX of pressuring employees to meet unrealistic sales goals that led thousands of employees to provide millions of accounts or products to customers under false pretenses or without consent, often by creating false records, and/or misusing customers identities. Here is a quick look chart I created from what information Wells Fargo has provided and based on my assessment of my bank statements from XXXX XXXX XXXX : CALCULATION OF ATTACHED SPREADSHEETS BASED ON REVIEW OF STATEMENTS THAT ARE AVAILABLE : Date Account Name, Type, and Number Isolated Amount Total Known Amount Embezzled XXXX XXXX Embezzlement on Adult Account XXXX And Teen Savings XXXX {$240000.00} XXXX XXXX Embezzlement on Teen Account XXXX Unknown as the statements have not been provided by Wells Fargo XXXX XXXX Embezzlement on Teen Account XXXX {$13000.00} {$260000.00} XXXX XXXX Embezzlement on XXXX XXXX XXXX Business Account XXXX Unknown as the statements have not been provided by Wells Fargo XXXX XXXX Embezzlement on XXXX Real Estate XXXX XXXX Account XXXX Unknown as the statements have not been provided by Wells Fargo BACKGROUND : I originally only had a single checking account ending in XXXX which was authorized and needed. Unfortunately, I was pressured/encouraged to open XXXX additional unwanted and unneeded accounts in XXXX for my then, XXXX year old son, which was a Teen Checking ending in XXXX, and a Teen Savings account ending in XXXX. I did not need these accounts because I had very little disposable income as I was a school teacher, and my son was not yet a teenager. 

Wells Fargo opened XXXX more unneeded business accounts under false pretenses. These accounts are identified as XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Account ending in XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Account ending in XXXX, which totaled XXXX accounts. Unfortunately, I can not provide a firm open and close date regarding these accounts because Wells Fargo has refused to provide me with access to statements and records relating to both of these business accounts. I requested these records in person and via phone on XXXX or more occasions the latter part of XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX through present, but Wells Fargo has clearly chosen to conceal the records. In lieu of providing statements, Wells Fargo Executives have sent me several mediation requests. I have provided copies of these mediation requests, claim numbers, letters, and business cards of each Wells Fargo employee I have interacted with the attachments below. 

HERE IS A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF ACCOUNTS : Wells Fargo Accounts Wells Fargo Account XXXX Status of Records and Statements Requested to Accurately Identify Bank Fraud Account XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Checking XXXX Originally denied XXXX statements by Wells Fargo online services , informed that they were destroyed, went into a branch, branch manager printed XXXX statements. False statements. 
Account # XXXX XXXX XXXX Teen Checking XXXX Denied access to XXXX statements by Wells Fargo . WF stated records were unavailable. Can not confirm the amount of unauthorized transfers/withdrawals that occurred in this account. 
Account # XXXX XXXX XXXX Teen Savings XXXX Bank Manager, XXXX XXXX, called into the WF Corporate Office and was redirected to the Tech Team because I could not access any withdrawal history, check history, or statements online regarding this account. Corporate office stated that this account is considered a GOALS savings account, and did not permit online access, which is how they were able to go under the radar when stealing my money. My retirement money, death benefit paid to my son and I, settlement monies, were deposited to this account. Wells Fargo refused to provide the account or statement history of this account. It is on the combined statement from XXXX accounts. 
Account # XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Checking XXXX Wells Fargo has concealed all bank records regarding this account. This is one of the accounts where the majority of the embezzlement occurred. 
Account # XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Checking XXXX Wells Fargo has concealed all bank records regarding this account. This is one of the accounts where the majority of the embezzlement occurred.

After the opening of these five unnecessary accounts, the bank fraud began, on or around, XX/XX/XXXX and appears to have lasted until around Mid XXXX, when all of my monies were completely siphoned from all of our accounts. Wells Fargo began moving money to and from these XXXX accounts via unauthorized money transfers, unauthorized deposits, and unauthorized withdrawals in a practice known internally by Wells Fargo as simulated funding. Wells Fargo then forged my signature to withdraw money via DDAs and also wrote fraudulent checks in order to withdraw monies as well. I suspect that Wells Fargo may have opened additional accounts without authorization, created PINs to activate unauthorized debit cards, and opened bill pay products without authorization ; Thereby, stealing even more of my money via excessive or unauthorized junk fees that they were not entitled to. 

