Help Pam Rebound from Being Scammed

Hi, my name is Pam. I’m a 76 year old mother, grandmother, & caregiver for my partner who has been battling cancer for seven years. In November 2021 I had my Wells Fargo bank accounts hacked. I lost my entire life savings. I cannot get a job since being a full time caregiver requires my being home 24/7. I also have my own health concerns. Friends told me about go-fund-me and I enlisted my daughter to help me out. I am hoping to raise $25,000 to supplement my retirement from my 26 years as a postal employee, which does not fully cover my monthly expenses.

 

Regardless of funds raised, I also want to alert anyone reading this as to how I was hacked so this won’t happen to you or your loved ones. When I was logging on to my Wells Fargo account to pay my bills, a screen came up over the top of the page saying my account has been compromised and I needed to call the fraud department immediately at the # given. Because I had logged into my account, I assumed it was a legitimate fraud alert. I called and was told that someone was doing on-line gambling using my accounts. In order to secure my savings, I was to get all my money out and give it to a federal agent while the bank secured my account. They used a D.C. area code (202) as their phone # to make it look official. When I met with the so-called agent on 2 different occasions, she had a valid looking ID that matched the number provided by the so-called fraud department. The fraud department then had me buying thousands of dollars worth of gift cards and giving them the #’s that are found when scratched off the back of the cards. They also had me wiring money to a different fake federal agent in California. I would eventually learn they were not in fact federal agents, nor were they from the fraud department of Wells Fargo. Once it finally occurred to me that something seemed off, I called the actual fraud department but by then it was too late.

 

I was told to report it to the local sheriff's department and to the FBI, which I did. I have not had a response from the FBI. The local detective found the fake agent in California, as the fake fraud department had provided me a photo of her drivers license but apparently they can not get my money back because she was just paid to "pick it up" and turn it over to the hackers. The sheriff also told me that this is widespread and happening on a regular basis.

 

In hindsight, I cannot believe that I fell for this. The sense of urgency made me panic. They kept telling me that I had to hurry up and get this done as fast as possible before the gamblers drained my account. Each morning for several weeks, I awaited my transfer ‘assignment’ which kept me confused and in a constant panic. I was told I could not tell anyone because it was part of a federal investigation. Do I feel stupid? Yes I feel very stupid. I am embarrassed that this happened. I am still in disbelief that this actually happened. It is hard to keep up with the technology and to know the many ways that scammers use to take advantage of vulnerable people, especially older people, like myself. And asking for help is difficult too. My advice is not to respond to anything urgent before pausing and looking up the actual number of the so called institution that is insisting that you reply immediately. Do not trust or respond to any pop up windows, emails, texts or phone messages without confirming directly with your financial institution. There is nothing so urgent that it cannot wait for formal confirmation. And please ask for support from trusted loved ones if you’re not sure. It might prevent another scam from happening.