Consumer complaint received 2025-12-02 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/year>, I was logging onto my computer and the computer locked up. It was beeping and flashing and said that I needed to contact XXXX at a phone number. I didnt call that number. Instead I googled XXXX and called the number that came up. That person got access to my computer. That person told me they contacted Wells Fargo because my account had been compromised. He told me someone from Wells Fargo XXXX department would contact me to take a report. 

Then I got a call from a woman claiming to be from Wells Fargo. She said there was suspicious activity and that they would try to intercept the person accessing the funds. She said it looked like money had been moved from my savings to my checking. I told her I was going to the bank to confirm. She told me to make a mock account and that was very suspicious so I kept her on the phone and I drove to the Wells Fargo branch on XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX, CA. 

I spoke with the branch XXXX, his name is XXXX XXXX that same day, XX/XX/XXXX, while I was on the phone with the person claiming to be from the fraud department. I told him what was happening. I put the person on speaker phone and XXXX asked them to verify themselves. They werent able to do it, so XXXX told me they werent a legitimate employee and that it was a scam. I hung up right away. 

XXXX then called the Wells Fargo XXXX department and put me on the phone with a woman who really did work there. She pulled up my account and could see that someone was trying to initiate a wire transfer. She said she would put a stop on the wire transfer. To be extra safe, I told them I wanted to pull all the money out of my accounts and close the acounts. They gave me the money in the bank and I used that money to open whole new accounts to make sure the scammers would not have access to my money. I also asked Wells Fargo to disable my mobile banking. This all happened on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I assumed everything was fine. I went back into the bank on XX/XX/XXXX to get some money out so I could take my grandson to XXXX XXXX. When I looked at my balance it was {$7500.00} lower than it should have been, i.e. lower than it was XXXX days earlier when I opened the account. I asked them about why the balance was so low. They told me there was a wire transfer of {$7500.00} out of my account on XX/XX/XXXX. I told them I had reported fraud, and that shouldnt have happened because I closed the account, and they told me that it was pending transaction and so it carried over to my new account. They also told me my fraud claim had been closed. 

I told them that I wanted the money back because I didnt authorize the transfer and they knew it was fraud. They said the only way they would give me the money back is if the receiving institution agrees to send it back. They gave me another claim number. I waited a day or XXXX then went back to the branch. They told me the claim was closed and they wouldnt return the funds. I asked who authorized it, who the money went to, when the money went, and who was the receiving institution. They gave me the name of the person and they said the receiving institution was Wells Fargo. Meaning they transferred the money to another Wells Fargo customer and then refused to give it back. 

Afterward I learned that there was also a fraudulent transfer between my XXXX accounts. Even though they were brand new, and my online banking was supposed to be disabled, someone transferred {$7500.00} from my new savings to my new checking on XX/XX/XXXX, and then transferred it out of my new checking on XX/XX/XXXX. Even though Wells Fargo said it was a wire transfer, they also told me it went to another Wells Fargo account, not to a different bank. 

I went back to the branch again and took the money out of all of my accounts to open up accounts at a different bank. I couldnt XXXXrust Wells Fargo after I put in a fraud claim about a fraudulent transfer on XX/XX/XXXX, they told me they would stop it, I opened new accounts to make sure it was stopped and disabled mobile banking, and then they still let it go through the next day and wouldnt return the money even though it just went to another Wells Fargo account. I asked the branch XXXX for all the documentation they had about my claim because I couldnt understand how this could happen, and why they would deny my claim. 

Since then I have talked to the Wells Fargo ACH fraud department, the wire transfer fraud department, and at least XXXX other department too. All they keep telling me is that I initiated a wire transfer. I did not, and they know I did not. They havent given me any other information or evidence that I initiated any kind of transfer. I have talked to so many people on the phone and I went and talked to the branch XXXX again and no one has been able to fix it or give me any information.

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