A Wells Fargo customer says she’s still in disbelief after losing thousands of dollars to a banking scam that’s sweeping the nation.
San Francisco resident Eileen Loughran recently received what appeared to be a normal text message from Wells Fargo asking if she’d authorized a $957 transfer through the payments network Zelle, reports ABC7 News.
Loughran replied “no” and instantly received a call that appeared on her phone as “Wells Fargo Fraud Alert.”
The man on the line convinced Loughran that her account was under attack, and pressured her to initiate eight Zelle transfers to protect her funds.
The moment the transfers were complete, the call went dead and Loughran realized she’d been scammed.
“I went, ‘Oh my God’… Besides being angry, I mean, it really hurts.”
According to Loughran, Wells Fargo did not flag the flurry of transactions and says it bears no responsibility for the loss.
There’s no word on the account that received the money, who owned it, or whether an investigation is underway.
“Wells Fargo said she authorized the transactions, telling 7 On Your Side: ‘When a customer reports they’ve fallen victim, we do a comprehensive investigation using the same Zelle rules, laws and regulatory guidance as other banks.'”
Similar scams that utilize Zelle are hitting thousands of bank accounts, with an estimated $500 million stolen in 2022.
And although Zelle says it has a new process for helping victims of impersonation scams, Loughran has been told that in her case, she’s out of luck.
When asked why Zelle would allow reimbursement for one impersonation incident but not another, Zelle said it doesn’t want to be too transparent and “tip off” scammers who might make false refund claims.
Zelle is owned by Early Warning Services, LLC, which is itself co-owned by seven of the country’s largest banks, including Wells Fargo.
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