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)

Florida Man 'Watched $27,000 Go Missing' From His Bank of America Account & His Bank Denied His Claim at First

A Florida man noticed that $27,000 was missing from his Bank of America account. He called his bank to file a claim and they denied his claim because they claimed there wasn't fraud after detecting "a device that was known to use bill pay."

Bank of America sign; credit: Mike Mozart CC BY 2.0 DEED

Bank of America Customer Loses $27K in Online Banking Bill Pay

In 2022, a chain of events led Luca Bencini to discover that $27,000 was missing from the bank account he had with Bank of America.

An email he received from Bank of America asked, "Did you open up a bill-pay to an unknown American Express card?"

This email prompted him to look into his finances with Bank of America.

That's when he logged in to discover a whole lot of cash was in fact missing.

He said:

“I went to my account, I saw that $27,000 was drawn to that American Express card. At that point, I immediately called the Bank of America for fraud, and that's where the whole thing started." -Luca Bencini, Bank of America customer

Bank of America Denies Fraud Claim Before the News Got Involved

He called his bank to file a fraud claim and they denied him a refund because they claimed his bill pay was accessed by a device that was "known to use bill pay" and deemed him liable for the money leaving his account.

Bencini then decided to contact the Broward County Sheriff's Office and WTJV 6 News. He was hoping that detectives could tell him if his bank account with Bank of America had been hacked.

Bencini said:

“But it wasn't my laptop nor my PC. Both of them were shut down while I was traveling, and nobody came into the house." -Luca Bencini, Bank of America customer

WTJV 6 News contacted Bank of America to ask about the situation, and then Bank of America executives decided to call Bencini and inform him they had a change of heart on the matter. They informed him that "they had decided to return the money or refund the money."

Did Bank of America only refund the money because they would receive negative publicity if they didn't choose to do the right thing?

Hindsight is 20-20

Luce Bencini noticed that he received a lot of spam emails flooding his inbox around the time that he received an email from Bank of America, which is a commonly used tactic called "email bombing."

Always pay attention to the fraud emails you receive from your bank, and identify the emails that are a form of phishing.

Always contact your bank at the trusted phone number and website, and never by the phone number or URL provided in the email.

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.

Power4Patriots Energy Scam

Power4Patriots

Is Power4Patriots a scam?

Excellent question.

Power4Patriots is a company pays for sponsored ads that show up in Google Search results, however, they have had quite a few complaints against them for being a scam. They have been seen on hundreds of websites such as GlennBeck.com, PersonalLiberty.com, WND, and The Blaze.

Power4Patriots claim to offer a solution to get off of the grid, and leave your electricity bill in the dust. They claim that you can build a do it yourself solar panel for under $200 USD, but the quality of the solar panel may not be that great. They even state on their website that uncertified solar panels cannot be hooked back up to the city grid to sell electricity back to the utility company.

Power4Patriots also state on their site that you cannot buy the solar cells locally, but you can buy the aluminum, screws, wires, and hardware at a local hardware store.

Reviews on ComplaintsBoard.com that identify that this is a scam:

1. I bought a bunch of these DIY energy products - this is the only one that was not delivered. I tried calling the number but I can't leave a message and it asks me to send an email - they are full of it, because no one checks that email as no one has responded to my complaints over the last month. It pisses me off that you charge so much for a product, but yet have no infrastructure in place to deal with your customers. the BBB rating is BS - these guys are a fraud scam. (JuicyJay)
2. I am an 80 year-old female who is trying to cut expenses. Thought this might be something at a reasonable price that would give us information. My grandson can build anything. I paid for the set and never have received a word from them. Took my money and my experience is the same as an earlier person. They don't answer email and you can't get them on the phone. Total rip-off. I am going to contact a few of the people they lists as supporters. Surely they don't want to support a total scam! (Kitty from Atlanta)
3. How to get your money back! July 7th I ordered "Power4Patriots". I went for their whole package. Somehow I managed to click twice for it. They did not give a chance to review the order like legitimate companies. On my credit card I now have a double order. I found the phone number and got a recording to send an email. I sent the email on July 9th they responded by the 15. July 24 they responded again to a second email still stonewalling! No resolution. No refund. No credit to my card. Today is the 25. Delay and ignorance is their friend. So, immediately contact your credit card company. Let them get your money for you. There is a 60 day limit to file an issue with the Credit Card Company. I had this done to me at the tune $260, a couple of years ago by a company in California. You have to take them to small claims court. This setup is the same sheet. Here is how they talk"Power4Patriots was recently featured on Glenn Beck, Bob Livingston and Lee Bellinger shows and websites -- we're grateful to these folks for getting the word out on our product but we're also sorry that we're not able to get back to you as quickly as we would like. We're working hard to catch-up. Thank you in advance for your patience! " some one needs to kick them in their caboose. I plan to contact Glen and let them know how they are tainting their names. (James McCoy)
4. The web site Open4Energy publishes a directory of consumer energy scams - please use this free resource - to avoid being duped. Best way to find a genuine review by us is to Google 'product name + scam review" ClickBank who collect the money, will process a refund, we have a link to the support page for this (valjean16)

Power4Patriots lists their mailing address as: 

P.O. Box 121709

Nashville, Tennessee 37212

615-208-3027

Power4Patriots lists their Warehouse and Returns address as:

405 W. Fairmont Dr.

Tempe, AZ 85282 

800-304-4202