couple loses life savings in wire transfer fraud

[stinkynuts]

You may get a text from a phone number from your bank. However, scammers can spoof these numbers. \

Basically, anytime you get a text or email from your bank, ignore it. If you receive an alert that your account is being defrauded, check your account online, or call the bank directly using the number on the back of your card.

Basically, all your personal information is already out there on the internet, and is being sold. Right now scammers have the following information about you:

Full name
address
phone number
date of birth
sin number (most likely)
employer
friend/family names/personal photos (from social media). Your pictures can be used to create fake IDs for Identiy theft.
your bank/credit cards you use
a list of websites you visit
your internet service provider
your phone provider

 

[stinkynuts]

What's really confusing is that when you check your messages, the text from the scammer is listed under the same thread as previous, legitimate messages from your real bank. This makes the message seem 100% authentic, but the scammer simply spoofed the phone number, and the message was added to the end of the real ones. This is what happened to this poor woman.

If you have a large amount of money, it could all be gone with just one mistake. This is becoming increasingly common, and scammers are becoming much more sophisticated, and with AI it will be even worse.

 

[stinkynuts]

 

[stinkynuts]

One of the worst things you can do is use the same password for all your websites. Let's say you create an account at Bob's Discount Party Supplies and use the same password you usually do for everything else. Well, this site is very easily hacked, since security is weak. All of the information you entered in the form to create the account is now stolen by hackers and sold on the dark web to scammers. They now have your password, and can now access your bank account.

Your bank account should have a unique password that is complex, and not duplicated anywhere else among all your other accounts that you have. Ideally, even the phone number linked to your bank account should be a fresh one that has never been entered in any forms you filled to create other accounts or orders.

 

[SchlongConery]

Lost in all this is the stark humanity in the reality that people lose their entire life savings. in these scams. Every day. Broke.

Can you even begin to imagine being in their shoes or how devastated they must be? The anxiety and grief? I've heard anecdotes where the victims of these crimes feel so stupid and hopeless that they take their own lives.

 

[stinkynuts]

Lost in all this is the stark humanity in the reality that people lose their entire life savings. in these scams. Every day. Broke.

Can you even begin to imagine being in their shoes or how devastated they must be? The anxiety and grief? I've heard anecdotes where the victims of these crimes feel so stupid and hopeless that they take their own lives.

Yes, all it takes is one lapse of judgment. These scams are becoming incredibly sophisticated, to the point where AI can mimic a full conversation with you in the voice of a close one, and then get you to send them money, or reveal sensitive information.

Imagine working 40 years every day and losing everything to some scumbag in a third world country, who will squander it.

That is why the facebook scam was such a big deal. Facebook has an enormous amount of data about you. They know all your personal information, what time you wake up to check your messages, how many times you log on and when, where you travel, what hotels you stay at, what restaurants and shops you visit, etc. That wealth of information is worth billions, and they were selling it to third parties without your permission. If Facebook ever got hacked, it would be a catastrophe. Personal messages between people, and very sensitive communication could be leaked on the Internet for everyone to see. This alone should be a reason to delete your Facebook account.

 

[stinkynuts]

This 82 year old grandmother lost her life savings when she sent a scammer all her money. She took her own life.

 

[stinkynuts]

After the age of 60, seniors become even more vulnerable as their mental faculties diminish, and they are not aware of sophisticated scams and the technology being used. They end up losing everything, and more and more are killing themselves.

You and I are internet-saavy and know not to respond to a fake message. But imagine an 80-year old who is alarmed to receive a message that her bank has been overdrawn, there have been fake charges on her credit card, a package she was expecting needs to be picked up, or the she owes taxes to the CRA. It just takes one time to reply back, and from there it's over. They get conned and lose everything they've worked for.

Even middle aged adults are falling for ever sophisticated scams. It is entirely possible to wake up tomorrow and see your bank account empty, without you knowing it. Make sure to take the right precautions and for God's sake, never ever give personal information over the phone, and never respond to any messages, no matter how legitimate they may seem.

