Wells Fargo’s $142 Million Settlement
Wells Fargo has been sending out emails to their customers alerting them to the settlement they made. This class action lawsuit was in response to Wells Fargo fraudulently opening accounts in their customer’s names, without their knowledge, to pad their new account stats. I think this story was buried a little bit over the weekend because of the shocking Equifax news.
Who Is Eligible
If you believe Wells Fargo opened a checking, savings, credit card, or line of credit account for you without your permission, or if you purchased identity theft protection from them, you may be entitled to compensation from this fund.
Contact Information
To find out more, go to www.WFSettlement.com or call
1-866-431-8549.
Payment Information
Wells Fargo will be compensating affected customers on the following basis:
- For fees that customers may have paid in connection with unauthorized accounts.
- Cash to compensate for damages caused by harm to customer’s credit.
- Any money remaining in the fund, after paying the benefits above and all costs and expenses, will be paid out as additional compensation on a per-account basis.
With as many as 2 million affected customers (how many fraudulent accounts were opened) I don’t believe there will be much, if any, money left in the fund after paying out the first two bullet points and attorney fees.
Important Dates
These are the dates of importance listed on the settlement website:
- July 8th – Preliminary Approval Order Granted
- Early October – Mailed Notice to Class Members & Online Claims Begin
- December 5th – Deadline to Object or Ask to be Excluded from the Settlement
- January 4, 2018 – Final Fairness Hearing
- February 3, 2018 – Deadline to File Claim
Conclusion
I don’t know if the amount of this settlement matches up with the crime committed. While something is better then nothing, once lawyer fees are paid I doubt people truly affected by this will receive an amount in line with how much this cost them. Especially those that had their credit harmed, which can be an expensive and stressful process to get corrected.
I think the customers Wells Fargo has lost since this news came out, and the overall loss of trust from the public, has/will cost them a lot more in the long run than this settlement did.
Were you or anyone you know affected by this? Let us know what actions you/they plan to take in the comments.
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I had been a customer of WELLS FARGO for 3 months back in 2011. During this time I incurred 3 overseas account fees, $175.00 in overdraft fees while I had an overdraft protection account (I have never been out of the US) a reversal of a provisional credit that was actually never given – but reversed anyway. I have charges from Dr. Medic (I know of no one or company under this name) and after all of that they had the GALL to report me to CHEX Systems! I have not been able to get any compensation. I called my supposed “Attorney” who asked me questions that I would have no way of knowing. How can you just apply, apply and apply and get nowhere. We are talking about at least $1000.00 that is visible. I can’t see my overdraft protection account. But the overseas fees jump right out at me and I don’t know how to get any compensation at all.
My question is the same as many. How do I know if they have opened bogus accounts in my name? I had many accounts with them during the specified years, am I supposed to do my own investigation? Why cant we just file and they will check for fraudelent activity. Seems like they are half assing this “apology ” and “retribution”.
I have the same question as Cindi, ” How do I find out if any accounts were opened in my name without my knowledge ? ”
Bob.
Check your credit reports for anything out of the ordinary. And check your Chexsystems report for banking.
how do i find out if any accounts were opened in my name without my knowledge?
I am a former employee in Central Florida. I am a direct witness to what we would see happening at the retail store level and the pressure managers placed on us employees. I had to leave the company because I started to get anxiety attacks from the way we were treated and from what they wanted us to do. It affected my health. There was constant back and forth with managers because of you didn’t do what they wanted you to do then it prohibited you from being promoted. Meanwhile those that were doing unethical practices were being applauded and promoted for their production. Almost 8 years with the company and I just couldn’t take it any longer. Had to take a couple of leave of absences before I decided to quit. I wish there was a way I could share details of what I personally went through and all the unethical practices that aren’t being spoken about besides the fraudulent accounts. Like violations of the patriot act etc…
That sounds terrible Rob. Sounds like you may have a case worth pursuing if you were up to it.
I am wondering the same thing, why the identity theft protection? I have had that service with them for years, what did they do wrong ? I just received the email from the Wells Fargo yesterday but I have yet to find the information regarding this portion of the lawsuit.
http://www.interest.com/debt/advice/wells-fargo-pushes-three-services-nobody-should-buy/
It appears they had no right to ask for a fee to offer access to credit scores, and did not actually offer identity theft protection.
How come people are eligible for a settlement because they signed up for identity theft protection through Wells Fargo? I dont understand because the customer requested the service. Did Wells Fargo do something illegal within the identity theft protection service also?
http://www.interest.com/debt/advice/wells-fargo-pushes-three-services-nobody-should-buy/
From what it seems to be, they had no right to demand money to show credit scores, and did not offer identity theft protection to any true degree.
I have no plans to do business ever again with Wells Fargo.
No one can blame you for that. I find their cards difficult to get anyways so I don’t see them as much of a loss.
I’m a long-time WF customer, but have no particular fondness for any bank. Despite this news, I am not stupid enough to think WF is any worse than any other major bank. The only difference is WF was caught and has to pay a slap-on-the-wrist fine. I have/hd multiple accounts at approximately a dozen banks (mainly MS purposes). I stay with WF simply because I’ve consistently been given the best service. Chase, Citi, BoA, US Bank offer terrible customer service by comparison. It’s not even close in my experience.
It is all about finding who is a good fit for you. I do think they have lost a lot of customers over this. I don’t doubt other banks do similar things (I had a 5/3 banker add a savings account to my account when signing up for a checking account bonus before – without asking me or me requesting it) but I am not sure if it is quite on this scale…at least I hope not. I personally try to do most of my banking with smaller local banks or credit unions.