A Wells Fargo customer is suing the banking giant after the lender refused to refund tens of thousands of dollars that was stolen in a single fraudulent transaction.
Philadelphia resident John William Pollard says he initially wrote a check amounting to $84.53 meant to pay for a Verizon phone bill, reports Time Magazine.
But a thief stole the check in the mail, changed the amount to $45,678.12 and made it out to Olivia Wallace before withdrawing the funds. Coincidentally, Pollard and his wife say they just made a huge deposit into their Wells Fargo checking account, leaving them unaware that tens of thousands of dollars have been looted.
When Verizon reminded the couple that their phone bill was still due for payment, the Pollards realized they were victims of check fraud. In early 2022, they reported the incident to Wells Fargo, but they have not seen a cent of the missing money.
In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Pennsylvania, the Pollards claim that Wells Fargo initially informed them that they would get their money back. They also say that the banking giant should have flagged the fraudulent transaction because they have never written a check with a similar amount.
But in August 2023, a Wells Fargo lawyer sent a letter arguing that the Pollards failed to report the fraud within 30 days of their January 2022 statement.
“If the customer does not report any issues within that time, the bank account statement is deemed to be correct, and the customer approves all the transactions.”
According to Wells Fargo’s terms and conditions, a customer has 30 days to report a fraudulent transaction – a policy that has stood for more than three decades.
In a statement to Time Magazine, Wells Fargo says,
“We inform all our customers that they must file a timely claim for any suspected fraudulent transactions on their account.”
John William’s wife, Patrice, says they are still keeping their money including their retirement funds at Wells Fargo but that will change once the case sees a resolution.
“Some friends have suggested a credit union. But there’s always the old shoe or sock.”