 

[Muchadoaboutnothing]

After the age of 60, seniors become even more vulnerable as their mental faculties diminish, and they are not aware of sophisticated scams and the technology being used. They end up losing everything, and more and more are killing themselves.

You and I are internet-saavy and know not to respond to a fake message. But imagine an 80-year old who is alarmed to receive a message that her bank has been overdrawn, there have been fake charges on her credit card, a package she was expecting needs to be picked up, or the she owes taxes to the CRA. It just takes one time to reply back, and from there it's over. They get conned and lose everything they've worked for.

Even middle aged adults are falling for ever sophisticated scams. It is entirely possible to wake up tomorrow and see your bank account empty, without you knowing it. Make sure to take the right precautions and for God's sake, never ever give personal information over the phone, and never respond to any messages, no matter how legitimate they may seem.

My grandmother has gone to the bank three times
now to send money to scammers and thankfully, bank tellers inform her of this. She fell for the scam of the people
calling from jail saying it was me and my other cousin. almost sent ten grand for “bail
Money” even though my cousin and I are very clean people lol. Another scam through email for a fake
charity. The cra arrest scam a few years ago.

 

[stinkynuts]

My grandmother has gone to the bank three times
now to send money to scammers and thankfully, bank tellers inform her of this. She fell for the scam of the people
calling from jail saying it was me and my other cousin. almost sent ten grand for “bail
Money” even though my cousin and I are very clean people lol. Another scam through email for a fake
charity. The cra arrest scam a few years ago.

Your grandmother needs to have her access to her bank cut off immediately before it happens again. She has been lucky that she was stopped by the tellers. Sorry to hear about this, it's becoming all too common.

 

[Jenesis]

My grandmother has gone to the bank three times
now to send money to scammers and thankfully, bank tellers inform her of this. She fell for the scam of the people
calling from jail saying it was me and my other cousin. almost sent ten grand for “bail
Money” even though my cousin and I are very clean people lol. Another scam through email for a fake
charity. The cra arrest scam a few years ago.

My dad’s computer was hacked and they sent 10K from his line of credit to his chequing account to prove they had “access” to his account. Then they wanted him to send the money back via gift cards and stuff. They said they were from Bell and trying to stop Russian hackers from stealing his money.

He is not allowed to do large transactions without my approval so he called him to explain and needed me to drive him to “pay back Bell”. I knew right away and called the bank and got all his account frozen until we could make it in. I was in Cambridge at the time it happened. I’m his POA so I have signing power and control on everything.

When the scammer called him back to see when he is going to get the cards, my dad of course told him off. The man then asked him for $50 or something saying he won’t get paid today because the scam didn’t work. Or something stupid like that. Begging my dad to give him something. It was nuts.

 

[Muchadoaboutnothing]

My dad’s computer was hacked and they sent 10K from his line of credit to his chequing account to prove they had “access” to his account. Then they wanted him to send the money back via gift cards and stuff. They said they were from Bell and trying to stop Russian hackers from stealing his money.

He is not allowed to do large transactions without my approval so he called him to explain and needed me to drive him to “pay back Bell”. I knew right away and called the bank and got all his account frozen until we could make it in. I was in Cambridge at the time it happened. I’m his POA so I have signing power and control on everything.

When the scammer called him back to see when he is going to get the cards, my dad of course told him off. The man then asked him for $50 or something saying he won’t get paid today because the scam didn’t work. Or something stupid like that. Begging my dad to give him something. It was nuts.

Thank you for the notice. I’ll keep an eye out for this. Both of my grandparents are now being monitored as they are very susceptible to this sadly. I’m so sorry anout this happening to your dad and you. It’s so embarrassing and shameful when you realize. I literally also thought the cra was going to come and arrest me (don’t know if you had that scam happen). And I felt like such an idiot when I rationally put all of the pieces together.

 

[Muchadoaboutnothing]

Your grandmother needs to have her access to her bank cut off immediately before it happens again. She has been lucky that she was stopped by the tellers. Sorry to hear about this, it's becoming all too common.

