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Former Tucsonan affected by Wells Fargo scandal: "They have lost my trust"

Posted at 4:44 PM, Sep 09, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-09 20:23:34-04

Wells Fargo received a $185 million fine for secretly using customer information to open up two million accounts to boost their sales.

A former Tucsonan said she has been a customer of Wells Fargo for years and received a call yesterday that she couldn't believe. 

"I kept getting credit cards being open and everything so I actually hung up with them, got my paperwork, called the 1-800 number, and they verified it for me," said Jennifer Marcus.
 
Marcus is one out of many Wells Fargo customers being notified of fake accounts opened in their name by bank employees.
 
"They always tell you to not give out your own number, you know everything is very secure and everything," she said. "But look what they have done... they have lost my trust."
 
Over a five year period, 5,300 employees were caught and fired. 
 
The employees opened these accounts by transferring money from their customer's authorized account. 
 
Customers were then charged fees to pay for the fake account and those fees racked up to almost $3 million.  
 
In addition to the major fine, Wells Fargo has an additional five million fine for customer remediation.
 
Wells Fargo Chairman and CEO John Stumpf said in a statement: "Our entire culture is centered on doing what is right for our customers. However, at Wells Fargo, when we make mistakes, we are open about it, we take responsibility, and we take action."
 
The company says about $25 will be refunded per customer impacted.
 
A company spokesperson said that every customer affected was notified. However, If you see something you don't recognize on your statement visit a Wells Fargo branch, call the general 800 number or check your online account to make sure there is not an account opened in your name.