A BANK of America customer feels sick when she recalls the horrifying feeling of watching over $20,000 vanish from her account.
Amy Kelly, 65, was on the phone with a man named Justin Turner, who had claimed to be a customer service representative from the Bank of America fraud department.
Amy Kelly says Bank of America has done ‘nothing’ to help her[/caption]
Kelly’s art outside her studio[/caption]
Amy Kelly’s art studio in Maine[/caption]
He claimed the bank was getting in contact to prevent an unauthorized transaction from occurring the next day.
It was 4:30 pm on September 5, and the small business owner was flustered and tired from a long day helping customers in her art studio.
“I was starting to panic and all my logic just went out the window,” Kelly told The U.S. Sun.
“And then I see it go right out of my account.”
Turner, who turned out to be a scammer, claimed that she was at risk of losing up to $23,000 and that she must share her screen with him on the phone to execute a wire transfer to “protect” her funds.
Kelly allowed the scammer to log into her account and steal the money out of it.
The Maine woman knew she had been a victim of a scam when the man on the phone told her she did not need to visit a Bank of America branch to make sure it was “done properly.”
“He told me not to go into a branch and that it was all taken care of,” Kelly said.
“That’s when I knew I had been scammed.”
Kelly immediately went to her local Bank of America branch where she waited for six hours for the branch manager to address the issue.
But six hours later nothing was resolved.
It’s now been almost three weeks since the incident and Kelly claims that Bank of America has been “useless.”
The scam victim was advised by the bank to get a lawyer, and to fill out Scam Victim escalation paperwork.
“I don’t understand, it was really strange that it is not a priority.
“They haven’t been helpful at all. I just don’t believe they did right by me.”
A Bank of America spokesperson said the institution was currently attempting to recover the funds from the receiving bank for Kelly.
But Bank of America said there was no certainty if the funds would ever be recovered even after the Scam Victim Acknowledgement was signed by Kelly and seen by The U.S. Sun.
“Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the financial institution still has your funds on deposit or will take action to comply with our request on your behalf,” the bank said.
Bank tips for avoiding scams
As scams become more sophisticated with the use of artificial intelligence, it is important you know how to spot a scam:
- Be skeptical of online deals that seem too good to be true, especially on social media.
- Scammers will often use tactics to make you panicked so you make quick decisions – be cautious if you are told to take immediate action and verify 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 by phone as this is likely a romance scam.
- Unless you 100% know who you are talking to, never give someone remote access to your device.
- Never accept help from strangers at an ATM and always be vigilant when making withdrawals.
- Do not send money or click any links indicating that you have won a prize.
Source: Chase.com
“We have no control over how long it will take the other financial institution to respond to or act on our request.”
Kelly is furious with the bank given it could not keep her money safe and will not commit to guaranteeing the funds.
She has transferred all her money into another banking institution after being a Bank of America customer for over 23 years.
She attacked the major bank for spending billions of dollars on marketing rather than helping their customers.
STAYING SAFE
Cybersecurity expert Maria-Kristina Hayden warned consumers they must immediately report any successful fraud attempt to their local police department as well as their bank.
Hayden, who is the founder of cyber resilience company OUTFOXM and was formally the Head of Cyber Wargames at global financial services company BNY, also suggested older Americans to contact the National Elder Fraud Hotline for personalized support and resources.
Hayden said all Americans should educate themselves and their relatives against scams and fraud.
“We can’t be prepared if we don’t know what’s out there.”
“Encourage your relatives to be suspicious of digital messages, phone calls or even snail mail from strangers and to come to you before they make any donation or financial transfer.”
Hayden added it was important to ensure online bank accounts are secured with unique passwords and multi-factor authentication.
The U.S. Sun covers all things banking and finance.
The U.S. Sun previously reports on scam issues and fraud.
