HIGH POINT, N.C. — Almost everyone has had someone try to scam them out of their hard-earned money. In many cases, it starts with a phone call, email, or text.
“He received an email that stated there was suspicious activity on our account, I told my husband not to click the link and to call the (phone) number on the card,” Patricia Wilkerson said.
Her husband did exactly what she suggested and called the bank on the back of the card. A representative answered and told him someone from the fraud department would call him back.
A few hours later the couple received a call alerting them that fraudulent activity had been detected, and the bank was taking the necessary steps to stop the fraud and keep their money safe. The only problem is that the person who called was the scammer. The scammer was posing as a bank employee and told them to give them 48 hours to resolve the matter.
They also told the couple they’d send a link with a new passcode to reset the compromised passcode. The Wilkerson’s, thinking the person they were talking with was from the bank, provided them with the new passcode.
A couple of days later Wilkerson called to make sure everything was caught before any money was stolen, only to discover about $2,500 was missing from the account.
Wilkerson immediately filed a complaint and asked for a full refund. She sent a formal letter and then waited a couple of weeks for a response.
“We were told the claim was denied, three times we were denied (on our claim),” Wilkerson said.
After the claim was denied multiple times, Wilkerson contacted WFMY News 2 for help. We called the bank in hopes of better understanding what happened. A representative explained what their investigation uncovered and that the claim had unfortunately been denied.
The bank claimed the Wilkerson’s played a role in the scam by inadvertently providing the scammers with that new passcode. That mistake played a major role in the scam and the loss of $2,500 but we pointed out the bank also may have played a role.
Remember when the Wilkerson’s initially called the bank and were told someone from the fraud department would call them back? That call never came and the money wasn’t stolen until the next day.
The bank conducted another investigation and while it still maintains the money was stolen because the passcode was provided by the Wilkerson’s it did decide to refund the money.
“We contacted News 2, you made a call, and we got our money back,” Wilkerson said. “We went through the proper steps; we called the number on the card (and we) never received a phone call back.”
The money was placed back in the account a few days later.
This case is a good reminder to never provide anyone with a passcode or banking information unless you are positive it really is a bank employee.