Wells Fargo Denied Consumers Reimbursement After Scammer Stole Thousands from Their Account, Class Action Claims

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A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed by two Pennsylvania consumers who claim Wells Fargo unlawfully failed to reimburse them after a fraudster made an unauthorized wire transfer from their bank account.

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The 11-page fraud lawsuit alleges the bank has violated the federal Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA), which limits a consumer’s liability for any electronic transfers made without their permission if they report the theft to their bank within 60 days of receiving their statement.

One of the plaintiffs claims he was contacted in December 2023 by a scammer who purported to be calling from Wells Fargo’s fraud department. The case relays that the fraudster identified several transactions from the plaintiffs’ account, including a wire transfer of a significant amount of money, which the consumer denied sending.

According to the complaint, the scammer told the plaintiff that the wire transfer could be stopped if he confirmed a six-digit code provided to him via text message. Shortly after the man confirmed the code, a $24,557.89 wire transfer was made from his account to an unknown third-party account, the filing shares.

The plaintiffs say they then contacted Wells Fargo’s fraud department, which confirmed it had received their dispute of the $24,557.89 transfer. Per the lawsuit, the consumers received a letter from the bank days later indicating that it would not reimburse any of the funds that were taken from the account because, according to the defendant, the “transaction had been authorized by [the plaintiff] or someone acting on his behalf.”

The suit states that despite the plaintiffs’ multiple requests for Wells Fargo to escalate the case, the bank repeatedly informed the accountholders that it would not reimburse the funds and eventually closed their case in February 2024.

Although Wells Fargo did reopen its investigation of the case after a local news station ran a story about the plaintiffs and the alleged scam, the bank again denied the consumers any reimbursement in May 2024, the case describes.

The plaintiffs claim they never authorized the $24,557.89 wire transfer. As such, the complaint argues that pursuant to the EFTA’s requirements, they should not have been held liable for the transaction, and Wells Fargo was required to reimburse them.

The Wells Fargo fraud lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who, in the past year, had funds electronically transferred from a Wells Fargo deposit account without authorization and notified Wells Fargo of the unauthorized transfer within 60 days but was not reimbursed by the bank.

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