Arizona man’s $27K savings drained after scammers ‘turned his phone into a weapon’ — what he did next saved most of it

Peoria, a man from Arizona, was defrauded from life savings in a few hours, and all began with a text that he thought was from his bank.

Earlier this year, a message from Bank of America was sent to Dave’s phone – just wanting to use the first name – 12News. The message asked Best Buy for a purchase for $ 399 and asked him to answer yes or no. “No ve and then a phone number was given to call.

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The person on the phone said that Dave’s bank account was in danger by a bank employee and instructed Dave to withdraw all funds from his account. Scammer then instructed him to use his iPhone to connect to an account. The account was connected to the apple wallets. Dave, using the card created in the apple wallet, laid the bank’s driving ATM in the account of the $ 27,000-life savings.

The next day, Dave called Bank of America’s fraud department, worried that something was wrong, but he said that the bank had nothing to do with him or the law enforcement officers – his money went.

Local law enforcement officers

Dave still searched for local law enforcement officers and joined the case. A detective was able to get account information from the bank and obtain an order to freeze accounts.

“I have never seen this before: I have never seen this before: a card to activate ATM in your wallet, to turn it directly from account portal to an account portal, Mic “They basically turned his phone into a weapon.”

Five months later, Finney was able to regain about 90% of Dave’s money. In addition, in most cases, if the crime is not reported within 72 hours, he said that the probability of recovering the money stolen is weak. The investigation is still active and followed by Finney scammer to Florida; Information that can define the scammer awaits.

How can you protect yourself from frauds

Finney said that the best way to protect yourself from this kind of deception was to respond to any text, telephone conversation, or a state institution such as E -mail or IRS or USPS. If you get a text or E -mail like this, call the number behind your bank card and check whether your account is in danger. If someone calls you on the phone, close the phone now and call the bank or the agency’s official phone number. If you feel a good rule, scared or threatened, it is probably a scam.

. FBIs The clues to avoid frauds are as follows: Do not click on anything in an unwanted text or e -mail; Set a multi -factor definition to any permissible account; Sharing online information to scammers that can give answers to your security questions such as birthdays, family members and schools you attend; And remember that companies will usually not want your username or password from you.

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How can I protect myself from digital payment frauds?

With the increase in digital payment methods such as Apple Pay, there is an increase in fraudsters who want to use technology. Although Dave’s case was rare, there was an increase in frauds using digital wallets through identity hunting, since thieves convinced him to add an account to his device.

As reported GuardianClaiming that it comes from USPS, scammers collect personal information through text messages and offer online shopping opportunities to be real. People enter their personal information after clicking a fake link. Then they get this information and open a digital wallet in your name. At the same time, they will contact you by claiming to be a bank, asking if you are trying to open an account or make purchases. The real bank will send you a verification code and the scammer will ask you to open an account by asking you to request this code.

Contains another common scam with digital payment methods unwanted payments. A target will receive payment from a random foreigner and then contact you to tell you that payment is a mistake. However, the fraud used a stolen card to send you the money. They will then change their account details to them, so that when you send the money back, they go directly to them. The original payment they make is canceled and the money you send will disappear.

Protect yourself carefully when avoiding unwanted messages and connections, changing the settings in your digital payment methods to accept payments manually and using public Wi-Fi networks. Do not enter sensitive information or do not add accounts to digital wallets while in the public Wi-Fi.

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This article only provides information and should not be interpreted as advice. It is provided without any warranty.