Nationwide — Billie Younger, an 83-year-old African American grandmother from Dallas, Texas, says a examine she wrote to repay her automobile mortgage was cashed by another person. She and her household have tried for months to get Wells Fargo to return the cash, however the financial institution denied the declare.
In August 2024, Younger wrote two checks — one for her electrical invoice and one other to repay her automobile. “$14,952.52. By no means will neglect it,” Younger informed WFAA.
When her utility firm warned a few cutoff, she known as Wells Fargo on September 6 to substantiate the funds. The financial institution informed her the electrical invoice examine hadn’t cleared, so she stopped that cost, whereas the automobile mortgage examine appeared to clear usually.
A month later, Younger received a invoice from her automobile lender and realized the cost hadn’t gone by means of. When she received a duplicate of the cashed examine, the payee title had been modified to somebody she didn’t know, and her signature appeared altered. Information present the examine was ultimately cashed at a second financial institution after being refused elsewhere.
Younger filed a fraud criticism in October 2024, however Wells Fargo denied it. Her granddaughter, Kecia Byars, appealed on her behalf, describing the method as disturbing, particularly whereas Younger cared for her husband, a Navy veteran with prostate most cancers. The household additionally reported the case to the Dallas Police Division.
“It’s been very unhappy, and extra so to see we will’t get by means of a financial institution go to with out her vomiting or being in tears,” Byars mentioned.
In Might 2025, Wells Fargo mentioned clients are chargeable for checking statements and reporting errors inside 30 days, and so they refused reimbursement. Younger, who banked with Wells Fargo since 1996, has since closed her account. The financial institution mentioned it’s now re-reviewing the case.
