Financial columnist, Charlotte Cowles, describes the terrifying experience of falling victim to an elaborate phone scam that ultimately led her to putting $50,000 in cash in a shoe box and giving it to a stranger. #CNN #News
I delete all calls from any caller that is not on my approved list. It is insane that this woman let herself be trolled, but she surely should have known better.
re: "People STILL answer their phones from UNKNOWN numbers?" exactly, if/when one takes the time analyze the "basic mechanics" of the greatest scams in History (like say from a Law Enforcement or Fraud Department perspective) you quickly see a "recurring theme" in that what all the greatest scams ultimately REQUIRE (and even the small ones) is that their victims be "willing participants" in the scam... people should also regularly reference Websters for the dictionary meaning of the word DECEPTION, because you likely didn't review this as one of your "vocabulary words" back in Elementary or High School.
They can spoof ANY # to appear to be CIA, FBI, Visa, even a family member on your Contacts list now. Someone called me using the # off the back of my credit card.
If you're being threatened by the FBI or CIA, tell them you want a lawyer and will only talk with a lawyer present. Don't talk to any authority without a lawyer present
Guess she never watched an episode of Law & Order or any other police or legal show. The weird thing is, she said one of her friends is an attorney. Why not hang up the phone and call him for advice?
Neither of those agencies call people and threaten them. That should have been the first red flag. Get off the phone. If you think the call was legitimate, which it wasn't, call the agencies and ask them about it. And stop answering unknown phone numbers. I was starting to get up to 20 spam phone calls a day. I didn't answer them. I just saw the unknown numbers on my caller ID. Then I stopped caller ID. No more spam phone calls; no more seeing the numbers. Just end it.
Putting 50K in cash in a shoebox wasn't a possible red flag that you might want to contact the police? What kind of shady shit do you have to be in to think that way.
Amazon never calls their customers and if someone tells you someone made an unauthorized purchase on your account then you can go to your order history to see if anyone made an unauthorized purchase. Also, whenever you make a purchase on Amazon you will receive an email pretty fast that shows you made a purchase
@@katec4096 got the same scam phone call, but she was ballsy to say "you can check your account to make sure it's not a scam". But I didn't have to check my account to realize she was trying to manipulate me by the worried/hurried sound in her voice, as if I were supposed to "Do Something" ... "Right Now!" because of what she was saying. The tone of her voice and the swift, hurried urgency was the big red flag. She claimed there was an unauthorized purchase in the amount of 1000 dollars, but I wasn't worried... she seemed REALLY WORRIED, it was as if SHE lost the thousand dollars. So I did my Indian accent, and told her the great yogis would witness her karma while she's scamming people. I then berated her for wasting my time.
Not true. charges were made to my Amazon account for seven months of unauthorize charges before I caught it. The amount was so minimal that I did not catch. The charges are being disputed but Amazon won't respond to me because I blocked the charged and shut them down. Lesson" pay attention to your statements every month. Lesson learned.
How could she not know that the CIA deals with America's foreign affairs, NOT consumer finance? Did she not take government or civics classes in high school????
They isolated her. This could happen to you. Don’t think you are so never going to let this happen to you. It’s what you don’t see coming that gets you. Believe me. I’ve been scammed twice. I believed a statement presented as the truth and it was a lie. Wow. One of the scams was a timeshare in Canada. The timeshare went to court and changed the contact is signed. I could no longer afford the “new” added fees and I lost the $12 thousand dollar buy in and 30 years of use. Who knew? Nothing I can do.
@@victorboyi6383 it does sound outrageous. It’s hard to explain. A box? This is hardly believable. But listen again to her story. It’s not like they walked up to her and said give 50 grand in a box and I’ll keep it safe. This was a process. Very cleaver people put a lot of energy into tricking and deceiving people. I hope it doesn’t happen to you. You will feel stupid and probably never mention it to anyone. This lady is just giving us a heads up. The scam that gets you won’t look anything like this one.
There was a commenter on the article in NY Mag who wrote that they thought that she made up this whole story to get a book deal. Seems maybe credible....
