Consumer complaint received 2024-12-17 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: VA

Complaint narrative:
On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX at about XXXX, I was at home and received a call from the Wells Fargo XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX The number came up on my caller ID as ( XXXX ) XXXX. The caller identified herself as XXXX XXXX from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. She said she was calling to confirm that several charges made on my account were fraudulent. She proceeded to tell me, to confirm, my full name, business name, full social security number, home address, and the date my accounts were opened. She listed off XXXX charges that were indeed fraudulent ( XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX all in XXXX  ) I told her these were not me and were definitely fraud. Then she listed about XXXX transactions that were authentic, giving me the dates and amounts of various checks I had written, deposits and transfers, etc. I verified that those were authentic. She said I would receive a text from XXXX to confirm my identity and to read that XXXX digit code back to her. I did so. 

Then she told me that it appeared that a teller ( or several tellers ) at my local branches were using my account to redirect/launder money for their own gain. She said that if I chose not to cooperate with the investigation, I would be held responsible for all charges against my accounts. She asked me to go to my local branch and withdraw {$XXXX} ( my current bank balance plus the {$XXXX} that the teller had deposited in my account ). I went to my closest XXXX branch where I was told I could not withdraw that amount in cash, but would need a cashiers check. So I took a cashiers check for {$XXXX} and left that branch. 

Through the course of this bank visit, I was disconnected from XXXX XXXX. So I called back on the number listed on XXXX website for XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX. XXXX had given me her extension number so I put that in and was reconnected with her. She advised me to go to a different branch and cash the cashiers check so I could deposit the cash into the ATM using a temporary account assigned to me to hold this money until their internal investigation was resolved. She gave me the temporary account and PIN to enter into my XXXX XXXX. I followed her instructions and my phone displayed a XXXX account with my name/business name displayed. I don't have the full account number, but my receipt from the ATM lists the last XXXX digits as XXXX. I have this receipt from the XXXX ATM with the transaction code. I deposited the cash and went home. 

I was home maybe XXXX minutes before she called me back and said that there had been another suspicious deposit in my account and I would need to go to another XXXX branch. I asked if XXXX typically involved their customers to this degree when they had internal investigations. She said that this was uncommon but that if I did not cooperate, I would be held responsible. So I went to a third WF branch ( XXXX XXXX in the XXXX parking lot ). She told me to go in and withdraw {$XXXX} in cash so I did. I called her back ( again at the XXXX XXXX number ending in XXXX and her extension ). She said she was getting her supervisor to authorize a second temporary account and put me on hold. I was on hold a long time and I started to get frustrated. When she came back on the line, I voiced my frustration and SHE HUNG UP. I called the XXXX Fraud number ( XXXX ) again but this time, when I entered the extension, I was told that it wasn't valid. 

I raced back into the bank because at this point, it's XXXX and I knew they were about to close. I asked for the branch XXXX and we stepped into her office. I recounted the above chain of events to her. She and XXXX of the bankers called the XXXX department and blocked my online credentials and froze the accounts. We worked with the XXXX representative until they got all the details they needed. They were able to confirm that the XXXX cash withdrawals I had made were funds transferred from my business credit line ( which I did not authorize ). When I got home, I ran XXXX separate anti-virus/malware detection programs on both of my devices ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) ... .nothing was detected. I received no text or email alerts from Wells Fargo that someone had logged into my online banking from an unrecognized device. 

I called the XXXX XXXX XXXX number again on Saturday to officially close the credit card and freeze the checking account. I gave them more details about this case and got the claim number of XXXX. I was told they would make their decision and I would receive my judgement in XXXX business days. This claim was denied. 

I went back to my local branch and sat down again with the bank XXXX. She helped me reopen the claim with the XXXX XXXX. After several frustrating conversations with the representative there, I was told my claim was again denied. 

At this point, I owe around {$XXXX} on this account. XXXX charged me {$XXXX} in fees for these fraudulent transactions and are charging me a higher rate of interest because they were cash advances. So far, I have been making minimum payments to protect my credit but with $ XXXX in interest alone, I can not afford to fight this much longer. 
Some other points to share : 1 ) I do not receive paper statements from WF. I am the sole user of these accounts with only one debit card and one credit card that are in my possession. No one has passwords or PINs for these accounts but me.

2 ) I don't have any missing checks and all checks I write are hand-delivered to their people who cash them within a few days.

3 ) I don't access my online banking from anywhere but home... no public WiFi.

4 ) When I deposit a check into my account, I have to wait until those funds clear before I can access them. But I was allowed to withdraw THOUSANDS of dollars from my account just moments after the transfers were made. I don't think I should have been allowed to do so. 
XXXX ) I have filed a report with the FTC regarding this. Their report number is XXXX. 
XXXX ) I have filed a police report with my local precinct. Their report number is XXXX. 
XXXX ) When I called the XXXX XXXX number during the scam, I heard the same phone tree and the same hold music that we heard when we called the authentic XXXX XXXX department from the bank. I was connected with the spammer. 
XXXX ) The {$XXXX} in cash was deposited into a XXXX ATM into a WF account. All of the money in play with this scam is with XXXX in XXXX way or another. When I offered the information from the receipt, I was told they " didn't need it ''. This is crucial evidence as it proves that I deposited the funds back with XXXX. 
XXXX ) I have NEVER transferred money from my business credit line to my business checking. That alone should have been flagged as suspicious, especially for such high dollar amounts.

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