Americans have been negatively affected by a number of banking scandals in recent years. But the most recent scandal involving Wells Fargo bank has shocked the public on an unprecedented level because of the direct and blatant manner in which the bank allegedly defrauded and stole from its customers.
According to recent reports, Wells Fargo Bank employees have been opening fraudulent accounts under its customers' names for years. The vast majority of the time, customers didn't know about the accounts. It wasn't until some customers started noticing that the bank was charging them unknown account service fees or they noticed a new account on their credit reports that some customers began inquiring about the mysterious accounts.
The magnitude of the alleged fraud is truly astounding. More than 5,000 employees were involved in the scandal, and they collectively opened a total of nearly two million false checking and credit accounts under customers' names. Consumers ended up paying more than $2.4 million in sham fees.
The root cause behind the scandal was that Wells Fargo management pushed employees to meet aggressive and unrealistic sales targets. Faced with the prospect of losing their jobs, the employees opened fraudulent accounts to meet their sales goals.
Unfortunately, Wells Fargo may not be the only bank engaging in fraudulent practices at customers' expense. Many banks operate under the high-pressure sales environments that compel employees to open false accounts or perform other types of fraud, such as manipulating debit charges to maximize overdraft fees.
Any customers of Wells Fargo or any other bank that think they may have been the victims of fraudulent banking practices should immediately contact the experienced attorneys at Robert Peirce & Associates for a free consultation at (844) 383-0565 or online.