Officials are warning customers about scammer calls that could deceive them into draining their bank accounts.
The FBI said scammers are increasingly posing as banking staff or law enforcement officials in order to steal money from people, Fox Business reported.
“The agency has said spoofing and phishing schemes are designed to trick victims into providing sensitive information, such as passwords or bank PINs. Suspected cyber-enabled scams can be reported through the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center,” according to the report.
Chase customer Jennifer Lichthardt told ABC7 how she was tricked out of $40,000 by a spoof-calling fraudster.
“The first call I got, it was the number on the back of my Chase debit card, and it said Chase fraud department,” Lichthardt said.
The scammers pretended to call from her bank and claimed they were assessing accounts. They reportedly claimed to represent the bank and even the FBI.
“They read me my account number. They had my account balance down to the penny,” Lichthardt said. “They had fake FBI agents that gave me an agent number.”
Lichthardt said the scammers ended up talking her into moving the $40,000 in her Chase account to a supposedly “secured” Chase account at her local branch and to move thousands of dollars more to another online bank. She said the money soon disappeared after she complied and she reported to scam the next day.
“We urge all consumers to ignore phone, text, or internet requests to move money or gain access to their computer or bank accounts. Banks and legitimate companies won’t make these requests, but scammers will,” Chase said in a statement to ABC 7.
Susie Allgood said a scammer convinced her to send $5,000 over Zelle to keep her money “safe.”
“I think that each case needs to be looked at individually because, did I send the money? Yes, I did. I will admit to that. But I was also instructed by somebody who had the last four of my bank account, had my phone number,” Allgood said.
“And in order to continue to receive, continue receiving money to and from Zelle, I had to upgrade my Zelle account to a business account,” Allgood told ABC 7. “Because he said he was from Zelle and working with Huntington Bank. So, why would I not believe him? He already had my routing number.”
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned consumers that it is always a scam when someone reaches out and tells them to move their money to “protect it.”
“Never transfer or send money, cryptocurrency, or gold to someone you don’t know in response to an unexpected call or message,” the FTC website states.
“And in order to continue to receive, continue receiving money to and from Zelle, I had to upgrade my Zelle account to a business account,” Allgood told ABC 7. “Because he said he was from Zelle and working with Huntington Bank. So, why would I not believe him? He already had my routing number.”
Neither woman had received a refund from their banks at the time of the local news report’s publication. Banks often cover certain kinds of fraud, such as someone stealing debit card information. Banks never call customers and ask them to send money, according to the report.
The FBI said scammers will track down banking information by dumpster diving or sifting through the dark web and will use it to target people.
“When somebody is calling pretending to be the FBI, the victim then thinks they are in trouble. They are already frazzled, and when they are making these decisions, the criminal then starts to rush them more. The more they are rushed, the more decision-making they make last-minute,” Robert Richardson, a special agent with the FBI Chicago Field Office, told the local news outlet.
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