Consumer complaint received 2023-03-31
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (MD)

I am a checking account customer of Wells Fargo Bank Fargo and the victim of a felony-level check fraud that the bank allowed to be perpetrated. The Wells Fargo claims assistance center recently denied my claim for personal restitution. My claim was dismissed after only a casual investigation. Wells Fargo offers customers no process for appealing egregious and minimally investigated decisions like this. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I placed in our nearby U.S. Postal mailbox a {$10000.00} check to the Internal Revenue Service for a quarterly federal tax payment, in compliance with specific instructions from the government, as I have done quarterly for the past 10 years. 

This check was stolen en route by someone who overwrote out the payee line " Payable to : United States Treasury '' and wrote in the name XXXX XXXX. In addition, my Social Security number was crossed off by the forger and the number XXXX written in next to it. 

The photograph of the check front ( I can provide a copy if helpful ) ) shows that the forgery was so crude, it would have taken only a cursory glance to see the check was fraudulent. Still, it was cashed on XX/XX/XXXX, at an unknown location, and honored by Wells Fargo. 

We discovered the fraud on XX/XX/XXXX, while preparing our XXXX tax return, and immediately reported it to Wells Fargo, the Internal Revenue Service, the XXXX XXXX police, the Federal Trade Commission and the US Postal Inspection Service and requested investigations. 

After many interactions with Check Fraud Claims, I was eventually told the unit conducted an investigation that only reviewed the timing of when the fraud was reported -- nothing more. Finally, on XX/XX/XXXX, a Wells Fargo official informed me that it will not make me whole and pay back the {$10000.00} the bank paid out to the fraud perpetrator for the reason of untimely reporting. The unit cites the Deposit Account Agreement requiring fraud to be reported in 30 days. I did report it within 30 days -- immediately after I discovered it.

Granted, that was several months after the fraud was perpetrated. But it was an understandable oversight, given the format of your bank statements. Consider how it happened : I had written a check for {$10000.00} to the IRS, and when the account statement became available, I saw that {$10000.00} was withdrawn. I did not click through to look at the image of the check because I knew what it was. 

The Wells Fargo Centers Check Fraud Claim Unit notified me on XX/XX/XXXX, my claim was rejected solely on the late filing date of the claim. I bring this case to your attention for the following reasons : 1. Wells Fargo was negligent in cashing an obviously fraudulent check 2. The Check Fraud Claims Unit, by it own admission, reviewed the claim only on the basis of timely reporting with no investigation or consideration of the broader evidence and extreme circumstances pertaining to the fraudulent act 3. The Check Fraud Claims unit, by its own admission, made no effort to identify the perpetrator or provide information requested by the Internal Revenue Service, the US Postal Service, and XXXX XXXX Police with whom we filed requests for investigations. 
4. The size of the check fraud - {$10000.00} and the fact this check made out to the United /states Treasury was stolen in the process of making my estimated tax payment to the Internal Revenue Service following specific IRS procedures did not factor into the rejection decision.

5. I reported the forgery to Wells Fargo immediately after it was detected. The fraud was difficult to detect when the transaction showed up on the bank statement. The forged check appeared on the page of check transactions showed on the amount of the check which gave the impression of being routinely processed and cashed by the Internal Revenue Service 6. Wells Fargo offers claimants no process for appealing its decisions.