Consumer complaint received 2025-07-23 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NC

Complaint narrative:
b'Fraud/Scam Claimed Denied Despite Spoofed Wells Fargo Number and Elder Targeting\n\nOn XXXX XXXX XXXX my husbands phone was texted a fraud alert by what we thought was Wells Fargo Bank, like we had several times before. We were victims of a sophisticated phone spoofing fraud. I called the phone number in the text XXXX XXXX  and they posed as Wells Fargo Bankers stating that our account was being observed online by someone as we spoke and we needed to move our money to "safety asap". I was concerned this too could be fraud so the man told me he would set me at ease (stating a lot of Wells Fargo language I was familiar with: Wells has your safety as our priority, calls may be recorded our goal is to protect you, etc). He then said he would put me at ease so I could trust he was from Wells Fargo by calling me  call me back on a certified line and poceeded to call me back on a WELLS FARGO Line which was on the back of my wells debit card.I have banked with Wells for the last XXXX plus years. I trusted wells and am XXXX XXXX and do not understand online procedures. This Wells Fraudster walked me through a fake "security Process", and had me move my funds to an XXXX XXXX that I never used then instructed me to transfer it to a XXXX  card XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I moved a total of XXXX Realizing something was wrong mid-process I called the number on the back of my Wells debit card  and the woman promptly told me it was a scam. I filed a fraud claim immediately and provided as much information as I possibly could to help her with the claim. The total they stole from me and wells forgo was XXXX I closed all of my accounts business and personal and opened new accounts, I reported the scam to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  and the Police. Most made the assumption that Wells would indeed return the money as they were scammed as well and have fraud protection unlike us, consumers. \n         Wells Fargo Denied the claim saying "The transaction was authorized or that a processing error did not occur." This is deeply unfair in that the fraud relied on spoofing Well\'s Fargo\'s own number, causing me to TRUST the call. I have trusted Wells Fargo for my personal and Business banking for decades and did then as well. I WOULD NEVER have authorized my money leaving had I not received specific, detailed instructions from who I had no reason to believe was NOT a representative of Wells Fargo. I am XXXX and my husband is XXXX we were targeted as elders as we do not know about online bank transfers and moving money. I did not act in negligence or of my own free will--I acted in response to what appeared to be ligitimate Wells Fargo communication, \nThis denial sets a dangerous precedent for banks avoiding responsibility when scammers impersonate them directly using technology consumers can\'t distinguish. We would like to trust Wells again by having them put more security in place and requesting a full reconsideration of this fraud case and reimbursement of the stolen XXXX

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