Wells Fargo customers targeted with terrifying call – they were transferring $150,000 when bank made crucial move

A COUPLE banking with Wells Fargo was trying to move $150,000 when the bank noticed something didn’t seem right.

That’s when Wells Fargo alerted a local county sheriff’s office about a suspected scam happening in their western Kentucky home.

The couple was contacted by someone claiming to be Special Agent Alexander Parker with the Department of Investigations, according to a Facebook post by Carlisle County Sheriff Officer Sheriff Gilbert.

A scammer told the couple their computer was being used to access child porn and that their identity had been stolen.

The only way the situation could be remedied, according to the scammer, was by moving $150,000 into an account that they could monitor.

That’s when Wells Fargo stepped in to say they detected something fishy.

On April 11, the bank contacted the Carlisle County Sheriff’s Office, according to Gilbert, where they alerted law enforcement about a call they felt seemed suspicious.

Wells Fargo said it sounded like the couple was being pushed into moving money.

The sheriff and a chief deputy began looking into the situation.

The scammer even sent the couple a photo when they asked to prove their legitimacy, according to the sheriff.

As the sheriff investigated, he said he found the phone line had been connected for over three hours.

The scammer continued to call the couple back even when they repeatedly hung up.

Gilbert then detailed his attempts to deal with the scammer firsthand.

“I told them that I would disconnect the call and if they called back, they could speak with me,” he said.

Gilbert said after he revealed who he was to the scammer, “the conversation went extremely south.”

Disconnecting the phone and blocking the number was not enough, according to Gilbert who said the couple’s computer began displaying an update, signifying the scammer was trying to find another way.

The sheriff then disconnected the computer from the internet and unplugged it.

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.

“Absolutely no law enforcement agency, federal, state, or local will ever call you and ask for any money to be wired or transferred,” Gilbert said, cautioning against ever giving out personal information over the phone.

“I will be completely transparent here, the likelihood of them being caught and punished is next to zero!” he wrote in closing.

The sheriff provided readers with a few crucial tips to avoid scams like the one he’d seen.

He advised readers to disconnect their phones, block the numbers of callers, and disconnect any computers from Wi-Fi if they suspect they’re being reached by scammers.

If the information has already been given to a scammer, Gilbert instructed users to contact their financial institutions to freeze or change accounts.

He also said to change passwords for any online accounts and advised users to wipe their computers.