5,300 Wells Fargo employees fired over 2 million phony accounts; Here is how they did it ~ wavuti

Wells Fargo confirmed to CNNMoney that it had fired 5,300 employees related to the shady behavior over the last few years.

How exactly were employees ripping off account holders? There were four basic ways, according to the CFPB:

Opening new deposit accounts and transferring customer money: As many as 1.5 million accounts may have been opened in the name of customers without their knowledge or permission. Employees would transfer customer money into these new accounts, subsequently generating $2 million in overdraft and other related fees.
Applying for credit cards: Employees applied for about 565,000 credit cards on behalf of unwitting customers, who were then on the hook for annual fees, late fees, and interest charges that amounted to a little over $400,000.
Activating new debit cards: Without permission, workers requested and issued new debit cards to account holders, often creating new PIN numbers for them in the process.
Using bogus email addresses to sign people up for services: To enroll customers in online banking services without their knowledge, Wells Fargo employees would use email addresses unrelated to the account holder.