Wells Fargo may take advantage of consumers through unfair overdraft policies, according to class action lawsuits.
Unfair overdraft fees: Overview
Overdraft fees are charged as a part of overdraft protection programs offered through banks and credit unions such as Wells Fargo. In return for allowing transactions to “overdraft” their account, consumers pay their bank an overdraft fee. This fee may put their account further in the negative but allows consumers to use their bank account despite having a negative balance. Consumers can only be charged overdraft fees if they have opted into their bank’s overdraft protection program.
Several banks and credit unions face legal action as a result of allegedly unfair overdraft fee practices. Some banks have been accused of charging multiple overdraft fees on a single transaction due to subsequent attempts to clear a transaction. Others have been accused of reordering transactions in order to maximize the number of fees charged during transaction processing. Oftentimes, consumers say that they were not given all the necessary information about a bank’s overdraft policies when opting into overdraft protection. This may result in surprise overdraft fees.
In the face of customer scrutiny, big banks such as Wells Fargo are reducing or entirely eliminating their overdraft fees. However, this does not change the fact that consumers may have fallen victim to banks’ unfair overdraft fees in the past. Consumers may still have a legal claim against Wells Fargo.
Wells Fargo overdraft class action lawsuit
Unfortunately, Wells Fargo may have a history of taking advantage of customers through unfair bank fees.
In 2010, Wells Fargo was ordered to pay $203 million in a class action verdict. The verdict was reached in a class action lawsuit claiming that the bank misled customers about overdraft fees. Plaintiffs in the case accused the company of reordering transactions in order to charge overdraft fees on multiple transactions.
In 2017, one Wells Fargo customer took legal action against the bank for its allegedly predatory overdraft fee policies. The plaintiff in the case says that he was charged multiple overdraft fees on transactions despite never opting into Wells Fargo’s overdraft protection program.
The source of this issue was an Uber transaction, the plaintiff contends. According to the class action lawsuit, Wells Fargo should have treated his Uber ride as a one-time transaction and not authorized it based on insufficient funds. Instead, Wells Fargo allegedly took advantage of the situation by authorizing the transaction. This allowed the bank to charge multiple overdraft fees on other transactions known at the time of authorization, the Wells Fargo customer claims. According to the Wells Fargo class action lawsuit, these fees violated the bank’s account agreements.
In 2021, Wells Fargo agreed to pay over $10 million to put these allegations to rest. Although Wells Fargo resolved this class action lawsuit, consumers could still take action against the company for other unfair overdraft fees.
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I didnt see any form on this page to fill out, but i have been charged some overdraft fees once or twice for like 35 dollars even when they said (probably not in the fine print) that i had overdraft protection at the time.
To whom it may concern,
My name is Ronald Wiliams. On July 16, 2021 I received an emial supposedly from the company PayPay that set me up to be victimized by a scam. That email contained an ivoice for a bous purchase from Springfield Armory in the amount of $799.00. The email (see #1 attached) also stated: If you have any questions about this invoice, simply reach out to our support team for help, number (321)952-5850. Since I had not made the purchase, I called that number, received an apology, and was told by the PayPal agent I was talking to, James Scutt, that the $799.00 would be returned to my Wells Fargo bank then ending in # 9883. This is where the deception began.
The PayPal agent then told me that to show their appreciation, PayPal would transfer $799.00 plus $201.00, totaling $1000.00 back into my account. He then pulled up a form on my computer screen and told me to type in $1000. In that instant, my computer image became skewed and I couldn’t see what I was typiing. The PayPal agent immediately squealed and told me I had entered $10,000, that went into my Wells Fargo account.
I told the agent I could call Wells Fargo and have the money transferred back to PalPal. The agent then told me that he could lose his job with PayPal and that an investigation could be launched. I then received an email from the PayPal Security Team threatening to file a case against me if I didn’t return the $10,000 to PayPal (see #2 attached). The agent, James Scutt, suggested I withdraw the $10,000 and use it to purchase gift cards to repary PalPal. I was confused, but I was also desperate to get that unauthrized $10,000 out of my Wells Fargo checking account, so I withdrew the $10,000 that had been accidentally deposited in my account then purchased gift cards and sent the ID numbers on the cards to the PayPal agent (see #3 attached).
MY PRIMARY COMPLAINT HAS TO DO WITH HOW WELLS FARGO HANDLED THE SITUATION:
I had just completed that task, when I notice unusual activity in my computer (a cursor moving about on its own), which I reported to my internet server, AOL, and they changed my log-in information. I then noticed a new CASH BACK CARD account opened on my Wells Fargo Account Summary page, which had I never requested. I then notice a $10000 withdrawal from that account. I called Wells Fargo to report a possible fraud and requested that account be closed, but not before another $4000 was withdrawn from it, making the debt $14000. Although Wells Fargo closed the account, they have been continuously charging interest on that account, and it is now over $16000, and on the account I never used or received a card for. Wells Fargo offered to settle with me if I pay $6000, but I refuse because I never used that, nor asked for, account in the first place.
I have been banking with Wells Fargo Bank since 1985, and I am now 80 years old. Please, can you help me?
Respectfully,
Ronald Williiams
ronwillms@aol.com
I’ve had Wells Fargo Bank account up until 2021 and there over draft fees were out of this world.
Add me
Yes they do
I was charged over nine hundred dollars in overdraft fees when Wells Fargo put the first charge through It overdrafted my account then they charged fees on every transaction after that even after I called them and they said they would straighten it out, I eventually had to have the account closed and ended up paying over four hundred to settle their claim against me. If they had not charged me that first fee which was not right since I did have money in the account I never would have been overdrafted.
My online account would show I had funds available (I would check before making a purchase) but I still kept getting NSF charges. I had direct deposit from work, so my paycheck should have been available to spend when it showed up in my account. This went on for over a year before I closed my account.
I have that same problem buy only it shows available funds so I would make a credit card payment of course that wouldn’t go thru for a few days but then my credit card would say it was sent back insufficient funds and I would get not only a late fee overdraft and my payment wouldn’t be sent
please add me
Yes all the time
Thy stole thousands from me and I’m on social security
Wells Fargo has added a lot of overdraft charges and other charges to my account and I’m on SSI. I also never received my welcome bonus for signing up with my direct deposit
Yes need all my money back
Wells Fargo is crooked
Wellsfargo charged me two overdraft fees in 2022