Consumer complaint received 2022-01-03
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (CO)

On Friday, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I got a text message from an individual named XXXX XXXX. He instructed me to go ahead and message an individual named XXXX XXXX about an office manager position for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I went ahead and sent an email to XXXX XXXX, and he got back to me around lunchtime that same day. He explained to me the job details and the process in one email and also attached some documents as well, along with some interview questions. After I received his email, I answered all of his questions. He had also sent me a document that needed to be signed. It was regarding the money that would be sent to me for the office materials needed to perform this position, since I would have been working remotely. Once I had the chance to review it, I signed the document and sent it to him that same evening. The weekend passed and that Monday morning, XX/XX/2021, he sent me an email asking if I was interested in the position still, and I told him I was. From there he proceeded to tell me that he will be sending me a check for the materials needed, and he will provide me with the tracking number once it was sent. I received that check ( {$4900.00} ) the next day on, XX/XX/2021 during lunchtime and I deposited it around XXXX that same afternoon. XXXX ( scammer ) had asked for a screenshot of deposit, so I went ahead and sent it to him. I asked him if he would provide me a detailed list of the items I need to purchase, but he explained that he was already in touch with the vendor for their office and she would take care of it for me. That night he asked me to send an advance payment of {$2000.00} to the vendor through XXXX. I explained to him that I will wait till the check clears and the funds become available tomorrow. The next morning, XX/XX/2021, I saw that the amount was in my account, so I sent the advance payment of {$2000.00}. I bank with Wells Fargo, and they explained that the funds would be in my bank account the next day and so I saw the money in my bank account and thought the check cleared so that is why I sent the money. Once that was sent, after some correspondence, XXXX asked me to send the rest of the payment, which was {$2500.00} to the vendor, so she could have the office equipment sent to me over night. I will go ahead and leave out most of the detail here, but I was not able to go ahead and send the money because XXXX limits the amount that could be sent to a recipient per day. Therefore, I had to wait until the next day, XX/XX/2021 to go ahead and send the rest of the money. When I attempted to send the money again, XXXX explained that I should send it to a different XXXX account. Although this seemed awfully sketchy, I figured it was the company 's money in my account so I couldn't really say no, so I went ahead and tried to send it. Fortunately, XXXX limited the amount to {$2000.00} dollars that day, so I could only send {$2000.00} out of the {$2500.00} requested by the vendor. Because of this, XXXX tried to send me different methods of sending the money, like XXXX or XXXX. That day, I asked XXXX if I could get in touch with the vendor myself because I didn't like the way things were going and he connected me with someone named, XXXX XXXX. I am not sure if it was XXXX posing as that person, but XXXX sent me the second XXXX tag and asked me for the rest of the payment. While all of this was happening, XXXX also told me that " management '' had accidentally sent me another check for the office materials because of some mix up and asked for me to deposit that check as well. I explained to him I would not deposit it and he didn't reply to me. On Thursday night, XX/XX/2021, around XXXX, I got an email from Wells Fargo letting me know that the initial check deposited had come back unpaid and so they took the money out of my bank account. I quickly called my bank and let them know of the situation! I also emailed XXXX asking what was going on, and he never responded back to me again. The next morning, Friday XX/XX/2021, I emailed XXXX asking if the items were ready to see if she would respond and she did and asked for the final payment of {$500.00}. I then asked her to help me get in touch with XXXX, and told her how the check I received from him had come back unpaid, and that if I could not get in touch with him, I would have no use for the office materials purchased and that I would need my money returned, but she never responded back to me after that. Once it became clear that I wouldn't be hearing from them, I went ahead and did a lot of research to find the phone number for the actual company, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Once I found it, I gave them a call and talked to the director there, and he explained to me how someone named XXXX XXXX was running a scam using their company in the U.S. ( they are located in the XXXX ). The director, XXXX, for the actual XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, explained to me that the company was working with the XXXX police to put a stop to this individual named XXXX, but they couldn't do much since he was located in the U.S. In the initial email, XXXX said that he was located in Florida and the phone number XXXX XXXX contacted me with does have a Florida area code, but I am not sure where they are located. After I reported the fraud to Wells Fargo, they explained someone from the claims department would be giving me a call within 10 business to figure out what happened, but I never received any calls. When I reached out to them after 10 business days, they explained to me the claims have been closed since it was an authorized transaction, even though I was clearly a victim of fraud. They explained to me that they asked the scammer 's bank for the money back and they said no essentially and there was nothing else that could be done.