Transcription
If you have a debit card or a bank account, you need to know about this right now. All our money is gone. There were 11 wire transfers in total. Two on our personal accounts, nine on our business accounts. We lost close to $140,000.
Normally scammers, they're going to call you from random numbers, but now they're using the exact same phone numbers that banks are using. Chase Bank immediately gave him the number to its fraud department. Uh, I received a phone call from the exact number that the branch had just given me. But what happened next was his big mistake. Scott and Kate Zo want you to know what happened to them so that it doesn't happen to you.
Every day we just wake up and feel like we're living kind of a nightmare right now.
What happened to Scott and Kate Zo began with a text to Scott's phone supposedly from Chase Alerts asking, "Did you attempt to send a wire transfer for the amount of $4,500?"
At that point, before I did anything else, I reached out to my business partners and asked if they had initiated a wire. Uh they had not. So, I then called the bank branch to see if they could see any activity on my account.
That was smart. Chase Bank immediately gave him the number to its fraud department. But what happened next was his big mistake.
At that point, I acknowledged the the text that came through said, "No, we did not initiate this wire." Um, got a text back immediately saying, "Somebody from the Chase fraud team will be in contact with you." probably within 30 seconds, uh, I received a phone call from the exact number that the branch had just given me.
What Scott never guessed is the call from Chase Alerts saying a representative will be contacting you shortly was actually the scammers who had spoofed the Chase fraud number, leaving Scott to think he was talking with Chase Bank. And at one point I even called the Chase line because the phone number dropped and I called the Chase fraud line and I was frustrated with actual Chase because they weren't uh couldn't see the conversations that were happening and within a minute, you know, the that the people that were scamming us actually called back and I'm like, great, these people know what they're talking about. I'm going to go back to this call. Scott isn't sure how, but says the scammers already had his bank account number and knew how much money he had. All they needed from Scott was a one-time passcode that he did in fact receive via text from Real Chase only to then unwittingly share it with the scammer who was pretending to be Chase Bank. That phone call would cost him $137,130.
Just wake up and start all over again to try to accept that all our money is gone. Um, and I'm not hopeful at this point in the journey that we're going to see any of it again.
The most recent FBI stats show in 2022, 405 Colorado fishing victims lost nearly half a million dollars and 467 spoofing victims lost $2 million.
The technology does exist that they can spoof phone numbers from anywhere in the world and make it look like it's a, you know, Chase fraud department. And Brian Blosser is a special agent with the FBI who says fishing and spoofing scams are getting more sophisticated by the day.
There is a special place in hell for the people that can do this to someone.
All right, so now that you've seen how fast that this unfolded, let's get into what actually matters, how to avoid this, and what to do even if it happens to you. And keep in mind, this can happen at any bank, not just Chase Bank. I'm not going to rehash the whole story that you just watched. You saw how real it looked. You saw how professional everything sounded and you saw how quickly things spiraled once the trust was established. Here's what you need to take away from this. Number one, how this happens and why any bank is at risk. This wasn't just about Chase Bank doing something reckless. This was about how criminals they're exploiting how banks communicate with you. Every major bank uses the same things. Text alerts, fraud calls, one-time passcodes, urgency language, and scammers. They know this. They build their entire operation around mirroring real bank behavior. That's why this could just as easily be any bank. Chase Bank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Navy Federal Credit Union, or any credit union. If you bank somewhere around the world, you are a target. Phone number spoofing makes it worse. Here's what they do. Criminals can make it look like a call or text message is coming directly from your bank's real phone number. That's why checking the number is no longer enough.
Next, how to avoid this? Nonnegotiable rules. These rules are going to matter more than anything else that I'm going to say in this video. Number one, never continue a conversation that you didn't start. If a conversation starts with a text message or a call that claims to be from your bank, like Chase Bank or any bank, you need to end it. No replies, no pressing buttons, no explaining anything. you start a brand new phone call using the number on the back of your card or your statement, not an incoming call. Number two, one-time passcodes are never shared. I don't care how official it sounds. If they ask you for either a one-time passcode, a verification code, a security code that was sent to your phone, that person is not your bank. Banks send those codes for you, not from you. Number three, urgency is the scam. Scammers are going to rush you because thinking kills scams. Real banks, they're going to pause transactions. They're going to lock accounts. And they're going to ask questions. But this is what scammers do. They're going to push you with speed. They're going to push you with fear. And they're going to push immediate action. You got to do something right now. And the moment that you feel rushed, you need to slow everything down. Number four, wires and secure transfers are also red flags. Any situation where someone tells you that you must move the money over, you must send a wire, or you must secure the funds by transferring them, that's not fraud prevention. That's the fraud.
What to do immediately if this happens to you. If you think that you slipped up even a little bit, here's the exact move order. Number one, call your bank using a trusted phone number. You can look at the back of your debit card or credit card, not the text message, not the call log, the number on the back of your card. And here's why. You want to tell them that you may have been a victim of fishing or spoofing scam or just say a scam in general. Step number two, you want to lock everything down. This means you want to change your login. You want to disable wire transfers or just wires in general. And you also want to add extra verification and you can freeze your accounts if needed. Speed is going to matter here in protecting yourself. Step number three, you want to file the report with the FBI at ic3.gov. This isn't optional. It creates a record and sometimes helps interess patterns or funds. Step number four, you want to reset your expectations. This part is hard, but it's going to be honest. The FDIC insurance does not cover scams. It only covers bank failure. So, wire transfers are often final. Recovery is possible sometimes, but not guaranteed.
Now, here's the bigger lesson. The people in that video, they weren't careless. They were targeted. The scam worked because it looked familiar. It sounded professional, and it created urgency. Those are the same ingredients used by every major bank including Chase Bank. Your protection isn't better apps, it's discipline. So when you get that phone call, you see that text message, just slow down and then verify independently. Never share codes over the phone or through text message or through email. And remember that any bank name can be used in a scam. If you lock in those habits, you're going to dramatically reduce the chances of this ever happening to you.