A COUPLE were left devastated after $10,000 was drained from their bank account.
The company’s owners called the experience “incomprehensible” as Truist Bank has yet to recover the missing thousands.
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Business owners Joyce and Stan Fox sell promotional products from their home in Sarasota, Florida.
In February 2024, the couple discovered that thieves had tried to steal $30,000 from their bank account.
While the first withdrawal of US$20,000 was stopped, a transfer of US$10,000 was made and sent to the culprit’s account.
After months of trying to get the money back, Truist Bank said they were unable to return the $10,000, the couple said.
Read more about Truist banks
According to the bank, Truist was unable to recover the money from the recipient’s account.
Joyce called the experience “incomprehensible” in an interview with local ABC affiliate WFLA.
“All of a sudden, you find out that someone might have access to your account and might take your money and not get it back,” she told the outlet.
“This is unheard of for me. It’s incomprehensible to me.”
Before the $30,000 attempt was made, the couple said they received a call from Truist Bank.
They were informed that someone tried to use their business account to send money via Zelle.
The bank stopped Zelle’s transactions, froze the couple’s account and asked them to go to a bank branch.
As they ran to the bank, two transfers of $10,000 and $20,000 were made.
Joyce said $5,000 of the remaining $10,000 went toward sales tax and payroll taxes his company owes the government.
BANK’S RESPONSIBILITY
Following the incident, Truist Bank released a statement to WFLA, saying: “At Truist, protecting our customers and their accounts continues to be a priority and we take any potential fraud concerns seriously.
“All financial institutions across the country are facing increasing fraud attacks by criminals. The Federal Trade Commission recently reported that consumers lost nearly $10 billion to fraud in 2023, an increase of more than 14% from the previous year.
“That’s why Truist continues to diligently educate our customers about current fraud schemes and how to protect their identity and immediately report cases where they believe their identity has been compromised.”
Joyce and her husband, however, were left without answers.
She said a transfer like the $10,000 transfer typically requires a PIN for authorization.
She also questioned how the transfer was made if her account was frozen after Zelle’s request.
“They removed it without our permission,” she said.
“I don’t understand how they can justify not giving us the money back just because they didn’t get it back.
“We didn’t tell them to pay anyone.”
WFLA spoke with a consumer watchdog who believes the couple’s loss should be covered by the Electronic Funds Transfer Act.
The expert they spoke to encouraged anyone suffering a similar loss to first notify their bank and then file a report with police.
Victims should also file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if their bank does not respond quickly enough.
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 have 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
Customers around the world have had similar problems with various banks.
Businessmen Ray and Tashike Rogers almost lost $1,000 when a Truist Bank ATM seized all of their cash.
Canadian businessman Joe John nearly lost $40,000 after it disappeared from his TD Bank account in September 2023.
According to TVC NewsJoe claimed one of his checks was duplicated and loaded onto a cell phone account, despite the owner saying he doesn’t use mobile banking.
After TD Bank began an investigation, the bank refunded two of the eight checks, but Joe was still missing $38,300.
Joe said the bank didn’t return his money because he didn’t report it within 48 hours.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
