RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) — Scammers are targeting Wells Fargo debit card users in the Richmond area with fraudulent Amazon charges.
Victims have said the false charges surfaced over the last few months at around $14 per charge.
Isabel Happoldt says she’s been falsely charged more than 90 times since April. Those charges spanned four debit cards. Each false charge was listed as an “Amazon Prime” membership fee, which she doesn’t have.
“I noticed there was a charge for Amazon Prime, and I’m not a Prime member,” said Happoldt.
Happoldt immediately called Wells Fargo. She says a representative told her the bank was aware of the scam, responding “that has been happening a lot.”
Wells Fargo issued Happoldt a new card and put a block on any “Amazon” charges. However, the hackers still attempted to charge the new card. Those fake charges were immediately declined, but Happoldt has gone through four cards to date, with each still getting hit with the fake charge.
A Wells Fargo representative says the bank can’t discuss the scam in detail for security reasons. However, Kristy Marshall, with Wells Fargo corporate communications, wrote in an email, “…this unfortunately is a fraud situation and there has been no breach of Wells Fargo accounts, but … we are working directly with any Wells Fargo customers who were impacted.”
If you think you’re a victim of this hack, contact Wells Fargo immediately at 1-800-TO-WELLS (small business customers: 1-800-CALL-WELLS). Wells Fargo also has more information about fraud scams on its website.
Marshall said Wells Fargo identified the issue and took action to prevent this particular fraud from happening again. However, Happoldt said the day after that statement was released the scammers attempted to charge her Wells Fargo card again.
