Consumer complaint received 2025-05-15 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
On Sunday, XX/XX/XXXX, I sent an inquiry on XXXX about renting the attached XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX On Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, a professed real estate agent by the name of XXXX XXXX engaged me about renting the unit via email. After discussing the finer details with this apparent XXXX XXXX exclusively via email correspondences, I agreed to rent the unit on Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX. Per our arrangement, I signed the apartment lease agreement and provided a security deposit payment of {$2500.00} from my Wells Fargo checking account to the Wells Fargo bank account provided in the lease agreement - an XXXX XXXX  transaction. 

On Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX XXXX  EST, XXXX XXXX and I were supposed to meet at the location of the unit, which would have been my first verifiably real meeting with XXXX XXXX and the first time seeing the unit in person. However, XXXX XXXX failed to appear at our agreed upon time and place, while simultaneously ceasing to answer any of my subsequent communications to date. I had been scammed by an individual who was masquerading as someone else to extort funds from unknowing victims. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I reached out to Wells Fargo company representatives via telephone to inform them about the scam as described above that was leveled against me by this fellow Wells Fargo account holder. I was informed by the representative I spoke with on the telephone that my inquiry would be investigated. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the attachment entitled " Wells Fargo '' is the response I received from Wells Fargo 's Claim Assistance Center, which states " As the money will not be returned from the receiving bank, we are not able to reimburse you. At this time, we consider your inquiry closed. '' Glaringly, this binding letter contradicts itself because the transaction was an intra bank wire so Wells Fargo is the receiving bank. I acknowledge that Wells Fargo does not have control over the balance sheet of other financial institutions, but they certainly have oversight and a level of control over the client assets and liabilities held within their own bank, inclusive of XXXX XXXX wire transactions. Additionally, the letter has no language indicating an investigation was conducted into this client on their platform who engaged in activity that warrants Know-Your-Customer restrictions at all other reputable financial institutions. 

Wells Fargo failed their Know-Your-Customer responsibilities by allowing a fraudster to facilitate their scams on the Wells Fargo platform, which not only directly impacted my quality of care negatively, but also is in direct contradiction to the mission statement of Wells Fargo and the Wells Fargo " Treating Consumers Fairly Principles '', which are cornerstones of Wells Fargo 's annual reports to shareholders. 

In the Wells Fargo XXXX  Annual Report, the Operating Committee attributes a significant amount of the company 's value, positive performance and increasing goodwill to their equitable treatment of their clients- directly linking Wells Fargo 's reputation with the performance of the stock. The XXXX XXXX XXXX corroborates this as well. 

In the letter, Wells Fargo did not deny that the fraudster who carried out the rental scam via Wells Fargo was exited from the platform as a result of the clear evidence presented to them during my initial inquiry. As such, the scammer has continued to use Wells Fargo as a base of operation for even more scam activity, which also serves as Wells Fargo 's silent admission that their banking platform is a safe haven for unsavory individuals who would knowingly defraud people without the fear of violating XXXX. 

A deep audit of Wells Fargo 's XXXX department, Risk department, and Controls department could very well reveal even more rampant and blatant examples of insufficient consumer protections that actively damage the customer experience, whilst the company publicly reports to shareholders otherwise. If news of Wells Fargo 's shabby XXXX  practices and controls went public, news of this previously undisclosed aspect of their business practices would foreseeably impact the stock price of Wells Fargo negatively, forming the basis for a securities fraud lawsuit. The financial misconduct legal firms I have engaged with on this have further endorsed the basis for this case, with this filing to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau serving as the initial pleading on behalf of all Wells Fargo stockholders. 

If the {$2500.00} is made whole to my Wells Fargo checking account, I would be open to waiving the right for me and my legal representation to raise a potential securities fraud case with regards to the above. 

Thank you very much for your time, and I eagerly await the response of the appropriate stakeholders in the CFPB and Wells Fargo.

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