Consumer complaint received 2017-07-25
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — International money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (MI)

YOUR COMPLAINT To give you the general idea, my mother was conned into making a large wire to her " boyfriend 's '' overseas friends. They used fake identity 's to pick up the funds. This is covered under regulation XXXX 's error procedures, specifically a fraudulent pickup of a wire transfer. This complaint specifically concerns Wells Fargo 's misinterpretation and mishandling of the situation. The availability date on the wire was XX/XX/XXXX. The confirmation page we received along with supporting documentation is attached. We informed Wells Fargo of the the fraudulent wire on XX/XX/XXXX. They attempted unsuccessfully to recall the funds. I believe under regulation e a fraudulent pick up is covered under the error procedures and Wells Fargo is required to refund the total funds. The following is the specific comment on regulation e that I am referring to. 33 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( iv ) Failure To Make Funds Available by Date of Availability Proposed 205.33 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( iv ) generally defined an error to include a remittance transfer providers failure to make funds in connection with a remittance transfer available to the designated recipient by the date of availability stated on the receipt or combined disclosure, subject to two specified exceptions, discussed below. The Board proposed comment 33 ( a ) -4 to provide examples of the circumstances that would have been considered errors under proposed 205.33 ( a ) ( 1 ) ( iv ). These circumstances included : ( i ) The late delivery of a remittance transfer after the stated date of availability or non- delivery of the transfer ; ( ii ) the deposit of a remittance transfer to the wrong account ; ( iii ) retention of the transferred funds by a recipient agent or institution after the stated date of availability, rather than making the funds available to the designated recipient ; and ( iv ) the fraudulent pick-up of a  remittance transfer in a foreign country by a person other than the person identified by the sender as the designated recipient of the transfer. Fraudulent pick-up, however, did not include circumstances in which a designated recipient picks up a remittance transfer from the providers agent as authorized, but subsequently the funds are stolen from the recipient. Several industry commenters objected to the inclusion of fraudulent pick-up as an error. These commenters suggested that the remittance transfer provider should not be responsible for fraud that results in the pick-up of a remittance transfer by a person other than the designated recipient where the provider is unlikely to know or have control over all the intermediary institutions involved in the transfer or the final institution that will make the funds available to the designated recipient. Other commenters, including the OCC, suggested that this error might result in friendly fraud where a sender claims the amount was not an authorized pick- up when the pick-up was actually legitimate. The OCC was also concerned that the exposure to remittance transfer providers for this error may be aggravated in situations involving large dollar remittances and because of the long period of time that a sender could assert this error. One industry commenter noted that while there may be certain instances when fraudulent pick-up should be considered an error, there may be other  circumstances when fraudulent pick-up should not be an error. In particular, this commenter suggested that where the name of the person picking up the funds does not match the name of the designated recipient set forth in the receipt, the sender should be able to assert an error. However, if an individual presents fake identification in the name of the designated recipient, this commenter stated that this fraudulent pick-up is outside of the remittance transfer providers control and therefore, should not be considered an error. Industry commenters also believed that a remittance transfer provider should not be liable for a fraudulent pick-up when a provider and its agent has complied with fraud and risk management policies and procedures. As the Board noted in the XX/XX/XXXX Proposed Rule, treating fraudulent pick- up of a remittance transfer as an error is consistent with the scope of unauthorized EFTs under 1005.2 ( m ), which includes unauthorized EFTs initiated through fraudulent means.See comment 2 ( m ) -3. Although identity theft can present a challenge to remittance transfer providers, financial institutions face similar challenges with respect to unauthorized EFTs and bear most of the risk. Moreover, similar to remittance transfers, the entity in the best position to verify the identity of the person initiating the EFT ( for example, the merchant at a store who initiates an EFT using a debit card ) may not be known or controlled by the financial institution, though such entities may have agreed to abide by system rules ( e.g., payment card network rules, ACH system rules ). However, under current laws governing EFTs, whether the financial institution knows or has control over that entity ( e.g., a merchant ) does not affect whether an EFT could be an unauthorized EFT. Similarly, the Bureau believes that whether a fraudulent pick-up should be considered an error should not be affected by the relationship between the remittance transfer provider and the entity distributing the remittance transfer to the designated recipient. Furthermore, the Bureau agrees with the Boards reasoning in the XX/XX/XXXX Proposed Rule that it is appropriate to treat these circumstances as errors because the remittance transfer provider, rather than the sender, is in the best position to ensure that a remittance transfer is picked up only by the person designated by the sender. For example, in some models, remittance transfer providers could require or contract with the entity distributing the funds, if it is not the remittance transfer provider itself, to request and examine identification from the person picking up the funds. The Bureau believes that including fraudulent pick-up as an error would better align the remittance transfer providers incentives to prevent this occurrence with the interests of the sender. I would like a refund of the amount remitted, as required in the error resolution procedures.