California Nurse Lost $1,000 to Zelle Scammer, but Wells Fargo Refunded Her About 4 Months Later

A nurse from California was tricked into sending $1000 to a scammer posing as a Wells Fargo representative. The scam involved a compromised bank account and a request to send money through Zelle to "fix" the error on her "hacked" account. 

Wells Fargo; credit: by Mike Mozart, CC BY DEED 2.0

TIME reported that 33-year-old Venessa Dikousman from Ceres, California was called by a man claiming to be from Wells Fargo to notify her that her bank account was being hacked. The man calling her cell phone was a scammer.

The number he called her from was the same as Wells Fargo's number, so it looked legitimate. The scammer was spoofing Wells Fargo to trick her into thinking he was a real employee.

Wells Fargo Scammer: 'You've Been Hacked. Send Money Using Zelle'

The man told her to fix the situation, she would need to "send $3,500 through Zelle to fix the breach."

Dikousman sent $1000 USD to the scammer and then realized that she was being scammed.

Dikousman reported the scam to Wells Fargo, and TIME reported that Wells Fargo "initially refused to refund the $1000 taken out of her account."

Financial institutions are not obligated to refund customers if they actually send their own money out to scammers, because this would not technically be "unauthorized."

It was about four months later that TIME contacted Wells Fargo to find out if they were going to refund her money. At that time, Wells Fargo decided to refund Dikousman the $1000.

Do You Think Wells Fargo Should Have Refunded Her Money Sooner?

Some people might wonder if Wells Fargo was going to refund her money if TIME had not contacted them.

What do you think? (Share your thoughts in the comments)

$6,800 Taken from California Woman's Wells Fargo Bank Account Days After Receiving Fraudulent Phone Call

 In August 2023, Nadwa Perket received a phone call claiming to be from Wells Fargo. Days later, $6,800 was taken from her bank account and sent to Florida.

Wells Fargo bank (stock photo) by Mike Mozart; CC BY 2.0 DEED

A woman in her 60s from San Diego lost $6,800 from her Wells Fargo bank account after being tricked by a scammer who pretended to be a Wells Fargo bank employee. Nadwa Perket said she felt betrayed by the bank, which refused to reimburse her money.

California Woman Receives Scam Call and Loses Money from Bank Account

The U.S. Sun reported that Nadwa Perket from San Diego received a phone call in August 2023 from a man who claimed to be from the Wells Fargo fraud team. He told her that someone had tried to wire money to an account in Florida and that he needed to add extra security layers to her bank account.

Perket said the caller sounded very professional and convincing. She did not give him her password or username, but she did provide him with some personal information and a one-time access code that he requested.

A few days later, she got a notification on her phone that her account balance was low. She checked her account and found out that $6,800 had been withdrawn from her account.

Perket contacted Wells Fargo and reported the fraud, but the bank told her that "she had authorized the transaction" and that they would not refund her money. She said she was "shocked and angry that the bank did not protect her as a client."

She said:

"It didn't look fishy to them." -Nadwa Perket

She said she then had to borrow money just to pay her rent and that she felt like the bank did not care about her. 

Questions for the Readers

Now it is time for the reader to share your thoughts in the comments.

• Do you think that commercial banks care about their customers?
• Do you think they will take care of customers that are victims of fraud?
• Have you ever seen fraudulent charges on your debit or credit card?

Atlanta Man Claims That $14K Was Stolen from His Account, Paid to Mercedez Benz. Wells Fargo Denies Claim & Won't Issue a Refund

What happens when there is a fraud purchase on your account and a large sum of money leaves your bank account and when you dispute it the bank says it was authorized? 

This happened to a Georgia family banking with Wells Fargo. 

Mercedes-Benz car; credit: Jakob Rosen on Unsplash

According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Georgia was ranked as "the worst state for fraud" in Q3 2023. 

WSB-TV Channel 2 reported that Ken Pischke filed a dispute with Wells Fargo after $14K was paid to a Mercedez Benz Financial Services account, claiming his family didn't authorize payments to Mercedes Benz and they don't own a Mercedes Benz.

Wells Fargo Denies Fraud Claim and Closes Bank Account

Wells Fargo contends that there were three transfers from Pischke’s bill pay to someone’s Mercedes Benz Financial Services account. They have denied his claim of fraud, and have closed his accounts.

Wells Fargo wrote in a denial letter to Pischke:

“It was determined the transactions were authorized by you or someone you authorized. We have closed your claim.” -Wells Fargo

As a result, Pischke filed a police report, provided paperwork to Wells Fargo, and contacted Mercedes Benz to no avail. Wells Fargo is not convinced that these were fraudulent transactions. They believe that Pischke's wife is guilty of authorizing these transactions.

Pischke has lost almost $14,000 due to fraud and it's not a small amount of money to him.

“It was a total of about almost $14,000. We were shocked, absolutely shocked. So, they closed down all the accounts...I mean, it’s a large sum of money, I think to anybody, it is to me.  They just blow it off like there’s no big deal.” -Ken Pischke

Wells Fargo holds their position and will not budge on the matter.

Pischke said:

“They said, ‘That doesn’t make any difference. It’s still your wife is the one that actually did the transactions.’ Now, I’ve been married for 42 years. I would know if my wife would do something like that. And she doesn’t have a Mercedes in the garage either or anywhere else.” -Ken Pischke

Wells Fargo gave the following statement to WSB-TV Channel 2 News in response to their inquiry on the matter.

“While we can’t discuss the specifics of this customer’s situation for privacy and confidentiality reasons, we can confirm that we thoroughly researched the matter, and the evidence supports our decision.” -Wells Fargo

Questions for the Reader

Do you think it is unfair that Wells Fargo will not issue a refund?

Do you think that Ken Pischke's wife paid Mercedes Benz Financial Services without telling her husband?

Ken Pischke has lost almost $14,000 and says their family doesn't have a Mercedes Benz. He believes it is a case of bank account fraud. Wells Fargo will not issue a refund.