After Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf recited a drawn-out No True Scottsman Fallacy disguised as a hollow apology at the Senate Banking Committee's Wells Fargo hearing, senator Elizabeth Warren tore into him.
Warren slammed Stumpf for failing to fire any senior executives linked to the scandal, while Wells Fargo's aggressive sales tactics helped pump up the bank's stock price.
Carrie Tolstedt is the Wells Fargo executive who presided over a titanic, multi-year fraud through which at least 5,300 of the employees who reported to her opened up fake accounts in Wells' customers' names, racking up fees and fines, trashing the customers' credit ratings, and, incidentally, pulling in record revenues for Tolstedt's department, which Wells' management recognized by giving her a $125M parting gift when she left the company at the end of July, just weeks before the scandal broke.
5,300 Wells Fargo employees created 2 million phony bank accounts and racked up huge fees, raking in commissions from their employer for being such great salespeople for the bank's services; meanwhile, the fees associated with the 2 million fake accounts created the appearance of much greater earnings for the bank, which it trumpeted to its investors.
Wells Fargo has been widely criticized for its predatory, deceptive practice of targeting black mortgage borrowers with subprime mortgages (whose teaser rates ballooned into unsustainable long-term rates after a few years), rather than offering those borrowers much cheaper and better mortgages that would not have led to widespread bankruptcy, foreclosure, and the destruction of hardworking families' live savings.
David Adier missed two mortgage payments on his home in Morris Township, NJ, so Wells Fargo, his mortgage lender, sent contractors who illegally broke in and "trashed-out" his home as though it was abandoned, stealing the family treasures his father smuggled out of Nazi-occupied France.
Wells Fargo mistakenly foreclosed on a home that had no mortgage, sending in a crew to steal all and throw out all the elderly homeowners' belongings. Alvin Tjosaas helped his father build the family home in Twentynine Palms, CA when he was a teenager, and the couple raised their own children there. — Read the rest
Patrick Rodgers, an independent music promoter in Philadelphia, has won a judgment against his mortgage lender, Wells Fargo, which Wells hasn't paid, and so he's foreclosed on them and arranged for a sheriff's sale of the contents of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, 1341 N. — Read the rest
Wells Fargo is suing itself to clear title on a property in order to foreclose on it; as the first mortgage holder, it must sue all subsequent mortgage holders, including the second mortgage holder…Wells Fargo!
The condo owner's attorney, Dan McKillop, suggested that the reason had to do with paperwork.
The head of an AI advertising company that promised "a world free of fraud" just got sentenced for fraud.
As reporter in Ars Technica, Paul Roberts, CEO of Kubient, sold investors on magical AI technology that could supposedly catch advertising fraud in milliseconds. — Read the rest
A tech industry veteran was tricked into wiring $400,000 – her life savings intended as a house down payment – to cybercriminals posing as legitimate parties in a real estate transaction.
As reported by CNBC, Rana Robillard, chief people officer at software startup Tekion, fell victim to a wire fraud scheme while attempting to purchase a home in Orinda, California. — Read the rest
Ever wondered about the hidden tricks and secrets that industry insiders know but rarely share? From customer service hacks to money-saving tips, there's a wealth of knowledge that can make your life easier and potentially save you money. Here's a list of 23 surprising industry secrets and life hacks shared by Redditors who've been in the trenches. — Read the rest
Martin County, Florida police arrested Colton Vanhonhenstien, 33, for "bank robbery" on Saturday night. Apparently, Vanhonhenstien realized that the Wells Fargo bank was accidentally left unlocked. He quickly ran across the street to a gas station to buy a mask, returned to the bank, and waltzed on in. — Read the rest
A robber armed with sticky notes has hit three Houston banks in less than two weeks. Rather than sticking up tellers with a gun, the thief hands bankers a sticky note with a "threatening" message "demanding cash," according to an FBI statement. — Read the rest
Apple has announced that it will begin offering a savings account with a 4.15% interest rate. "With no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements, users can easily set up and manage their Savings account directly from the Apple Card in Wallet," the company stated. — Read the rest
Apparently, Musk's masterful plan to woo advertisers by re-platforming Nazis, racists, and homophobes isn't working as well as he expected. CNN reports that "625 of the top 1,000 Twitter advertisers, including major brands such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, Jeep, Wells Fargo and Merck, had pulled their ad dollars as of January." — Read the rest
The request came from a Republican loyalist calling on behalf of RedStone Strategies, which was described in an email to the donor as an "independent expenditure" group that was supporting Mr.
On November 19, 1988, the Smashing Pumpkins performed at a Chicago public access cable TV show called The Pulse. Brilliantly unique and deeply psychedelic even in their earliest days, the band landed the TV gig solely based on their demo tape. — Read the rest
Netflix had its first real stinker of a quarter, losing subscribers for the first time ever and forced to warn of a coming bloodbath for password-sharers. The stock is down 35% in a day, wiping $50bn off the company's market value. — Read the rest