Yes limits have been put. The new issue is she’s been using Facebook marketplace which is where scammers are getting information (likely how they got my name and my cousins ) in addition to phone numbers and addresses. She hasn’t been shown how to be discreet with private information on social media. The devil isn’t always just at the door

 

[rhuarc29]

Ever since my brother was scammed of a few thousand dollars through a rental scam when I was a teenager, I've taken scams very seriously.
I came up with a system that makes my every password unique, but still easy to remember. I don't save my passwords anywhere on my computer, or write them down.
I use two-factor authentication whenever it's available. And I have a dedicated email address for the more important institutions (like banking and investments).

I've only had two issues in my life. One, where Cineplex was hacked and someone from Quebec stole my points. And one where an online clothing store I had used to buy my girlfriend some gifts was hacked and my credit card information was stolen (which my bank immediately acted on when a charge for $50 showed up from Tennessee). The scary part in both cases is that the companies that were hacked only publicized the hacks 4-6 months after I was affected. Which means they failed to inform their users that their data was compromised for AT LEAST that long!

Scams are only going to get more sophisticated from here, especially once AI gets added into the mix. Protect yourself and your parents as best you can, as they'll be even more susceptible to these scams.

 

[stinkynuts]

Ever since my brother was scammed of a few thousand dollars through a rental scam when I was a teenager, I've taken scams very seriously.
I came up with a system that makes my every password unique, but still easy to remember. I don't save my passwords anywhere on my computer, or write them down.
I use two-factor authentication whenever it's available. And I have a dedicated email address for the more important institutions (like banking and investments).

I've only had two issues in my life. One, where Cineplex was hacked and someone from Quebec stole my points. And one where an online clothing store I had used to buy my girlfriend some gifts was hacked and my credit card information was stolen (which my bank immediately acted on when a charge for $50 showed up from Tennessee). The scary part in both cases is that the companies that were hacked only publicized the hacks 4-6 months after I was affected. Which means they failed to inform their users that their data was compromised for AT LEAST that long!

Scams are only going to get more sophisticated from here, especially once AI gets added into the mix. Protect yourself and your parents as best you can, as they'll be even more susceptible to these scams.

Many people have had their entire life savings drained from their bank accounts lately. If you enter your pin number at an ATM, that PIN number can be read and stolen via a skimmer. Your voice from social media can be sampled to create a voice fingerprint to fool Voice ID. Every bit of sensitive information you sent out to fill a form on the Internet is out there floating.

My dad had his credit card information stolen and there were many fraudulent charges. Luckily, those charges were canceled.

 

[Muchadoaboutnothing]

Many people have had their entire life savings drained from their bank accounts lately. If you enter your pin number at an ATM, that PIN number can be read and stolen via a skimmer. Your voice from social media can be sampled to create a voice fingerprint to fool Voice ID. Every bit of sensitive information you sent out to fill a form on the Internet is out there floating.

My dad had his credit card information stolen and there were many fraudulent charges. Luckily, those charges were canceled.

Reading this just reminded me my dad had fraudulent charges daily for
months and it was always for
a large amount of fried chicken sandwiches which was hard to understand lol

 

[explorerzip]

My dad’s computer was hacked and they sent 10K from his line of credit to his chequing account to prove they had “access” to his account. Then they wanted him to send the money back via gift cards and stuff. They said they were from Bell and trying to stop Russian hackers from stealing his money.

He is not allowed to do large transactions without my approval so he called him to explain and needed me to drive him to “pay back Bell”. I knew right away and called the bank and got all his account frozen until we could make it in. I was in Cambridge at the time it happened. I’m his POA so I have signing power and control on everything.

When the scammer called him back to see when he is going to get the cards, my dad of course told him off. The man then asked him for $50 or something saying he won’t get paid today because the scam didn’t work. Or something stupid like that. Begging my dad to give him something. It was nuts.

Being scammed by a stranger is one thing, but by family is at a whole other level. Years ago, my aunt apparently made my grandfather's PoA irrevocable and in force immediately. His money started disappearing soon after and complainied to my uncle that he didn't have enough money to get food. It seems that auntie had other plans for his money. We were lucky that he complained and we were able to put a stop to that.