Old West Bank Spurs an Online Posse With Internet Wanted Posters

Wells Fargo is putting the byte on criminals.

A century after earning a reputation for doggedly pursuing stagecoach robbers, the California bank is still chasing outlaws, this time via “wanted” posters dispatched across the new frontier of the Internet.

“Wells Fargo has no tolerance for crooks. Never had. Never will,” declares the introduction to the bank’s Internet wanted posters.

A series of small photographs of suspects follows, mostly gleaned from fake driver’s licenses used in transactions. Clicking on a small photo yields a bigger picture, the price Wells Fargo has put on the suspect’s head and brief details of the crime, usually involving bad checks or other fraud.

Rewards range from $1,000 to $5,000. Tipsters can call 1-800-78-CRIME to give information anonymously.

The bank began putting posters on its Internet web site two months ago. There were some 5,000 visits to the poster page in October.