I also believe that Wells Fargo altered my true contact information to prevent me from learning of the unauthorized transfers, deposits, and withdrawals, and to also prevent Wells Fargo employees from reaching me in order to inform me of the bank fraud. The, Excess Usage, fees of {$15.00} were charged and placed on my sons Teen checking account during the embezzlement. According to Wells Fargo, these fees were incurred due to excessive withdrawals. This is clearly when Wells Fargo had a legal responsibility to contact me regarding the bank fraud. Please note that I never received any of the statements from the XXXX business accounts where a massive amount of my money was siphoned, where I also believe excessive junk fees were applied as well. These are likely the reasons Wells Fargo has continued to conceal the statements from both of these business accounts. Despite the potential knowledge of the illegal sales practices, and the theft due to the Senior leadership forcing these unauthorized transfers and withdrawals ; Wells Fargo Executives intentionally failed to take sufficient action to prevent the known bank fraud.

I also believe Wells Fargos predatory identification of certain patrons as, vulnerable customers, was racially motivated, and based on the fact that I am an African-American, unmarried, single mother, over the age of XXXX, and identified as less apt to understand and review statements. As a single mother with a Teen Checking account, Wells Fargo was well aware that no other person had access to viewing my records. These factors clearly made my son and I prime targets for this type of theft. 

Please note, I have provided proof of my visit to the branch on XXXX XXXX twice in XXXX and XXXX of XXXX, when the bank manager, and employees refused to turn off my debit card. This is exactly around the time the embezzlement i.e., XXXX, began. I spoke with XXXX XXXX, Bank XXXX, XXXX XXXX, Assistant Manager, and XXXX XXXX ( attached documentation of this visit ). I was experiencing multiple traumatic events during this time, which included : XXXX XXXX  at my job by XXXX XXXX over a XXXX year employment period, where I was terminated directly after I reported the harassment ( Documentation Attached ). Simultaneously, my son and I experienced a hate crime where we were being XXXX, an object was stuffed in the pipe of our car that could have resulted in death, and called XXXX ( Police report attached ). We moved to XXXX as a result of these forms of XXXX and XXXX XXXX As a result, I was also engaged in a XXXX year lawsuit with my former employer that began in XXXX and ended in XX/XX/XXXX. Thankfully, I was able to obtain new employment in XXXX. Unfortunately, I found out that my former employer was communicating with my new employer, and retaliatory harassment ensued, and I lost the second job in XXXX. This pattern continued. My XXXX also died during this time. As a result, I began seeing a XXXX  ( Document attached ). This is where the inhumane and vile embezzlement via the, Gaming Strategies, began by Wells Fargo. 

I withdrew money from my retirement account ( XXXX ), deposited into Wells Fargo in the amount of {$21000.00}. This was the first time I had the opportunity to no longer live from check to check, and had more than my bi-weekly salary. In XXXX of XXXX, my mother, who had never been hospitalized, died in a single day of a massive XXXX XXXX, and Wells Fargo continued to steal from my son and I via the death benefits my son and I received from XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) in the amount of {$5000.00} each. The bank fraud continued when I received the {$60000.00} settlement in XXXX of XXXX, and each time I made a large deposit. Wells Fargo also stole the deposits via my tax returns over this XXXX year period, and they were also siphoning money from my bi-weekly salary during this span of time as well. Again, I have provided spread sheets for the theft that has occurred, copies of withdrawals not in my handwriting, and the Wells Fargo statements are attached that show the unauthorized transfers and withdrawals, etc. 

