A BANK employee was told her personal account was being flagged for potential fraud in a scam that led to her almost losing $2,000.
Karen Terrill said scammers knew her name and number before she received wind from her bank that she was being charged for a purchase made in Texas.
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When Terrill got a phone call from a recognizable area code, she trusted the voice on the other end claiming to be someone from her bank.
The caller told Terrill they wanted to report a fraudulent purchase on her account and asked if she recently bought anything in North Carolina, reported local CBS affiliate KWCH.
Terrill told KWCH the conversation “sounded normal” as the caller revealed knowledge of her personal information like the last four digits of her debit card.
When Terrill said she hadn’t bought anything in North Carolina, KWCH reported that the caller asked to send her a verification code to prevent the payment from going through.
This verification code turned out to be the caller’s way of scamming her.
“They were very smooth,” Terrill told KWCH. “They knew my number, knew my name, and asked if I was who I was.”
Things quickly went south following the conversation as Terrill told KWCH she received a “text ding” alerting her of an almost $2,000 purchase made in Texas using her account.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, banking scams like this involving verification codes are all too common, reported KWCH.
Protocol typically includes scammers offering customers help when convincing them their money’s been stolen.
When scammers are given this kind of personal information, they can easily hack into an account and transfer money out.
“When I talk to individuals about what had happened, they were like ‘If it can happen to you, it can happen to anyone,’” said Terrill.
After the occurrence, Terrill told KWCH she closed her debit card the following day.
But for her to file a dispute, she was told the nearly $2,000 had to drop out of her account first, reported KWCH.
The U.S. Sun frequently covers phone scams that have resulted in a range of losses.
One elderly woman based in Georgia was devastated after being convinced to withdraw $20,000 from her bank account.
Phone scam statistics
Americans are bombarded with three billion spam phone calls a month. What are the figures regarding the number of victims and the amount of money lost to fraudsters
- In 2022, Americans lost some $39.5 billion to phone scams, with 68.4 million US citizens affected, according to TechReport.
- The average phone scam victim lost $567.41 each in 2021, a major rise on the 2021 figure of $182 per victim, according to Hiya.
- The majority of scams happen over the phone, with fraudsters twice as likely to call compared to text in 2021, as reports the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
- In 2021, the US saw a 56% increase in spam phone calls with 60% of those being robocalls.
- US residents experienced an average of 18 spam phone calls per month, although some experts believe the true figure may be as high as 31 per month.
- Many phone calls from reputable businesses may be marked wrongly as spam, but 38% of companies have no idea whether they’re being marked as “potential fraud” or not, according to Hiya.
- Never hand over any personal or financial information if you suspect a phone call is a scam. For instance, your bank will never ask you for such details in full over the phone.
- To cut down on spam phone calls and scams, sign up for the Do Not Call Registry. Telemarketers, by law, will need to check that list before they call you up.
- Downloading third-party apps such as Hiya, Nomorobo, or Truecaller can help filter out annoying spam calls.
- Try not to share your phone number unless you have to, especially online or with sketchy sources.
The woman also complained of a persuasive caller who offered her advice on how to protect her money.
Meanwhile, another woman is fighting to get the $17,382 back that she lost after a single suspicious phone call.
Despite being a Bank of Montreal employee for over 40 years, Angela Feng was still denied a refund for giving out her bank information.
“I’m not giving up because it’s too much money. I don’t want to lie down and play dead. I want them to give me my money back,” Feng told CTV News Toronto.
Anyone person who feels they’ve been scammed can report fraud through the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
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