Wells Fargo says staff created 3.5MILLION fake accounts without customers’ permission to meet sales targets

Thursday, August 31, 2017
By Paul Martin

Wells Fargo said on Thursday that 3.5 million accounts were potentially opened without customers’ permission between 2009 and 2016
Number is up 2.1 million accounts that was cited by the bank back in September 2016
The bank had said that employees opened accounts that customers might not have been aware of to meet aggressive sales targets
About half a million of the newly discovered accounts were missed during the original review, which covered the years 2011 to 2015
Scandal cost then-CEO John Stumpf his job, and the bank’s once-sterling industry reputation was in tatters
Company ended up paying $185 million to regulators and settled a class-action suit for $142 million
Wells Fargo will refund $2.8 million to customers, in addition to the $3.3 million it already agreed to pay

By MATTHEW WRIGHT
DAILYMAIL.COM
31 August 2017

The scope of Wells Fargo’s fake accounts scandal grew significantly on Thursday, with the bank now saying that 3.5 million accounts were potentially opened without customers’ permission between 2009 and 2016.

That’s up from 2.1 million accounts that the bank had cited in September 2016, when it acknowledged that employees under pressure to meet aggressive sales targets had opened accounts that customers might not have even been aware existed.

Wells Fargo said Thursday that about half a million of the newly discovered accounts were missed during the original review, which covered the years 2011 to 2015.

After Wells Fargo acknowledged the fake accounts last year, evidence quickly appeared that the sales practices problems dated back even further. So Wells Fargo hired an outside consulting firm to analyze 165 million retail bank accounts opened between 2009 and 2016.

Wells said the firm found that, along with the 2.1 million accounts originally disclosed, 981,000 more accounts were found in the expanded timeline. And roughly 450,000 accounts were found in the original window.

The scandal was the biggest in Wells Fargo’s history. It cost then-CEO John Stumpf his job, and the bank’s once-sterling industry reputation was in tatters. The company ended up paying $185 million to regulators and settled a class-action suit for $142 million.

New managers have been trying to amends with customers, politicians and the public.

But it’s been tough, as new revelations keep coming. Wells Fargo said last month that roughly 570,000 customers were signed up for and billed for car insurance that they didn’t need or necessarily know about. Many couldn’t afford the extra costs and fell behind in their payments, and in about 20,000 cases, cars were repossessed.

Other customers have filed lawsuits against Wells Fargo saying they were victims of unfair overdraft practices.

Wells Fargo said Thursday that of the 3.5 million accounts potentially opened without permission, 190,000 of those incurred fees and charges. That’s up from 130,000 that the bank originally said. Wells Fargo will refund $2.8 million to customers, in addition to the $3.3 million it already agreed to pay.

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