U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) reached out to the CEO of Wells Fargo with new information that indicates that Wells Fargo customers are reporting fraud and scams on the money transfer platform Zelle at an increasing rate.
In a letter to Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf, Warren said the incidence of fraud and scams on Zelle is nearly 2.5 times higher this year than in 2019. Also, Warren said the rate of reported fraud and scams this year is more than twice as high for Wells Fargo customers than for customers of other banks. This data comes from a recent report on the matter.
“This data indicates that Wells Fargo appears to have a significant problem with regard to preventing fraud and scams on Zelle,” Warren wrote. “My concerns about this alarming pattern are exacerbated by Wells’ refusal to make public its Zelle scam and fraud data and by your bank’s long history of ripping off its customers.”
An analysis of the data by Warren’s staff found that scams on Zelle for three other banks – PNC Bank, Bank of America, and US Bank – occurred collectively, with 0.03% of transactions. But for Wells Fargo, the rate was more than twice as high. Warren also called out Wells Fargo for not providing information on Zelle fraud and scams requested by members of Congress.
“Wells Fargo did not cooperate with this investigation. Your bank failed to provide me with the information I requested in July 2022. Even… after you indicated to me in a hearing before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee that you would provide me with information ‘immediately,’ your bank still withheld key information, refusing to provide data that would allow me to determine how often Wells has reimbursed its customers when they were defrauded on Zelle,” Warren wrote.
Warren asked for answers to a series of questions related to why the bank’s record of preventing fraud and scams on Zelle was worse than other comparable banks and how it reimburses victims of these types of fraud and scams. Also, she said she would be providing the data on fraud and scams on Wells’ Zelle platform to financial regulators.