Wells Fargo reveals an additional 1.4 million unauthorized accounts

Wells Fargo.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

On Thursday, Wells Fargo revealed that an independent review of the company's records found that an additional 1.4 million potentially unauthorized accounts were created as the bank's employees scrambled to meet lofty sales goals. The bank had conducted an internal review of its accounts after revealing the fake account scandal last year.

The new, external estimate covered a wider window of time than the bank's review and increases the initial tally by 67 percent; nearly 3.5 million unauthorized accounts are now thought to have been opened between 2009 and 2016. The outside firm also found that 190,000 of those fake accounts incurred fees and damages, an increase from the bank's initial estimate of 130,000, and that 528,000 customers were signed up for online bill payment without their permission.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us