One of the scariest things when it comes to cyber security is having money stolen from your bank accounts.
Sadly, it seems that the more comfortable people become with online transactions, the more sophisticated scams become in order to steal their money.
So far, we knew about scammers sending emails requesting money pretending to be a relative or some authority, we even knew about cases where people had been tricked into sending money in gift cards.
But these days, scammers have gotten even smarter, and falling into their traps is easier than ever.
Lately, there have been more than 70,000 complaints about payment apps claiming $130m of losses due to scams.
Fraudsters send their targeted victims emails or messages, and sometimes they even call them, pretending to be legitimate banks, like Bank of America or Wells Fargo, and asking for money.
One of the victims, Kylie Watson, had been working for months to save money for her maternity leave. Sadly, she wouldn’t be able to use that money because it was gone in a moment.
Watson received a text message notifying her that there was a “fraud alert”, and asking her if she had authorized a payment of $3,500. After replying “no”, she received some follow-up calls.
The special education teacher searched online and found out that the number calling her was indeed from Wells Fargo, so it only made sense to answer the call. However, this turned out to be a big mistake.
“He wanted me to log into my Wells Fargo banking app, click on Zelle, and then I saw two transactions, and the money was gone,” Watson told Good Morning America.
Unfortunately, when the young mother asked for a refund, it was denied. And then more Wells Fargo customers started complaining about losing money through their Zelle accounts.
One of the customers lost $1,700, while another one lost $3,500, which was all her savings.
Similarly, people having accounts with the Bank of America have been targeted by scammers lately, with many of them losing significant amounts of money.
Like Demi Woods of McHenry, Illinois, who lost $3,500, after answering a call she thought was from the bank.
As the woman points out, the scammers are making the whole thing look very legitimate and people can’t imagine it’s fraud.
“They even said over the phone, ‘whatever code you get, we are not going to ask you for so don’t tell me the code.’ So I don’t know how much more legit it could sound,” she said.
The FBI warns that scammers will ask you to send money to your own account via Zelle. Remember, you should never do that.
“You think it’s safe; you’re sending money to an account that has your name on it, that does not mean anything, that’s very easy to spoof,” said Siobhan Johnson, special agent and public affairs officer for FBI Chicago. “They can pretend to be your bank, they can pretend to be your money transfer app.”
So, next time you receive a text, email, or call from your bank, make sure you don’t reply. Instead, look at your bank account, check the bank’s number on their website and call them yourself.
Find out more details about these new scams in the video below.
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