Consumer complaint received 2026-04-08 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/year>, I was targeted by a sophisticated impersonation scam that utilized Wells Fargos own internal data to exploit my trust. The scammers spoofed phone numbers for Wells Fargo, the XXXX XXXX Police Department, and the FBI. To establish a fraudulent fiduciary relationship, they recited my Social Security number, account and routing numbers, and recent transactionsprivate data that should only be accessible through a bank-level data breach. A fake " banker '' claimed I was under investigation for fraudulent XXXX charges and transferred me to individuals posing as XXXX. Marshals. They claimed my fingerprints were found at a murder scene and a warrant was out for my arrest. They threatened that representatives and police would arrive at my home at XXXX PM to physically rip up my debit card and inspect my home. Terrified for my safety and my familys reputation, I followed their instructions under extreme coercion to initiate a wire transfer of {$14000.00}. I realized I was being scammed that evening after speaking with my brother. We contacted the police immediately, and I then called Wells Fargo to report the fraud. I spoke with a claims adjuster named XXXX and explicitly, repeatedly stated this was an unauthorized Wire Fraud. XXXX promised me that because the recipient was a Wells Fargo account holder, the bank would freeze the account and retrieve the funds. However, XXXX negligently filed the claim as a XXXX dispute. This clerical error sent my case to a department with no jurisdiction over wires, wasting the most critical hours of the recovery window. The banks negligence became devastatingly clear the following day. At XXXX PM on XX/XX/XXXX, the scammer called me again to " fish '' for confirmation because they had not yet received the funds. This was a clear window of opportunity to save my savings. I immediately called the number XXXX provided ( XXXX ), only to be told the claim was " going nowhere '' because it was trapped in the XXXX department. By the time I was transferred to the correct Wire Fraud department ( XXXX ), the window had closed. Wells Fargo had the chance to act on my live update while the funds were pending or sitting in an internal account, but their initial misclassification made recovery impossible. Following this, I filed a new claim for wire fraud, providing full testimony regarding the coercion, threats to my life, and spoofing. Shockingly, the subsequent investigation report omitted almost all of these pertinent details. By scrubbing my testimony of the threats and the data breach, Wells Fargo issued a denial claiming the transaction was " authorized. '' Furthermore, the denial letter stated that the " receiving bank '' refused to return the funds. This is a fraudulent statement, as the receiving bank is Wells Fargo. This was an internal " book-to-book '' transfer ; Wells Fargo is effectively claiming they can not get permission from themselves to stop a crime. On XX/XX/year>, I escalated this to XXXX in the Executive Office and sent a formal email ( CCing XXXX ) holding the bank liable for gross negligence and a breach of fiduciary duty. Despite XXXX confirming the bank 's duty to take accurate claims, I have received no response to my email. Wells Fargos failure to identify a transfer initiated under " False Pretenses '' as required by the XX/XX/year>, XXXX XXXX XXXX rulescombined with the active omission of my testimony in their reports, suggests the bank is protecting a criminal account holder rather than its victimized customer. I am seeking the full return of my {$14000.00}, as this loss was caused not just by a scam, but by the systemic incompetence and documented negligence of Wells Fargos staff.

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 monetary relief