I’m going to talk about something here that I have very strong feelings about. Topping that list is shame.
It happened on Monday, and I could respect the “tragedy plus time” comedy rule and write this a month or a year from now, but fortunately, this is not a tragedy. And my new BFF Asst. U.S. Attorney and scam expert Lisa Feldman suggests that I tell my story sooner rather than later to help others.
I’m listening to her friendly advice not only because I agree that one of the saving graces of going through hard sh*t is sharing what we learned to help other people. Not her words. But also because she has been available to me twenty four hours a day for three days, regularly sending me informative texts that all close with, “IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT.”
Okay, sure. But…really? Isn’t it?
I’m not going to share every detail, but here’s what in high school we used to call the Cliff notes.
On Monday at 12:45 pm I got a text from the “Wells Fargo Fraud Department.”
It looked legit, and because I wanted to shut this down ASAP I responded with N for No. My phone rang thirty seconds later.
“This is Michael …. on a recorded line from the Wells Fargo Fraud Department. SInce you did not authorize a wire transfer in the amount of, $8,930.68? It is clear your account has been compromised. Someone has your account and routing numbers. We need to change this immediately so you don’t lose any of your funds.”
For context, I was in a car on my way to a meeting. Even though we don’t keep our life savings in these family accounts, I certainly didn’t want anyone stealing what was there. He then walked me through the process of transferring the money to a Chime account, “a partner of Wells Fargo,” to keep it safe. After we did that he’d be able to issue new account and routing numbers. This is when you are likely rolling your eyes, because I had never heard of Chime so I wouldn’t know if it was a Wells Fargo partner or not. Sounded plausible. I think it’s important to note that I was rushing and not at my computer. Impatience was not my friend.
I asked several times, “Is this really Wells Fargo?” The man on the line, who sounded like any guy you would meet in L.A. responded with seasoned confidence, “Ma’am I have been in the fraud department of Wells Fargo for eleven years, I have helped many many people in your situation. I got you.”
The situation escalated from there. He was able to transfer the money ultimately to an Apple Cash card - overriding texts that came in. He then asked if I had any other accounts with Wells Fargo. I also had a line of credit I have never used for a larger amount. “You’ll definitely want to clear that out,” Michael warned, “Or they will for sure use that.”
If you want to hear more of the details leading to me holding $9000.00 in cash in my bag withdrawn from a Wells Fargo to help the FBI catch corrupt tellers who are giving out account information, please come to the webinar Laughter On Call is hosting on July 31st at 1 pm. It will be an exclusive interview with the aforementioned Lisa Feldman.
If, like me, you are judging this situation as being so absurd and wondering how I could have fallen for it, I’ll share this message from Lisa:
“Like so many other people, you were the victim of a crime perpetrated by sophisticated financial predators. As I’ve learned from years of prosecuting transnational cyber and phone scams, these scams are extremely sophisticated and manipulative and are committed by highly organized groups overseas.The scammers are experts at “social engineering” and spend all of their time learning how to defraud people; overseas scammers now use AI and/or consult with psychologists to figure out the best ways to manipulate people. They know that when people are scared (hence, the reason they scare people), they literally cannot think straight and they take advantage of that; it all seems to make sense at the time. For these and many other reasons, literally everyone can be a victim, even extremely financially savvy people.” If you’d like to read another cautionary tale that went viral from a financial reporter here it is.
When Lisa and I talk at the end of July, we will outline exactly what to do if you or anyone you care about has been victimized. In my case, which is precisely what it is now, I filed a police report classified as “Thief by Trickery,” which my son said he’s going to call his new band, have appealed to the real Fraud department at Wells Fargo, cancelled all my accounts, and filed a report with FTC.
I’m awaiting a response from Wells Fargo about reimbursement. There is something called Regulation E that protects people from electronic transfers that are done by coercion. Also worth knowing about.
One last detail. Yesterday I met with the Wells Fargo Fraud team. Half an hour before I was sent a text message by them. Here’s what it looked like. If you have a minute to scroll back to the text sent by the scammers, you will see the only difference is the use of the words YES and NO.
Please take an hour on July 31st to hear Lisa.
