The Wells Fargo Fake Account Scandal — $3 Billion Settlement
Wells Fargo's most infamous scandal involved bank employees secretly opening millions of unauthorized deposit accounts, credit cards, and other financial products in customers' names without their knowledge or consent, from 2002 through 2016. The employees, driven by aggressive sales quotas, opened approximately 3.5 million unauthorized accounts. Customers were charged fees on accounts they never opened, had their credit scores damaged by unauthorized credit inquiries, and experienced identity theft from the fraudulent account openings. Wells Fargo paid $3 billion to the Department of Justice and the SEC in 2020. The bank also paid $142 million to settle consumer class action claims for unauthorized accounts. Affected customers may be entitled to additional recovery — check the settlement cards above for any currently open claims.
