Wells Fargo class action claims bank does not reimburse customers for fraud

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. 

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 — even though they should not have been liable for the losses under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act.

More than $24K taken from plaintiffs’ 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 “a large amount of money” 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 Westervelt’s account to an unknown account with Discover Bank, the lawsuit states. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Bank must reimburse under law, plaintiffs say

Rice and Westervelt say this is illegal because, under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, “a 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.”

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. 

The plaintiffs are seeking certification of the class action, statutory damages of $1,000 per class member, fees, costs and a jury trial. 

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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