My Scam Story: Do As I Say, Not as I Do!

I am a “mature” woman. Although I am retired, I do not think of myself as old. I exercise several days each week in a well-equipped gym – an hour on the stationary bike at high resistance and 10-15 minutes of rowing strokes. I also walk 4-5 miles at least two times a week. I hike when I can. I would swim if I didn’t need to watch my sun exposure due to years as a sun worshiper.

I pick up my grandkids from school two days a week and cherish our times together as well as the opportunity to catch up with my son and daughter-in-law. I keep in touch with friends and four sisters who live near me and spend quality time with at least two people every week. I am in a committed relationship with a wonderful man, and we love and support each other and our respective passions. We love to travel and explore new places together.

I am retired from a rewarding career in the financial field. I spent over 30 years trading securities, managing portfolios, and advising clients. During the COVID isolation, I wrote a book for beginning women investors called How to Dress a Naked Portfolio: A Tailored Introduction to Investing for Women. Although not a best seller, I am happy with its reviews and the stories of how it educated and helped beginners and seasoned investors alike.

I was valedictorian of my high school class and my bachelor’s degree in economics came “with honors.” I keep up with what is going on in my community and in the world. I am very much like all of you. I am active, social, stable, and smart. So, the story I am about to tell is both embarrassing and painful.

I was scammed!

How It Started

As I think back on the last month, I realize that the fraud really began with an email from “UPS.”

I ordered some Olympic souvenirs for my grandkids and was anxiously awaiting their arrival. The same day I expected delivery, I received an email, supposedly from the post office, saying that a package could not be delivered due to an incomplete address. Panic!

After supplying my full address, I was prompted to pay a nominal fee – less than $1 – and entered information for a debit card which was denied, I entered a credit card number which was also denied. At that point something in my memory kicked in and I searched online to see if this was reported as a fraud. It was! I immediately called and cancelled the two cards. I felt very stupid but was glad that no fraudulent charges had been placed on either card. I monitored my accounts even more carefully than normal and soon received new cards in the mail.

My need to go through this would not have been necessary, however, if instead of panicking I had given the situation more thought. One of the packages was being shipped directly to my son’s house and the other was supposedly out for delivery. The email and the need for my address was fraudulent. I overlooked my own golden rule: does it make sense?

That should have been the end of my story, but it was not.

The Fraud Continues

What happened next is painful to recall and even more painful to share, but I do not want this to happen to you. My fraud story started again, about two weeks later.

I stepped off the plane in the Midwest, anxious to reunite with my partner. We had been separated for two weeks and, to say the least, it was wonderful to see his face again and share big hugs and kisses! We planned to spend two weeks visiting family and friends and then have some time together – a mini-vacation.

As we left the airport parking garage, I checked my texts. One was from my bank asking me if I used my ATM/debit card for a declined transaction at a particular store in California. I was in the Midwest and of course responded that I had not. I immediately received a text that the Fraud Department of my bank would be calling me shortly. A couple of minutes later, I received a call.

The first thing I did was ask for verification that the caller was calling from my bank. I was told to look at the back of my debit card and compare the customer service phone number printed there to the incoming caller’s number. They matched. (The bank’s phone number was spoofed.)

I told the caller that the debit card used in Bakersfield had been deactivated and another reissued. He gave me four numbers and asked me to confirm they matched the first four numbers of my new card. They did. (The first four to six numbers are a card’s Bank Identification Number.)

He did not ask for the rest of the new debit card number, and I did not offer it. (From those four numbers, however, he knew that the new debit card was from the same bank as the cancelled card.)

That’s When Things Started to Go Downhill

He told me that the card had been denied at multiple locations in California and with a sense of urgency, described what his team needed to do to verify and disable the card and confirm that my accounts were safe. (If I had been thinking clearly, I already knew the card number had been disabled – weeks ago – and could not be used.) The steps he described required accessing my account information on their computer.

I asked for the man’s name, and he would only give me his first name. I asked for his badge number, and he gave me one. (It turned out that it was a valid badge number, but not for this person.) I am ashamed to say that I shared not only my account password but, with some pushback, the security codes sent via text. What can I say but that this man was very convincing, and I was stressed and not thinking clearly!

I asked to speak with his supervisor and another man came on the phone for a brief period. All through this conversation, my partner and I were on the road. About this time, we pulled over, my partner got out of the car and called the bank. A recorded message said that it was not a valid number. He tried again and the call went through. After going through the normal security questions to verify my identity, I was directed to hang up on the “fraudster”, which I did immediately. I asked for all my accounts to be frozen and reported in detail what had transpired with the fraudsters. We also stopped at a branch and confirmed that our accounts had been frozen.

It was too late, however. The fraudster had combined all the cash in our accounts and wired it out to his or someone’s account. My bank reported the fraudulent wire and requested the return of the funds, but the money was gone and will likely not be recovered.

The Result

Not only did this put a damper on our vacation, but I also spent hours online changing passwords and usernames and automatic payments both into and out of the frozen accounts. My immediate goal was to protect my remaining assets!

Once we arrived back home, I spent more hours following up on rejected receipts and payments. I’ve talked several times with a legitimate Fraud Manager at my financial institution. Because I gave out my account security information, I am responsible for the loss.

The loss of our money hurts, but what hurts more is the feeling of being violated and vulnerable. Those of you who have had a purse or wallet stolen, your house broken into, or been the subject of identity theft, know those feelings. They do not go away overnight. I will not live constantly in fear, but I will be more cautious and diligent. If I had stopped to think – Does it make sense? – none of this would have happened.

My Warning to You

Beware of texts, emails and phone calls that don’t seem legitimate. If something does not seem quite right, trust your instincts. When this happens (I seem to be on the “gullible” list now), I go online and check my account, or I call the financial institution directly using a phone number that I trust. I also reported my experience on ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Please, please learn from my experience, and, if a situation arises, try not to panic so you can think clearly! Ask yourself – does this make sense?

Questions:

If you have been the subject of fraud, what suggestions do you have for others? At what time were you able to identify the scam? What clues helped you?