Rising fury at Wells Fargo as grandmothers who lost their life savings to cruel scammers urge lawsuit-hit bank to act NOW

Two more Wells Fargo customers have revealed how they lost their life savings to scammers as the bank faces a spate of lawsuits questioning the robustness of its anti-fraud measures. 

Retired opera singer Jolinda Crocker, 63, claims she was conned out of $60,000 by criminals while accountant Judy Burr, 75, says she lost $23,000 in an eerily similar ruse. Neither of the women - both grandmothers - has received a refund from the bank.

Wells Fargo has been hit with a raft of lawsuits in recent months accusing its security measures of not being fit for purpose.

DailyMail.com uncovered audio transcripts from one case which allegedly highlight the moment a bank employee allowed a scammer to steal a customer's $100,000 life savings in less than ten minutes. 

Court documents from a second claim the bank's own security systems raised red flags about a fraudulent transfer yet employees waived the concerns.

Cyber security experts are now calling for an update to industry regulations to hold banks more accountable for incidences of fraud.

Jolinda Crocker, 63, claims to have been conned out of $60,000 by criminals who had managed to gain access to her account

Judy Burr, 75, says she lost $23,000 in an eerily similar rouse. Neither of the grandmothers has received a refund from the bank

Jolinda, from California, was teaching at one of the music schools she owns in Italy when she says she received a message from Wells Fargo asking her to call them.

She dutifully rang bank staff who told her they needed to verify whether she had made two transfers to the tune of $24,973 and one worth just under $10,000 in September 2021.

It appeared fraudsters had moved the money between her accounts and sent it to five different recipients. 

Jolinda claims she then filed an online fraud report - as advised - and believed the issue had been resolved. 

But ten days later when she chased the bank, she says staff accused her of authorizing the transfer herself. 

DailyMail.com has seen statements which show she had been making transactions from a device located in Italy. 

That same day, somebody logs into her account from an address in California where the transactions are made. Jolinda later accesses her account again from Italy. 

‘I would never transfer such a big sum of money in my life. I run a little music school,' she told DailyMail.com.

Two years later, she is still fighting for her money back, even hiring her own detective to work on the case.

Judith Anderson, from Chula Vista, San Diego, was conned out of her lifesavings which she uses to fund her husband's hospice care. She is pictured, right, with daughter Tracy Martinez, left 

She added: ‘It feels like everybody is just rolling their eyes. $60,000 is nothing to Wells Fargo but it’s my lifesavings.’

Her story echoes that of 75-year-old Judy Burr who was scammed out of $23,865 by criminals impersonating Wells Fargo's fraud investigations team. 

The criminals asked her to check some transactions they claim had been made from her account. Alarmingly, they had her Social Security number along with other personal details which made it seem as though they were genuine bank staff. 

As they attempted to access Judy's account, the bank sent a one-time authorization code to her phone. The scammers instructed her to read it back to them.

In the eyes of Wells Fargo staff, this meant she had personally authorized the transaction.

Judy, an accountant from Las Vegas, told DailyMail.com: 'I was so embarrassed I didn't even want to meet my friends for dinner. I felt like such an idiot.

'I was a Wells Fargo customer for over 20 years yet they have refused to take any responsibility. They put me through endless loops trying to get my money back.'

Victims of wire fraud fall in between gaping regulatory cracks which make it more difficult to receive refunds. 

Revealed: How a Wells Fargo employee allowed fraudsters to steal $100,000 of their customer's money in less than ten minutes

It is the second lawsuit to come to light this month which accuses Wells Fargo's security measures of not being fit for purpose

Rules outlined by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) stipulate that banks have an obligation to refund victims of unauthorized electronic funds transfers (EFTs). 

The body's Regulation E guidelines define an unauthorized transaction as 'from a consumer's account initiated by a person other than a consumer with the actual authority to initiate the transfer and from which the consumer receives no benefit.'

However, the definition of an EFT notably does not cover wire transfers meaning banks are not forced to refund victims who lose money this way.

Nevertheless, Wells Fargo's own card agreement states the bank will not hold customers 'liable for unauthorized use of their account.'

Brian Filas, a fraud expert and founder of Patronum Partners, told DailyMail.com: 'We will continue to see similar stories until the wire transfer laws in the United States are updated. These rules were written long before the average consumer could send $50,000 from their phone.

'While most banks do a great job of preventing fraud before it occurs, losses still happen. Unfortunately, if the bad guys use a wire to steal money, some financial institutions may try to use these outdated regulations to push the loss back to the customer.' 

Victim Alice Fries, 59, was contacted by criminals posing as the bank's fraud department who tricked her into handing over her personal information that they then used to gain access to her account

So far this year, DailyMail.com has reported three stories accusing Wells Fargo's anti-fraud controls of failing customers. 

Recordings filed in one lawsuit document a phone call where a Wells Fargo employee allegedly overrules the firm's own security measures to allow the scammers to transfer victim Alice Fries' lifesavings.

In the call, the staff member is said to acknowledge it is an 'unusual amount of money' which is why 'the account has been flagged.' The mother-of-one has not received a refund from the bank beyond an offer of a $50 'courtesy credit.' 

Similarly, victim Thomas Murrer was conned out of more than $30,000 by criminals impersonating the bank's staff.

Court documents allege Wells Fargo's systems had flagged that the fraudsters' calls were coming from a number that did not belong to Murrer - but approved the transactions regardless.

Astonishingly, the lawsuit Murrer V Wells Fargo claims that after scammers targeted Murrer's accounts they called from the same number three months later impersonating another customer.

Despite that number being clearly used before for fraud, the crooks were once again granted access to the account. 

A fifth victim Judith Anderson, 74, also lost $150,000 to criminals - though she received a refund after her story went viral on TikTok.

In all three cases, the scammers successfully spoofed Wells Fargo's fraud investigations team number and pretended to be acting on behalf of the bank. The money in each case was also sent via wire transfer. 

It is the latest in a series of scandals to hit the bank which in 2020 was forced to pay $3 billion after employees were found to have created millions of fake accounts for customers. 

A spokeswoman for Wells Fargo told DailyMail.com: 'Fraud and scams are an industry-wide concern. Safeguarding our customers’ assets is our top priority, and we have robust security protocols and measures in place. 

'As scams continue to change and evolve, we continue investing in technology and training to stay ahead of emerging threats. 

'We also are actively working to raise awareness of scams through various resources, including ongoing, customer-centered education efforts.'