‘I completely earned my trust,’ says Wells Fargo customer who discovered $7,000 missing from account – ’employee’ had crucial details

A SPOOF call seemed authentic to a Wells Fargo customer, but it was actually a crafty scammer who stole $7,000.

Danielle Addicott, of Park City, Utah, 33 miles east of Salt Lake City, received the hoax call and became convinced that someone was trying to make fraudulent charges on her credit card.

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The scammer pretended to be Wells Fargo along with a scare tactic to get Addicott to provide personal information.

“Someone in Texas was trying to increase my card by about $2,000,” the alert message stated, Addicott told the NBC affiliate KSL.

Addicott was convinced of the scam because the scammer already had important information about his account.

However, the information Addicott provided during the call was likely the missing pieces to actually transferring the $7,000.

“She totally gained my trust – made it seem legit,” Addicott said.

“She already had my birthday and the debit card number we were talking about.”

BAMBUZLED

The fraud occurred while she was on a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, to see a show, KSL reported.

This turned out to be even more unfortunate because Addicott spent her money while on vacation, but her card was denied due to lack of funds, she told KSL.

Addicott discovered that $7,000 had been taken from her account and eventually learned that she had been scammed.

She figured this would be a clear case of fraud when she reported it to Wells Fargo.

But that turned out not to be the case and made the incident more complicated for her.

Wells Fargo originally told Addicott that her fraud claim was denied because the scammer made it appear that she withdrew the funds herself.

“Unfortunately, your claim was denied because there is no proof of fraud,’” Additcott explained what Wells Fargo told her.

Addicott said he even provided all the details, but was starting to lose hope that his $7,000 wouldn’t be returned.

“Honestly, I was very frustrated.”

“I had all this information, all this proof, that I didn’t make that transaction.”

She contacted the local news station for help in combating the situation and obtaining justice.

Bank tips to avoid 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

The local news station contacted Wells Fargo and questioned how Addicott’s case was not considered fraud.

Additcott also provided additional information and Wells Fargo ended up declaring the scam a fraud and returning most of his money, KSL reported.

“We worked closely with our customer and after receiving additional information, we were able to reach this resolution,” Wells Fargo told KSL.

Addicott is not alone, as it is common for scammers to use confusing tricks on their victims.

A California couple was also convinced that fake fraud was taking place on their account, which led to the loss of thousands of dollars.

“Once they hacked our email name and password, they were able to directly access our account and start working on it,” the husband told the CBS affiliate. KFMB.

“I said, there must be some kind of glitch in the system. It must be a mistake.”