I got a call from someone pretending to be a Wells Fargo customer care representative. The so-called representative said, "[name remove] this is Wells Fargo calling to discuss some possible fraudulent activity on your account." "Have you made any purchases or approved any purchases in Orlando using your debit card ending in [removed]?" I said no and he then proceeded to ask me about different transaction amounts asking if I had approved any of those purchases. He read out the "this call may be monitored…" statement to me. I, of course, was flustered and distracted because I was busy and probably missed all of the signs of this being a scam.
He confirmed with me (I didn’t tell him any of these details) all of my personal information over the course of the call. He spread it out so I wasn’t suspicious.
He told me my:
- full name
- full address
- DOB
- email address
- entire debit card #
- My pin for the debit card
The only question he asked me to confirm was the last 4 of my social, which I gave him.
He sent me a verification text from Wells Fargo, and asked me to confirm the code, which I did.
He also sent me an email from Wells Fargo outlining the “changes he was making to my account.” It looked just like a normal Wells Fargo email.
He kept me on the line for over an hour while he kept asking me questions and the longer he talked the more convinced I was that he was changing my card information, and correcting these "fraudulent" charges. He told me that there would be brief periods of silence while he researched and waited for a response from the investigator. At the end of the call, he thanked me for being a Wells Fargo customer.
But, 15 mins later, I got a phone call from an 888 telephone number, which says Wells Fargo, I thought great what else?? Well the lady on the phone proceeds to explain to me that while I was on the phone with the scammer on one line, he or his partner was on another line with Wells Fargo pretending to be me, attempting to gain access to my accounts.
Over the space of an hour, they attempted to withdraw cash at 3 ATMs, loaded my card to 3 different devices (both Apple and Google), attempted purchases at Walgreens and Walmart. Thankfully, Wells Fargo was able to catch this in progress and stop it and will be refunding my money. So, I’m just inconvenienced for the length of time it takes me to get a new card.
The real Wells Fargo agent reminded me that they would never ask me to confirm any information and also wouldn’t need me to give an authentication code unless I was trying to add their app to a new device.
She also recommended that if someone ever calls me saying they’re from a bank, to tell them you’ll call them back. Hang up and call them back so you can confirm you’re speaking to the correct person. She said the scammers are becoming increasingly slick in their performance and ways of getting information from potential victims.