I realized that the embezzlement occurred in XXXX of XXXX when I found a check from XXXX from XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ), and knew that I was struggling financially after the date the check was deposited. This is what prompted me to request my bank statements from Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo refused to provide the statements from XXXX on both my sons teen account and my account ( XXXX & XXXX ) of which I still do not have. Wells Fargo did however provide statements from XXXX in an illogical/scrambled format, i.e, months and years were in random order. I decided to go into a branch and see if they would provide the XXXX statements for just my account since it was a combined statement. I was able to get the statements from a Wells Fargo branch, that Wells Fargo Executive Office stated were not available. This is when I realized that Wells Fargo was not going to be ethical in this process. I then went to a branch located on XXXX XXXX over XXXX times, and was assisted by the branch manager, XXXX XXXX, and branch Sales Representative, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I asked XXXX if I could email the scrambled statements to him because I could not read them properly as they were not in chronological order. XXXX printed all the statements for me over about XXXX pages. I also asked the manager, XXXX XXXX, to print the withdrawal slips on my sons Teen Savings account. She stated I should be able to review the information online, so I attempted to pull the information up ; it was not accessible. I returned to the branch the next day, and XXXX XXXX, bank manager, assisted me and stayed after her work hours to call the Executive office to see why I did not have online access ; they transferred us to the Wells Fargo IT Department. The Wells Fago IT professional stated that the Goals Savings Account does not have online access as an option, and I would have to change the savings account to a different type of savings account if I wanted access. I informed him that I did not want anything changed as this may have created spoliation of evidence. This was clearly one of the ways Wells Fargo concealed the theft from my detection. I then requested copies of the withdrawal slips for the life of the account, they were initially denied, then provided about a month later to this same branch, but my signature was blacked out. This is where the bank manager and I could see the clear forgery because the withdrawal slips were not my handwriting even though my signature was blacked out. I then went to another branch, to get a print out of one of the withdrawal slips ; ironically, the signature was not blacked out ( I have provided copies of all of this information in attached documents ). And, it was clear fraud had taken place, and Wells Fargo was attempting to conceal it instead of just doing what was right, which was refunding me my money that was embezzled. 

I then requested copies of the business account statements, where I also saw a lot of the unauthorized transfers being moved to. I was informed all I needed was the last XXXX numbers of these accounts because they were in my name in order to get access to these statements : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I provided the last XXXX numbers of these accounts to XXXX Wells Fargo employees, and was denied these account statements via in person and online ( XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX This is when Wells Fargo began sending me requests for Mediation. Wells Fargo clearly refused to provide full disclosure of all the documents and statements I needed in order to identify and calculate a firm number for the amount of money that was embezzled from me in order for the mediation to earnestly make me whole again. 

From Wells Fargo concealing and concealing bank records, and offers of mediation ; this was clearly not a problem of individual misconduct, this was malicious, willful, and intentional internal theft permitted by Wells Fargo Executive Team. Wells Fargo is also aware that they are legally obligated to maintain monitoring systems to identify suspicious transactions and promptly report them to the appropriate regulatory authorities, and to account owners. Wells Fargos failure to monitor and detect suspicious activity that resulted in my financial loss makes them responsible for my losses. Therefore, I am filing a formal complaint with the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau to get assistance with a bank that refuses to be honest, and simply refund all the money that I earned that was stolen from me by them, while in their possession.

In closing,, I have provided spread sheets for the embezzlement that has occurred, copies of withdrawal slips, checks, etc., not in my handwriting, and Wells Fargo statements are attached that show the numerous unauthorized transfers and unauthorized withdrawals, etc. These criminal and civil violations by Wells Fargo occurred during the most devastating times of my life. Wells Fargo actions are beyond vile and inhumane. They have robbed my son and I of the wealth that I earned from obtaining an education, from the death benefits left to my son and I after the death of my mother, my retirement account withdrawals, settlement monies paid to me from being XXXX XXXX, etc. The very reasons I acquired a portion of these monies was for being XXXX based on my XXXX, XXXX, and familial status, and ironically, these are the same exact reasons Wells Fargo targeted me for embezzlement. 

It has been retraumatizing to complete this complaint. Wells Fargo should be held criminally and civilly liable, and even after the return of my monies ; they should also be forced to pay interest and damages to my son and I, as the physiological effects of this type of theft is irreparable. Thank you for your intervention in this matter. 

Regards, XXXX XXXX Enclosures Sources of Income and Wells Fargo Embezzlement : Date Source of Income/Deposit Isolated Amount Total Amount Total Amount Stolen Comments XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX {$65000.00} times XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX {$100000.00} Various amounts stolen by Wells Fargo XXXX XXXX about $ XXXX {$30000.00} ) Over the course of 5 years ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Withdrawals and Deposits {$21000.00} XXXX {$21000.00} Stolen by Wells Fargo XX/XX/XXXX Death Benefit from Mother after XXXX Death {$12000.00} XXXX {$33000.00} Stolen by Wells Fargo XX/XX/XXXX Settlement from XXXX XXXX {$60000.00} XXXX {$93.00}, XXXX Stolen by Wells Fargo XXXX Annual Tax Returns {$30000.00} XXXX {$120000.00} Stolen by Wells Fargo XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Texas Withdraws and Deposits {$12000.00} XXXX {$130000.00} Stolen by Wells Fargo XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Texas Withdrawals and Deposits {$13000.00} XXXX {$140000.00} Stolen by Wells Fargo