Wells Fargo: 'Do you want this credit card you didn't open?'
With more than 2 million accounts and credit cards opened without permission, Wells Fargo (WFC) has a lot of work to do to mend fences with the public.
The bank has been contacting customers, but according to a spokesperson has only notified the unwitting owners of just 5% of the accounts—the 115,000 that had been charged “fees that should be refunded.”
But what if you have some suspicious Wells Fargo lines on your credit report and haven’t heard from the bank yet?
For the 1.9 million or more secret accounts, Wells Fargo should be getting in touch, says a spokesperson. Beginning Oct. 1, the company will be asking every one of its deposit customers if they want to review their accounts, to make sure there aren’t any the customer doesn’t recognize.
On the credit card side of things, Wells Fargo is currently reaching out to the credit card “customers” and will be asking “if they need and want their credit cards.”
At first glance, this question might seem inappropriate – even shameless. Do you need or want the credit card we opened for you without your permission? You can already hear how this might go down on the phone, with all the variations of “do you ‘need or want’ a punch in the face?”
But if you happen to get a call like this, you should think carefully before you see how far you can throw your phone. In some cases, it could hurt your credit to close the account.
If you don’t want to wait for Wells Fargo to come to you, you can contact them directly using the phone number 877-924-8697 or going in person to a brick and mortar location. However, this probably means you’ll have to give Wells Fargo your Social Security number to look up your account.
But as an unwitting cardholder mused to Yahoo Finance, sharing that critical information is not something everyone will be comfortable with.
Are you a Wells Fargo customer who was impacted by the unauthorized accounts? Email us at yfmoneymailbag@yahoo.com
Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance focusing on consumerism, tech, and personal finance. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann.
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