Teen DD 1st Check Acct stolen

[ORMom2Four]

My 17yo teen DD opened her first checking/savings account about 2 months ago. It is a "teen account", so Dh and I are also listed on the account.

She has a hard time spending any money on herself, but yesterday she went to a movie with a friend and tried to use her debit card for the first time.

Declined

I called Wells Fargo. They told me someone used her checking account, using her account number (not her debit card #) to pay an electric bill in California....last month! They took all of the money in her checking account, and overdrew it so that they also took 95% of her savings too (she had overdraft protection so it pulled from her savings).

We were NEVER notified at all. Nothing in the mail. No phone call.

You would have thought that a teen with a "Teen Account" in Oregon overdrawing her checking account to pay an electric bill in California would have triggered fraud alert!!

Her checking acct info NEVER left our sight. We came straight home from the bank and put it into our filing cabinet. I don't know how the account number was stolen.

What a welcome to the world of banking for a teen

 

[Lintasare]

I would be taking this as far up the Wells Fargo ladder as you can. Divisional Management, Regional Management. Go as far as you can. And don't stop until things are resolved to your satisfaction.

 

[MinnieMe87]

I would be taking this as far up the Wells Fargo ladder as you can. Divisional Management, Regional Management. Go as far as you can. And don't stop until things are resolved to your satisfaction.

 

[dakcp2001]

Wouldnt you have seen this on a bank statement if it happened a month ago?

I would get the account number the money went to, call the electric company, who will give you the address of the electric bill paid. Then I would call the police in that county. Try to track down where the breach came from!

When you call the electric company, find out what info is needed to pay byu checking account, so you know how much info this other person has. See if you can get the money put aback. Sometimes you have to investiagate on your own to get any real resolution, I work for a utility and these things happen all the time. But an electric bill would lead to an address!

As awful as it is, she will learn an important lesson young, trust no one and pay close atttention to your statements- which only works if you get a statement !

 

[golfgal]

I would bet that it was some kind of clerical error. One account we had we kept getting deposits and withdrawals on the account that were not ours. They tracked it down and it was a transposed number in their system. They corrected everything, refunded any fees, even wrote letters to some places we bounced checks to because of these mysterious withdrawals telling them it was a bank error and not our error.

 

[becjlek]

Good luck with Wells Fargo. That is one financial instution I choose to avoid.

 

[ORMom2Four]

We never received even one statement on her account. Since it was a new account, it slipped my mind that we should expect one. We also did not got an overdraft notice.

Wells Fargo says they are going to investigate and will refund her money if she is found not at fault.

I was thinking about that.....an electric bill is tied to a persons home address. Hopefully they can find out what happened.

Scary to think that someone can wipe out your cash in one fail swoop with a stolen number.

 

[trip]

Does she have online access to her account? She would be able to keep track that way - I do - I think it's a good habit to get into.

Hope you have luck finding out what happened.

 

[kirbsam]

it is a pain in the rear, but the wells fargo will be giving you your moeny back. i am certain of that.