A WELLS Fargo customer watched helplessly as $20,000 was drained from their account after they were targeted in a sick scheme.
It all started when the victim received a message that he thought was from his bank, but it turned out to be something more sinister.
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The scammer sent a message to the Wells Fargo account holder in December 2023 asking if a charge on their card was legitimate, authorities told Georgia affiliate ABC WJCL.
When the victim responded “no,” she was told that a fraud investigator would call her to follow up on the charges.
As promised, a supposed fraud investigator called the victim and asked for his banking information over the phone.
The customer thought he was communicating with his bank and handed over confidential information.
The alleged scammer, 44-year-old Logan Edward Shanahan, allegedly added the victim’s debit card information to his cell phone.
He then went to five different Wells Fargo branches in North Carolina and was able to obtain cashier’s checks totaling more than $20,000, deputies said.
Shanahan was arrested this week and charged with 13 felonies, including identity theft, financial card theft, forgery, financial card fraud and obtaining property by false pretenses.
He was taken into custody in Georgia but will be sent back to North Carolina to face charges.
BLOW ROCKET
Scams are becoming more elaborate and common in the United States.
The United States Postal Service warns against different text messaging scams called “smishing.”
Smishing, similar to phishing scams, is an unsolicited SMS message.
“Victims will typically receive a deceptive text message intended to trick the recipient into providing their personal or financial information,” the statement said. USPS warn.
“These scams often attempt to pose as a government agency, bank or other company to lend legitimacy to their claims.”
Scammers typically trick victims by saying their account has been suspended, a package is waiting for them, or there is a problem with their shipping address.
A similar scenario happened to Minnesota resident April Hegna.
Hegna received a message from Walgreens about a suspicious $500 purchase made at the drugstore chain, an NBC affiliate KTTC reported.
Hegna then received a call from a number corresponding to her bank.
When she answered, the other person on the phone claimed to work at the bank and even sent her a code from a bank email.
Days later, Hegna learned that $9,300 had been drained from his account.
The educational website Banks never ask this describes exactly how to detect if you are being scammed.
The site warns against responding to strange phone numbers, urgent notices or requests, strange grammatical or spelling errors, requests for personal information, and suspicious links.
Top tips to avoid bank scams
As scams become more sophisticated with the use of artificial intelligence, it is important that you know how to identify them:
- Be skeptical of online businesses that seem too good to be true, especially on social media.
- Scammers often use tactics to make you panic so that you make quick decisions – be cautious if you are asked to take immediate action and check who has contacted you.
- Chase Bank warns customers to “never return any unexpected funds without calling Chase first.”
- Never send money to someone you’ve only spoken to online or on the phone, as this is likely a romantic scam.
- Unless you know 100% who you are talking to, never give someone remote access to your device.
- Never accept help from strangers at ATMs and always be careful when making withdrawals.
- Do not send money or click on links that indicate you have won a prize.
Source: Chase.com
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
