Consumer complaint received 2023-03-26
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem using a debit or ATM card
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (OR)

On XX/XX/23 Wells Fargo notified my son XXXX XXXX that there was fraudulent activity on his account. My son 's account is connected to mine so the bank has been talking to me about this issue as well. There were 4 transactions in question all on XX/XX/23 and originated in the XXXX area. We live in Oregon and my son XXXX lives at home with me. The first transaction was XXXX for XXXX XXXX and was immediately declined by Wells Fargo as fraudulent. The same day a transaction in the same area for XXXX XXXX was made for XXXX and was for some reason paid by Wells Fargo. That day there were also two charges to XXXX for XXXX and XXXX. For some reason Wells Fargo paid these charges but then flagged them for fraud and called my son to let him know. My son confirmed that these were not his charges. The next day Wells Fargo called back to say they would not reimburse my son because their " investigation '' had " proven '' these charges to be my son 's. When I talked to Wells Fargo I was told because whoever had the credit card had my sons address then the charges must be his. I knew these were not my sons charges and began my own investigation. What I found out is that Wells Fargo had not done any investigation at all. I was able to track down the XXXX XXXX in question ( which again is in XXXX ) and talk to the store manager. She looked up the transaction and found that the person who made the XXXX transaction online actually then came into the store in XXXX and picked up the merchandise. She had the person on video tape and decribed him as an XXXX american man. My son is XXXX and XXXX and live in Oregon. The name given was XXXX XXXX with an email address of XXXX and a phone # of XXXX XXXX XXXX. None of these are connected with my son. I was told by XXXX XXXX to file a police report. I filed a report with the XXXX XXXX police department and they were able to confirm that this man on the tape was not my son. I spent the next month on the phone with Wells Fargo trying to give them the police report number ( which they never took ) and explaining that a person in XXXX was on film picking up merchandise. After hours spent on the phone and numerous claim numbers and representatives, Wells Fargo finally returned the money from the XXXX XXXX transaction. Now another month later we are still trying to get my son 's money back from the XXXX transactions. At our local Wells Fargo branch in XXXX XXXX, both the manager XXXX and their banking specialist XXXX have told me over the phone several times they they know this is fraud but that they personally can not help us as it has to be handled by the claims escalation people. I have talked to numerous claims escalation people at Wells Fargo who have said they were helping and would call back but they never do. I was told by someone named XXXX that XXXX had to provide proof by XX/XX/XXXX or XXXX would get his money back. On XX/XX/XXXX I got an email that since I had provided no more information they were closing the investigation- remember they would not take the police report or video evidence from me. I called to complain and this time got XXXX who said she was handling my complaint now and it would be resolved on XX/XX/XXXX. On the XXXX I got an email that no resolution was found and it would be 90 days before I would hear anything. I called and asked to talk to XXXX and was told she was on the phone and would call me back. She never did. I called two days later and insisted on talking to her. They told me that XXXX was out of the office and that she had closed our claim on the XXXX and a different claims agent had opened a new claim. It has now been almost 2 and 1/2 months and still Wells Fargo has not returned my son 's money nor have they provided us with a reliable time line or any documentation on how they can prove these were my son 's charges. It seems pretty obvious that four transactions taking place on the same day originating from the East coast and flagged for fraud would all be related. Also they fact that they did not pay the XXXX transaction and eventually returned the XXXX XXXX transaction is a fairly good indication that these charges are all related and all fraud. Since a person claiming to be XXXX XXXX actually picked up items at a XXXX XXXX in person there is proof that my son 's debit information was being used without his knowledge or consent. The two XXXX charges are for food deliveries. XXXX does not deliver in our area and my son was at home/school/work those days and did not receive any food deliveries. While my branch continues to tell me how sorry they are that Wells Fargo is not giving my son his money back on what they admit is clearly fraud, they continue to do nothing. I am not giving up on this- my son is a college student who works hard and this is his money. My belief is that Wells Fargo makes it so hard to get your money back that the average person just gives up. Im sure Wells Fargo saves a lot of money that way. Anyone who is elderly or a teen like my son, or who speaks english as a second language or has a XXXX, would be out of luck getting anywhere in the fraud process with Wells Fargo ( who by the way advertise " No Fault Fraud Protection ''