Consumer complaint received 2025-12-04 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — International money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: AL

Complaint narrative:
XXXX'I was the victim of a coordinated scam operation based in XXXX. On XXXX XXXX XXXX, I accessed what appeared to be a legitimate XXXX  electronics website offering large XXXX XXXX  discounts. A scammer contacted me directly through the website and then moved the communication to XXXX, where they guided and pressured me into making a series of verification paymentsXXXXThey claimed every deposit would be doubled and that I could withdraw everything once I completed all steps. Under continuous psychological pressure, I made the following XXXX  transfers from my Wells Fargo account:XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXWhen I attempted to withdraw, the system displayed an error. The scammers then threatened that unless I paid an additional XXXX within 24 hours, I would lose all previous deposits. Afraid of losing everything, I complied. Shortly after, they demanded XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX), saying it was required to unlock the account. Because I believed I could still recover the funds, I even borrowed money to continue.XXXXWhen I tried withdrawing again, the system still blocked me. Then I discovered that all XXXX  messages had been deleted, and I immediately contacted Wells Fargo to open a disputeXXXXFirst dispute case numbeXXXX XXXXOn XXXX XXXX the scammers contacted me again and claimed the bank could not recover the funds. Exhausted and overwhelmed, I made two more payments under pressureXXXX XXXX XXXX then filed a second dispute:XXXXSecond dispute case numberXXXX XXXXAfter this, the scammers escalated their demands significantly. They claimed I had made three mistakes and now had to pay a final fee of 159 million XXXX  (over XXXX). They also:XXXXGave me a XXXX-hour deadline, stating that if I did not pay in time, I would lose everything.XXXXTried to ease the pressure by offering a 30% discount on the XXXX XXXX XXXX fee  which is another manipulation tactic to make the amount seem more manageable.XXXXI have screenshots showing the final amount, the countdown timer, and the discount offer  all clearly used to intimidate and coerce meXXXXADDITIONAL EVIDENCE XXXX XXXX XXXXOn XXXX XXXX, I told them I was under financial pressure and only wanted to recover XXXX. They attempted to scam me again by insisting that I must send them XXXX first, and only then would they release XXXX to me. When I said I had no money left, they told me I would receive nothing unless I continued payingXXXXBefore my account on their platform was closed, I captured a screenshot of the withdrawal interface. Right after I refused to send more money, the entire website became unreachableXXXX  displayed the following error:XXXXThis site cant be reached.\nThe IP address of the server vipvclub.com could not be foundXXXXThis strongly suggests the website was intentionally taken down to destroy evidenceXXXXWells Fargo informed me that they are unable to recover my funds because XXXX  is considered a third-party service, so the bank cannot reverse or retrieve the completed transactions. However, Wells Fargo has previously recovered money for me from XXXX  even after the funds were already delivered. That previous case was only around XXXX, and the bank successfully retrieved it without any issueXXXXThis makes the current denial even more concerning, because now that the loss is significantly larger, Wells Fargo is refusing to take the same action they have done beforXXXXOn the other side, XXXX  also refused to return my money, stating that the funds had already been delivered, even though I filed my dispute immediately after realizing I had been scammed.\n\nAs a result, both the bank and the payment service deny responsibility, leaving me with no protection despite my timely actions and the clear evidence of fraud.'

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation