$18,883 Drained From Wells Fargo Account, Bank Says Reimbursement Not Happening, Customer Says She’s Leaving

A Wells Fargo customer says she’s done with the bank after an impostor posing as the lender drained $18,883 from her account.

Colorado resident Melanie Sponselee says she received an alert on her phone that appeared to be from Wells Fargo asking if she had made a large transaction, reports the NBC-affiliated news station 9News.

She replied “no,” and immediately received a phone call from someone pretending to be with the bank, claiming her accounts were compromised and that they would help her open a new one.

After talking with the scammers, Sponselee says she quickly began to worry she was being duped and raced to Wells Fargo.

“There’s a branch down the street from my house. I got on the phone, got in my car, five minutes later after I got off the phone, I walked into the branch. They were like – oh, I’m sorry. We don’t have an appointment until 1pm.

Also, on the way to Wells Fargo, I called the bank five times, and every time I tried to ask for help the call kept getting dropped. That happened six times.”

Ultimately, the scammers stole $18,883 via wire transfer. Wells Fargo contacted the corresponding bank and says it clawed back $3,300.

The bank refuses to refund the rest.

“My expectations would have been, when I asked for help, to immediately help me. Immediately. Take it seriously.

And also, that they would protect me, that they would back me up. They would fix it.”

When asked about its decision to not reimburse, Wells Fargo repeated what it told Sponselee – wire transfers are usually irreversible, even if a customer reports the crime quickly.

The bank has declined to answer specific questions about Sponselee’s case.

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