‘It rocked my world,’ says Chase customer who was in hospital when she got a phone alert – and $27k was gone in seconds – The US Sun

A CHASE Bank customer has been reeling after $27,000 mysteriously disappeared from her account.

The Florida woman was in the hospital when she received the shocking news.

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The scam started when Karen Roe received a call from a man who identified himself as a Chase Bank employee last year.

Roe believed the call was legitimate, as the caller ID on her phone indicated that the call was from Chase Bank.

“We need to verify a transaction that’s been processed on your account,” Roe recalled the scammer saying, according to CBS News.

The man said he was calling to verify a $71 transaction that was made at a Walmart in New Mexico.

“I said, ‘absolutely not.’ I said, ‘I’m in Orlando. I’m not in New Mexico. I haven’t been to New Mexico,'” said Roe, who owns a countertop installation business.

The scammer then claimed that someone was trying to wire transfer money out of her account.

He said he could stop the transaction but needed to verify her identity over the phone.

“He said that he was going to send an authentication code to make sure that it’s me on the other end of the phone,” Roe said.

The Florida woman read the man back the code, but later realized she made a huge mistake.

The scammer was able to use the code to authorize a $27,000 wire transfer out of her account.

The money was gone in seconds.

“It totally rocked my world,” Roe said.

That isn’t all the scammer took though.

He stole an additional $19,000 that Roe managed for a nonprofit group, per CBS News.

Top tips on avoiding scams from a bank

As scams become more sophisticated with the use of artificial intelligence, it is important you know how to spot a scam:

• Be skeptical of online deals that seem too good to be true, especially on social media.
• Scammers will often use tactics to make you panicked so you make quick decisions – be cautious if you are told to take immediate action and verify who has contacted you.
• Chase Bank warns customers to “never return any unexpected funds without calling Chase first.”
• Never send money to someone you have only spoken to online or by phone as this is likely a romance scam.
• Unless you 100% know who you are talking to, never give someone remote access to your device.
• Never accept help from strangers at an ATM and always be vigilant when making withdrawals.
• Do not send money or click any links indicating that you have won a prize.

Source: Chase.com

“That wasn’t even my money. That was the members’ money,” Roe said. “

“And I just was sick, was sick to my stomach.”

After investigating the incident, Chase determined that Roe was the victim of a scam.

Chase also said the wire transfers were authorized and that they “received calls verifying the wires as valid, so they “processed it as you instructed.”

Roe has blasted Chase Bank and said she feels unfairly blamed for the scam.

“They’re not taking responsibility for what is happening to their customers,” she said.

Chase has since told CBS News that it does reimburse customers for authorized transactions if finds that a customer had no part to play in the transaction.

However, in this case, Chase determined that it would not reimburse the money because the transaction was “authorized.”

Millions of Americans are losing money via fraudulent wire transfers each year.

The problem has become so widespread that the government has started pressing banks about what they’re doing to stop the fraud and protect American banking customers.

The U.S. Sun has reached out to Chase Bank for comment.

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