‘They were IN your car?’: Wells Fargo customer says 2 men scammed her out of $2,500 in front of branch. Then she asks Wells Fargo for help

11.01.2025 23:00

The Daily Dot

A Wells Fargo customer was left shaken up when two men approached her for money. They were able to scam her out of $2,500.

Now she claims the bank refuses to properly investigate her claim.

In a multi-part viral series, user Kelly Ladewig (@living_chicago) explained how two random men were allegedly able to transfer money from her account via Apple Pay without her permission.

The first part of the series amassed over 370,000 views as of Friday morning.

The incident prompted the woman to issue a PSA to other women in the Chicago area.

What happened?

According to the TikToker, the incident occurred a couple of months ago.

"I have tried so hard to get this claim accepted and have gone through so many hoops," the woman explained.

Still, she said the bank refuses to acknowledge the fraud.

Ladewig alleges two scammers approached her while she was getting things from her backseat.

She reported they essentially sandwiched her between them and asked for "donations."

However, their attitude took a dark turn when she explained she didn't have cash and offered to use Zelle.

"He's like 'not Zelle, we're not gonna take it,'" Ladewig recalled.

That's when she says they increased their intimidation tactics which made her feel even more scared.

After she pulled out her phone to try to send money with it, she said the men ran away.

"I immediately jump in my car, lock the doors, and then just like drive out of the immediate area," the TikToker told viewers.

Shortly after, she checked her banking app and noticed $2,500 had been transferred out of the account.

How did Wells Fargo respond?

Wells Fargo initially offered the woman a $2,500 provisional credit pending investigation.

However, the woman said the bank ultimately decided not to approve her claim.

"On the day that the provisional credit was applied was also the same day that, later in the day, they sent out a letter that said we're denying your claim," she explained.

Allegedly, the bank informed her that because the money was sent from her phone and she had it in her possession at the time, she would be held liable for the transaction.

Still, Ladewig says she continued to gather information to try to prove that the money transfer was the result of a scam.

She filed a police report and says she tried her best to investigate the matter herself. She also contacted PayPal about the business name that was used in the alleged scam.

"I found this PayPal business and also found out that there were several other reports that were being processed from them," she said.

Ladewig also tried to make sense of how the men were able to steal from her. The TikToker blamed PayPal's Zettle by PayPal app. Zettle provides point-of-sale hardware for business owners.

The website states that it enables contactless transactions via tap to pay that are completed "in under five seconds."

It is meant to simplify the process of accepting payments.

The TikToker believes scammers may have used it to steal from her. It's unknown whether she contacted Zettle by PayPal for help recouping the purportedly stolen funds.

Are banks hanging customers out to dry?

Many have used social media to complain about banks and money transfer apps failing to provide appropriate customer service.

One TikTok user accused Bank of America of closing down her bank account after she was the victim of a scam.

A Chase customer also reported that the bank closed her account and even refused to give her access to her funds after she reported fraud on her account.

Another user said a scammer used Zelle to drain all of the money out of her Wells Fargo account.

She disputed the charges, but it is unclear if she ever got her money back.

There is no shortage of horror stories about scammers.

To make matters worse, according to reports, many victims of scams are never able to recoup their lost funds.

@living_chicago PSA for my Chicago girls #wellsfargo #wellsfargobank #chicagonews ♬ original sound - Kelly Ladewig

The Daily Dot reached out to Ladewig, Wells Fargo, PayPal, and Zelle via email for comment and more information.

Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.

The post ‘They were IN your car?’: Wells Fargo customer says 2 men scammed her out of $2,500 in front of branch. Then she asks Wells Fargo for help appeared first on The Daily Dot.