Class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo: Bank does not reimburse customers for fraud cases

Overview of the Wells Fargo fraud class action lawsuit:

• WHO: Wells Fargo is being sued by two of its customers.
• Why: The plaintiffs allege that the bank routinely holds its customers liable when they are defrauded.
• Where: The Wells Fargo fraud class action lawsuit was filed in federal court in the state of Pennsylvania.

A new class action lawsuit accuses Wells Fargo of failing to refund money to its customers when they were defrauded and unauthorized electronic transfers were made from their accounts.

Plaintiffs Jennifer Rice and Erik Westervelt filed the lawsuit against Wells Fargo Bank National Association on June 17 in federal court in Pennsylvania.

The two Wells Fargo customers alleged that Wells Fargo repeatedly refused to refund them when thousands of dollars were illegally stolen from their joint accounts at the bank – even though they should not be held liable for the losses under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act.

More than $24,000 withdrawn from plaintiffs’ accounts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 claiming to be from Wells Fargo telling him that they had detected possible fraud on his account. According to Westervelt, the person described the transaction as an electronic transfer for “a large amount of money” that had been debited from his account.

The person, who claimed to be a bank representative, told Westervelt that they could stop the transfer if he could confirm the six-digit number they had texted him. He did so, according to Westervelt.

Immediately afterward, however, an electronic transfer of $24,557.89 was made from Rice and Westervelt’s account to an unknown account at Discover Bank, the lawsuit says.

Realizing the caller was likely a scammer, Westervelt immediately called Wells Fargo. The representative he spoke to instructed him to contact his local Wells Fargo branch for assistance. He said he went to the bank that same day and a fraud representative confirmed that his dispute had been received and that they would respond within ten business days.

Seven days later, he received a letter from Wells Fargo stating that the amounts debited from the account would not be refunded because the transaction had been authorized by Westervelt.

Rice and Westervelt appealed the decision, and the bank hesitated several times, promising to repay the plaintiff, then telling the plaintiff that it had decided against it, before finally announcing that it would not repay the plaintiff.

Bank must reimburse according to law, say plaintiffs

Rice and Westervelt consider this illegal because, according to the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, “a consumer is not liable for an unauthorized electronic fund transfer unless that transfer was made using a card accepted for the account and the issuing institution provided a means of identifying the person using the accepted card.”

The plaintiffs therefore seek to represent anyone in the United States who electronically transferred money from a Wells Fargo deposit account in the past year without authorizing that transfer, and who notified the bank of the unauthorized transfer within sixty days but did not receive a refund.

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

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo recently announced another Class action lawsuit alleges that the bank aided a Ponzi scheme that caused investors to suffer losses of over $300 million.

What do you think about the allegations in this class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo? Let us know in the comments.

The Class action lawsuit for fraud at Wells Fargo 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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