I have
complained in the past about my Wells Fargo bank account. They once demanded my thumb print in order to
DEPOSIT a check. When I got my
receipt I demanded the supervisor give me a thumb print.
I was
ignored.
For almost
one year I was being charged $2 to use the FREE to all others ATM
machine at the local Wawa’s. I
complained that my other cards had no such charge and received a shoulder shrug
reply.
Yes, I know,
I could just change banks, except some automatic payments and deposits go through
this account and it is a pain to undo and change those automatic transactions. It is easier to just use their ATM and give
them a thumb print when requested.
Now, in an effort
to support fairness in blogging, I am compelled to give Wells Fargo an “Atta
Boy” for recently catching a fraudulent charge.
The other
day, Frog insisted I purchase an internet guitar service, “Chordify.” It is a nice system that accesses
any YouTube recording and displays chords along with the music. You can change keys, or move a capo to play
chords in a different open position, pretty nice. Anyway, it was $20 a year and worth trying
especially to help with timing as I am not so good at playing along with
others.
So, I
purchased the service on-line. Gave them
my card number and that little code on the back. I almost never do that, because I am old and don’t
trust this new internet purchasing stuff, but I had no other choice.
My first
purchase attempt did not go through. I
figured I punched the wrong number. The second
attempt cleared.
So far, I
like the service, I need to work with it some, but it is just one more tool to
learning how to play guitar…it also works for ukulele and piano.
I made this
purchase around 6 PM. At 9:30 Wells
Fargo sent me a text to confirm a $213 purchase from Best Buy. WTF!
It looked like a scam to me.
Hell, I don’t think Best But stores are even open.
We called a
number they sent and after 20 minutes on hold, a very helpful representative assured
me that the charge was held up. It apparently set off a “Suspicious” charge
flag, and it will be removed. He is
cancelling my current card and is sending me a new one, because someone has my
number.
It won’t do them any good now.
I called
Frog to warn him. He said his card
denied the purchase also, so he used PayPal (I don’t know either) and was going to double check that account.
It seems “Chordify”
has been hacked and the banks are aware.
Anyway,
thank you Wells Fargo, you are now welcome to my thumb print anytime.
I’ve an ongoing fifty year love/hate relationship with Wells Fargo.
ReplyDeleteIt isn’t entirely their fault.
Mostly it’s that I haven’t been entirely able to escape their clutches.
Credit card companies are good at catching that stuff.. I shopped at Keurig.com for years (for those infernal k-cups I'm hooked on). Last March Chase Bank contacted me & said "Did you order $250 worth of gift certificates from Keurig?" I said "Nope!" They said "We thought so, we refused to authorize the order." After 31 years with the same card number, I got issued a new one immediately. (Darn it, can't commit this one to memory though.)
ReplyDeleteI dont know how Paypal operates today, I closed my account with them 10 years ago, but they used to push me to have 2 methods of payment--credit card & checking account, and make my checking account the primary payer. Sucker that I am, I said ok. A year later, I bought a collection of 'first edition' books on Ebay, got them & it was vintage dustjackets on a bunch of John Grisham & Tom Clancy novels! I contacted Ebay & Paypal immediately--"I got ripped off!" and it took 2 MONTHS of my "claim" being investigated before they returned my money. I closed my Paypal immediately. Anyway Joe, sorry you almost got burned here.
Glad they caught it. There are no branches of that bank here, we use a credit union but Wells Fargo holds our mortgage and we've not had any problems with it.
ReplyDeleteI never banked at Wells Fargo but wow having to give your thumb print did seem a bit extreme. We use US Bank for everything and anything. They did catch a fraudulent charge on hubby's credit card. I appreciated the fact they would only talk to him since it was his card though I do all our money business. I liked that security. I have PayPal. Rarely use it but it is good way to send money quickly to someone as long as they too have a PayPal acct.
ReplyDeleteBetty
Good for Wells Fargo, cracking the whip on those conniving hackers! Hope they can't steal your thumb print!
ReplyDeleteSpeedy catch by Wells Fargo, good for them and good for you. I might suggest you also switch to paying for things with Paypal, it means opening an account with them, but it's a safer method. I've been using it for years. Every time I use it I get an email letting me know I have authorised a payment with Paypal and if it wasn't me I should let them know. It's always me, I write down everything I pay for in my budget book, the item as well as the amount.
ReplyDeleteAfter hearing problems friends had with credit cards it made me very wary. I am glad you got things sorted at your end.
ReplyDeleteIn the UK there's a system whereby if you want to change bank account, you tell the new (receiving) Bank you want to move to them. They contact your current Bank and get from them all your standing order payments like electricity, water and such utilities payments and they pay the recipients automatically like your old bank account did. No need for the customer to do all that, and to tell the recipients that you've changed Banks.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Banks have been on my worst customer service list for years. Our credit cards are not through local banks, but have always caught fraudulent purchases instantly. It's actually amazing how they can know your buying habits so well.
ReplyDeleteOur phones seem to track us so I think someone in the universe knows what we do and where we spend our money. Glad you were protected!
ReplyDeleteI find that totally scary and kudos to Wells Fargo for catching it. Think I may reactivate my PayPal account.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of Wells Fargo. I've had more problems than not when I was a customer. I didn't have direct deposit when I moved to my new bank, but now I do. I would hate to try to change that now.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad this worked out for you.
Have a fabulous day and week, Joe. 😎
The BRD lost her house to a Wells Fargo scam. And then they set up millions of accounts without the permission of the supposed account holder. I'd switch banks, no matter how difficult it is.
ReplyDeleteMy bank caught one of those charges last year. American Express also caught one a few years ago. I’m not sure what algorithm they use but it’s pretty clever.
ReplyDelete