Wells Fargo fraud class action overview:
- Who: Wells Fargo is being sued by two of its customers.
- Why: The plaintiffs say the bank routinely holds its customers liable when they are defrauded.
- Where: The Wells Fargo fraud class action lawsuit was filed in a Pennsylvania federal court.
A new class action lawsuit alleges that Wells Fargo does not reimburse its customers when they are defrauded and suffer unauthorized electronic fund transfers from their accounts.ย
Plaintiffs Jennifer Rice and Erik Westervelt filed the complaint against Wells Fargo Bank National Association on June 17 in Pennsylvania federal court.
The two Wells Fargo customers say that when thousands of dollars were illegally stolen from their joint accounts with the bank, Wells Fargo repeatedly refused to reimburse them โ even though they should not have been liable for the losses under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act.
More than $24K taken from plaintiffsโ accounts
The plaintiffs say they have checking and savings accounts with Wells Fargo.
They claim that in December 2023, Westervelt received a call from a person purporting to be from Wells Fargo, who told him they had identified potential fraud on his account. According to Westervelt, the individual described the transaction as a wire transfer for โa large amount of moneyโ having come out of his account.
The person posing as a bank representative informed Westervelt they could stop the wire transfer if he could confirm the six-digit number she was sending him via text message, which he did, Westervelt says.
However, immediately thereafter, a wire transfer in the amount of $24,557.89 was made from Rice and Westerveltโs account to an unknown account with Discover Bank, the lawsuit states.ย
Realizing that the caller was likely a scammer, Westervelt says he immediately called Wells Fargo, and the representative he spoke with instructed him to go to his local Wells Fargo branch for assistance, he says. He says he went to the bank that day, and an employee from the fraud department confirmed that it had received his dispute and it would respond within ten business days.ย
Seven days later, he received a letter from Wells Fargo indicating that it would not reimburse any of the funds that were taken from the account because the transaction had been authorized by Westervelt.ย
Rice and Westervelt appealed the decision. The bank then went back and forth several times, promising to reimburse the funds then telling the plaintiff it had decided not to, before ultimately advising that it would not reimburse the funds.ย
Bank must reimburse under law, plaintiffs say
Rice and Westervelt say this is illegal because, under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, โa consumer is not liable for any unauthorized electronic fund transfer unless such transfer was made using an accepted card for the account and the issuing institution has provided a means to identify the person using said accepted card.โ
As a result, the plaintiffs are looking to represent anyone in the United States who had funds electronically transferred from a Wells Fargo deposit account in the past year who did not authorize such transfer, and who notified the bank of the unauthorized transfer within sixty days, but were not reimbursed.ย
The plaintiffs are seeking certification of the class action, statutory damages of $1,000 per class member, fees, costs and a jury trial.ย
Meanwhile, another recently-filed Wells Fargo class action lawsuit alleges the bank aided and abetted a Ponzi scheme resulting in investor losses of more than $300 million.
What do you think of the claims in this Wells Fargo class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.
The Wells Fargo fraud class action lawsuit is Jennifer Rice et al., v. Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, Case No. 2:24-cv-02647 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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188 thoughts onWells Fargo class action claims bank does not reimburse customers for fraud
I am a bookkeeper for a construction company. I turned in over $17,000 in claims for fraudulent checks that cleared my business account and they denied it even though it was turned in during the required 30 days after receipt of the statement. Initially, I turned in a claim over the phone 13 days earlier than the one they acknowledged and recorded in their records but despite my request on that date for them to get the recorded information of that call, they did not. I had a long phone call verified by ATT to Wells Fargo for that first call on fruad on that morning and confirmation numbers that were not recognized by their system and incorrect when I called back 13 days later after receiving nothing from them regarding the check fraud claims. There is no way this my error: I confirmed those claim numbers 3 times with them. The second claim reported thereafter which they acknowledged was still in their 30-day time-frame required. However, they assigned me 3 claim numbers but STILL never got any confirmation of all claims from Wells Fargo and they ended up combining them into one without my knowledge somewhere along the way. I do, however, have an email to my business banker about this claim and specific information when turned in the second time (due to their error the first time.) My business banker and the branch executive with Wells Fargo also confirms the final determination of the case is wrong and have been going to bat for me except now she is gone. (Should I be surprised?) The checks clearing my account were confirmed by someone high in the fraud department (I have their name) as clearly fraudulent checks-washed, wrong font type, out of sequence, ect. They even reversed one of these checks when identified by them somewhere in the background at WF but never called me and let others like it continue to clear. In 2023, they cleared a check on my same business account with the wrong number, name, address ect but refunded. I only point this out because they should have a fiduciary responsibility to not clear checks that โare clearly fraudulentโ. I grilled them in 2023 how their system was so antiquated and that I should leave. WF gave me all kinds of assurances they had the top-of-the-line bank fraud system only to find out a year later, I was dupped.
In addition, they cleared ACHโs, which were refunded, but there was nothing in the system with any of our information that should have permitted them to clear it in the first place. They are permitting thieves to steal their clientsโ money and claiming ignorance in an age where we are rolling out AI. This is gross negligence regarding their fiduciary responsibility to their clients. Please email me.
Please add me. I had $600 stolen out of my account and they never investigated before denying my claim. I never received the money back
I was scammed $10.000 on March 11,2024 and was never refunded. I immediately called Wells Fargo and reported and they
opened a claim but money was never refunded.
This Happen to me on Aug 24,. 2024, A woman called me And stated fraud charges were made on my account And ask For the six digit Code. I contacted Wells Fargo And was told I would have to wait 10 days. How do I join in on this Class Action lawsuit
This happened to me about 1 moths ago and the story is the same with the same answer from Wells Fargo, it was a total of about $57,000. How do I join the law suit
Had this happen 5/31/24 and been fighting ever since to get my money back. How do we join this class action
I also had fraudulent ATM charges which I reported and was told I would not get them back and they had no way of telling me who used my card and where or any such information
I had fradulent charges a few years ago for roughly $7000.00 it was all disputed and escalated due to the amount . I was then interviewed via phone and was told I would be refunded . 2 weeks later a letter was recieved with denied claims.
I reported to every agency and after about 6 months gave up on everything .
Lost much more due to there neglect and not honoring these fraudulent visa charges from my personal checking account .
They are absolute criminals !!!