IN A FLASH
‘I don’t have confidence,’ cries Wells Fargo customers after $68k life savings wiped out – all they got was an alert
Plus, how to prevent the scam from happening in the first place
A COUPLE thought they lost everything after $68,000 was wiped from their account overnight.
James said he lost all confidence in Wells Fargo after sick scammers were able to drain his life savings with seemingly no issues.
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However, after the bank reviewed the horror situation, Wells Fargo was able to restore the money to their accounts.
On December 13, 2022, James and his wife Diana, who live outside Los Angeles, California, said multiple transactions were made in their accounts, totaling $68,000.
The following morning, they got an alert from their bank that their savings account had reached zero dollars.
"I log onto our account and I see that our entire savings account was drained and most of our checking account was drained," James told local ABC affiliate KABC.
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After investigating with their bank, James discovered a fake account with his wife's information was made years ago.
Neither the couple nor Wells Fargo noticed the fraudulent account.
The scammer was able to drain their savings by using this fake account, according to James.
After the heart-dropping moment, James wondered why security experts with his bank didn't notice something was wrong.
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"Now if you were to lose $40 or $50, you'd hear something," he said.
‘It just seemed smooth,’ customer cries after ‘Wells Fargo’ walked her through protecting account – then $20k vanished
"But when you lose your entire savings and you have these very suspicious amounts going one after another and not to hear from them - that was very bizarre."
STOP THE SCAMS
Scammers can obtain personal data by phishing with text messages, emails, or phone calls.
The fraudsters will often scare the victim into thinking their money is about to be stolen before getting them to divulge their name, social security number, and other contact information.
While it's unclear how the scammer obtained Diana's information, security experts used the situation as a reminder to constantly change usernames and passwords.
This makes personal accounts more difficult to crack.
Top tips on avoiding scams from a bank
As scams become more sophisticated with the use of artificial intelligence, it is important you know how to spot a scam:
- Be skeptical of online deals that seem too good to be true, especially on social media.
- Scammers will often use tactics to make you panicked so you make quick decisions - be cautious if you are told to take immediate action and verify who has contacted you.
- Chase Bank warns customers to "never return any unexpected funds without calling Chase first."
- Never send money to someone you have only spoken to online or by phone as this is likely a romance scam.
- Unless you 100% know who you are talking to, never give someone remote access to your device.
- Never accept help from strangers at an ATM and always be vigilant when making withdrawals.
- Do not send money or click any links indicating that you have won a prize.
Source: Chase.com
After their accounts were drained, the horrified customers called Wells Fargo for assistance.
The bank said in a statement they were able to resolve the problem.
"We are sorry for the inconvenience and worry our customer encountered as we know situations like these can weigh heavily on those impacted," Wells Fargo told the local station in a statement.
"We have a very extensive fraud program dedicated to protecting our customers and a thorough investigation process to research all reports of account fraud and identity theft.
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"When we confirm fraud on an account, we take action to block the fraudulent activity and reimburse the fraud victim."
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Wells Fargo for comment.