Consumer complaint received 2024-04-08
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (MT)

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, I woke up from a nap to a XXXX ( Montana ) number calling me, I looked at my phone and the caller ID stated it was XXXX Sheriff Department , I quickly answered the phone. They stated that they were the XXXX Sheriff Department and I was speaking with XXXX XXXX. They informed me that I have XXXX warrants out for my arrest for failing to make it to a jury duty notice that I received on XX/XX/XXXX and that if I do not pay them right away I would be arrested within hours at my address and they listed my address to me. I truly did receive a jury duty notice in XXXX and tossed it out because I can not mentally attend jury duty anymore, so I honestly thought that is what they were talking about. 

I told them I am a XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX veteran and that I am XXXX XXXX to attend jury duty because my XXXX has to do with my mental health status. They stated that regardless of that the judge had already issues a bench warrant out for my arrest and that I would need to make these payments and bring my XXXX paperwork down the courthouse and to the clerks, proving I am XXXX and they would be able to write me a cashiers check in order to get my money back and have my bench warrants removed. First they told me that I had {$940.00} in bonds due in order to get bench warrants off my record. I told them I do not know how to make payments online or through
apps and they asked if I had XXXX, I said no, then asked me if I had XXXX, I said yes and that I do not know how to make payments through that app on my own. They said that they could take care of everything and get the bonds paid and that I would just need to provide them my login information. I though this was the XXXX Sheriff Department, sounded professional, caller id stated it was the Sheriff department, so they asked for my login information and I provided it to them and I see they added the XXXX to my XXXX and made a payment to them for {$940.00} at the XXXX email above. If you take a look at that email and its picture associated with it, it is showing a XXXX Sheriff or treasury logo for the main picture, another reason proving this is fraud.

I just had woken up from a nap and was fully conscious and present yet and they logged into my XXXX account and made the {$940.00} payment to themselves and as that was happening I accidentally hung up the phone on my side and I just hit call back that number calling me from the Sheriff department to make sure the payment had gone through and my bonds were done.

When I called the number it went into a voice intercom stating : " Hello this is the XXXX Sheriff Department and some information and then goes into prompts, press 1 for prisoner release info, press 2 for warrants and bonds, press 3 etc. Once I heard this I was under the impression this was the actual Sheriff department contacting me, I pressed 2 and got back to the people I were talking with. XXXX XXXX told me my payment went through but missed something on my record and said I owed another {$1500.00}. I told him I want to talk to his boss so he transferred me to XXXX XXXX, he informed me that I had chargebacks from other citations or warrants from XXXX years ago he had just found and that needed to be paid. He told me that my disabilty paperwork would also get these charges dropped but I needed to make another {$1500.00} in XXXX payment to him to get my record cleared. I was told many times that my XXXX paperwork that I have that I could just bring into the courthouse and get all these charges reversed and that I could get a cashiers check back for all these payments I made, so did not think it was an issue. XXXX XXXX said these had to be made through XXXX and I told him I did not have XXXX or know how to make online payments. He asked for my Wells Fargo information and that he could just set it up and get it all taken care of for me and make my life easy because he said his dad was a vet and wanted to take care of me. 

Thinking strongly this was the XXXX XXXX department I gave them my login information. He logged into my account and added XXXX and XXXX to my XXXX account through Wells Fargo or something and made the {$1500.00} in payments to them to get my bonds paid back and off my record. He let know all my bonds and warrants are cleared off my record and I will no longer get arrested tay, I was so scared I was going to get arrested and I literally got threatened into giving my login information or else I would be arrested, I got scared from that and did whatever they asked because I though they were the Sheriff Department. I called my family and friends right after to tell them what had happened and that I almost got arrested and my friends mother said she had this same thing happen to her and she gave them {$1700.00} fraudently but the bank reversed it in time.

Once I heard this I immediately went to the Sherrif Department to see if that was them calling me and they told me no and that this is a very common new fraud people are doing now. She told me to file a report with her and I did right there and I also filed a XXXX Police report with them. The case number for the XXXX Police report is XXXX, filed by Officer XXXX in XXXX. I spoke with Officer XXXX in person and told him all my information and showed him a bunch of the transactions and phone calls and all information regarding the case and he took a bunch of pictures and notes. He then asked me to call the number that had called me and it went into the " Hello this is the XXXX Sheriff Dept, presss 1 etc, his reponse to this was wow that is a perfect carbon copy of the XXXX Sheriff dept line. He told me this was a professional job, Officer XXXX thought if he he heard this he would have believed them as well on whoever did this to me and told me to file a report with my bank right away.

I received the police report last week and in the report Officer XXXX mentions that he has seen this fraudulent claims happen alot more recently in our area and he is going to have the detectives further investigate this case and in general so this stops happening around XXXX. It was even posted in the local news here in XXXX, MT, here is a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  I immediately drove from the police department to a Wells Fargo location in XXXX MT , off of XXXX XXXX . I spoke with the bank manager and informed him of everything that had happened and he assisted me in filing claims on the XXXX transactions ( {$940.00}, {$500.00}, {$1000.00} ) that took place without me doing it. We spoke with someone at the fraud line number and I was just so upset when I was first speaking with them I think I told them they got me to make the payments but in reality I told them I do not know how to make online payments and I gave them my login information to my XXXX account and my Wells Fargo account and they made the payments themselves to themselves when I thought it was the XXXX Sheriff Dept. making payment to pay off my bonds, one of the memo on these transactions literally said bond too. I filed a claim on these XXXX tranactions with Wells Fargo and manager was kind and helped me through it. I went home and also filed claims against and with XXXX and XXXX as well. Here is the XXXX transaction number : XXXX and XXXX is just on the Wells Fargo app. Filed all claims and told Wells Fargo all about these transactions taking place within less then XXXX hours of them being placed. I asked them to please reverse the funds and get my money back to me that I was frauded out of. I called and told them about this before the transactions had ever come through and this should have been a stop pay. 

XX/XX/XXXX I call Wells Fargo and XXXX XXXX  the next day. I filed my claim with them on XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX. I called them to give them more information and further information on the police report and the Wells Fargo employee lets me know all XXXX claims have been denied and that there is no appeal process and there is nothing more I can do at this point. 

Wells Fargo did not properly investigate my claim of fraud in anyway at all, I filed my claim at XXXX on Thursday the XXXX and by Friday the XXXX at XXXX they had denied all XXXX. They made their final decision on my fraud claims in less then XXXX hours of receiving the claim and the XXXX police and sheriff reports had not even been completed yet, so I do not understand how you did a proper investigation without even checking police report or additional important information. This is a violation of Regulation E with the OCC and is not acceptable.

I continue talking to the fraud claim associate and get frustrated and ask a bunch of questions and basically get no helpful information back and tells me sorry, is there anything else I can be helped with, I said no and hung up. I got a letter from Wells Fargo stating my claims were denied because they were done by an authorized user when they were absolutely not! I was threatened by what I believed to be the XXXX Sheriff Department or else I would be XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, I got extremely scared because I have never been arrested in my life and gave them my login information so they could make the payments to pay back my bonds and warrants so i did not go to XXXX. Wells Fargo is refusing to help me get my money back or reversed that was fraudulently taken from me. This is sick and wrong, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and I was frauded out of {$2400.00} and Wells Fargo is refusing to help me out in anyway and I need my money back now so I don't get kicked out and evicted from my apartment or my car taken away and repo, please do the right thing Wells Fargo.