I've received voicemails telling me "The IRS is suing you." A lot of foreigners don't know how the US government works. They would never call you about money owed, and they wouldn't use the words "suing you." It would most likely be an audit. I just ignored them, and *surprise, surprise* nothing happened. 😁
I say, hang up on the call, then check your bank account balance and download a copy of your credit report from one of the 3 credit bureaus to verify any purchases of property or vehicles under your name and social.
@@louniece1650 well what she did was stupid. She should have hung up, verified the accounts on her own then called amazon back herself to verify this. She panicked and it made her lose her common sense.
I’m not giving her a pass. The information they had on her is the stuff floating around the internet. Home address, last 4 digits of her social security number…. Speaking to a stranger on the phone presents a problem for both parties. How do you know if the person is who they say they are. Therefore, it is perfectly acceptable to tell anyone who claims to be law enforcement that you don’t discuss things like this over the phone. Besides, a quick google search would have told her the CIA doesn’t conduct domestic investigations, they are an intelligence agency.
that is actually more realistic story of what happened here. She is either trying to scam gov.out of taxes or trying to get it away from her husband for later use@@davidseal8375
re: "I just never answer the phone." bingo, it never crosses many people's minds that scams don't ONLY have to be "short-circuited" in the middle...? or close to the end...? no, but one can more effectively "short-circuit" a scam IN THE VERY BEGINNING (ie, before it even starts). also ref: Linear and Sequential Thinking.
When you're fully aware it's a scam from the very start, it's fun to just kinda mess with them and keep them talking for a while -- every minute they waste talking to you is a minute where they're not getting paid by successfully scamming someone else... that seriously ticks some of em off too haha! :P
@@olencone4005 Exactly. Several years ago, both my husband and I would get these people calling us offering an extended warranty for our cars. I have a 1966 Ford 100, which is anything but show quality and my husband has a 1972 Datsun 510 in better shape, but still nothing to brag about. When they'd cal and offer us a warranty, we'd be like "Oh, that's GREAT NEWS. Yeah, my 1966 Ford Truck doesn't have a warranty and I would love one." They would cuss and hang up. It was hilarious to troll the troll.
I got 3 calls from bank of america and they told me that a guy opened up an account under my name in cali. And i just hung up because i knew that bank of america will never call you
Why not actually outline exactly what happened? This is the most vague story. Good intentions but how can we avoid this if we don’t even know how this transpired? Who called first? What did they say? How did it get to the handing over of money in 5 hours? Oh, so many questions. Andy Cohen recently shared in detail how he was scammed and that was very helpful.
my take is that if she told all the details and 'threats' and all, she'd look more stupid than "i fell for a scam but they were devious and also threatened my family." could be she's on the show attempting damage control. i see no other reason to risk your finiancial career by admitting to something like this. EVERYONE knows by now that there's scammers. WE KNOW. the only thing helpful after that is to know about certain ones! like, i get text messages from "UPS" telling me my package has been delayed. all the damn time. even when i've ordered nothing. it's fisching, just like with email. you look for 1) plausibility 2) URGENCY 3) threats or timelines 4) misspellings or links that go to unexpected places (just read the email address don't click) 5) requests for money. 6) emotionally charged language
@@jxhensley2243 ok know it all, so you tell me, under what pretense did they call? “We know who your son is now give us all your money, meet us at the corner bakery.” ??? How exactly did they convince her to pull cash out and hand it to them? How did that exchange go down and where? Exactly. You don’t know jack either.
Probably people who have recently fallen for scams. She can provide consultation with less of a feeling of shame. But yeah.. she didn't help her career.
I was educated in cyber security and this is so bad that I can't even feel bad for her. That is the worst, most obvious type of scam and one simple call to her bank would have cleared that all up.
She also could have checked her credit report from one of the 3 credit bureaus. If people are buying 9 vehicles and 4 properties using her identity, those purchases would immediately show up on her credit report because her social would have been used.
I don't answer calls from unfamiliar numbers anymore. It's usually a spam or scam call. If it's truly important, they should be willing to leave a voicemail and I would get back to them very soon. If no message, it's noise.
yup they will leave a message. or followup with a text. they started doing text spam, too, so now you have to ignore that as well. i get fraud stuff claiming to be ups and a package is lost or needs info about my address. like...... "B1TCH all i order from is *amazon* and you can bet they know where i live. in fact, just got a package today. so, go get fkkd."
I don't look at emails much anymore. I live in Thailand and there are Chinese gangs that kidnap Thais to make them work at scam call centers, and so of course the telecom companies can stop this but they're behind it, too. So, when it comes to calls, nope. Emails, nope. The only way to really verify anyone is by my website or Instagram. Those are the only two places I really do business. Facebook I've done away with because indians have ransacked it like crazy.
@@scribe712 You and Liz are both right , as you already know - the shoe box is a HUGE red flag. HOW could she not understand that? By the way, I need your annual charity contribution put in a shoe box and delivered to me - please hurry! I will give it to your favorite charity on your behalf. LOL.
@@LizFromDecencyUnited I'd start the "what kind of shoebox" conversation.: I have the plastic one with a white lid you can buy at Target, or would you rather have the Easy Spirit one that I get from Costco with the attached flip-up lid, oh wait, I have a Nine West one with pretty flowers on it from Kohl's, maybe I should use the Justin Boot box that my husband has. I could go on for 30 minutes. I'm pretty much an asshat when it comes to phone scammers.
Anytime anyone feels they are being scammed they should contact authorities locally and the local FBI Office. Scammers use fear and the vulnerable need to use their smarts to slow the progression.
@@timmaloney6441 The "authorities" could stop this in a day. I guarantee there are politicians getting kickbacks, because if this involved drugs or abortions or any other thing the government cares about, they would threaten trade sanctions or worse with any country involved. And we all know the one that is the most involved.
I live close by the police department and wouldn't hesitate to call if someone threatened me on the phone. I have a brother who just works for the FBI and another who retired from Homeland Security after previously working for The Justice Department. I'd call either of them if necessary.
I worked in a bank for many years and money isn't that complicated........There are many, many financial advisors who have gone to jail for using your money for their gambling addiction.......You won't see that money again.......People are way smarter at managing money than we think we are and we make very good decisions on investing when we know how hard it is to earn that money in the first place.......If you invest in gold, blue chip shares and real estate in nice areas you can't go to wrong........One thing I also absolutely hate is when my partner and I want to change our home lean to another bank THE FIRST THING they ask is 'what mortgage broker are you with?"........All mortgage brokers do is find a cheap home lean rate out there for you of which they might no give you the cheapest option because they only get commission from certain banks.......I tell them we are doing the paperwork ourselves and it is like the bank lender doesn't compute.......I have heard them say " but you have to be going thru some mortgage broker".......Um, NO YOU DON'T !
Yes, very poor reporting. If one of the reasons to air this story was as a public service message to prevent it happening to others, then it failed miserably. They hook you in with $50,000 in a shoebox, then do not explain. Shame on you CNN.
This is why I never answer the phone anymore! The world is full of wicked people. I feel awful for this woman and I applaud her for her courage to speak up and warn others.
Please answer your phone. We've been worried that something bad happened to you. Some of us thought you died. We've been calling you every day for several months with a very special offer just for you. Answer your damn phone!!!
There are so many RU-vid videos exposing various scams, it still surprises me that people are unaware of them and fall for them. Even if you're not familiar with the scam du jour, the overall feeling of "something doesn't smell right here" should be a guiding principle for all but the most hopelessly gullible. If you're on Facebook or other social media, _obviously_other people are going to be able to find out personal information about your location and your friends and family.
I received a call from the local PD (even showed their number on caller ID) telling me they were about to issue a warrant for my arrest and I immediately suspected it was a scam as police don’t give courtesy calls telling you this. The lady of course was trying to tell me I had to immediately pay some fines so I simply asked her for a callback number. She hung up on me.
Right. The PD calling a potential suspect would be a stupid thing to do because the potential suspect could try to flee right after the call. It makes much more sense for the cops to just show up with a warrant at the house.
@@Milkyway0.07 That never crossed my mind but I did call the local PD to ask them about the warrant call. They themselves indicated there are scams such as this, but they couldn’t tell me over the phone if I had a warrant, I would have to come in to check which is hilarious. It turned out there was no warrant or situation, so yeah, a scam.
GIVE ME A BREAK! Don't try to insinuate that since "other people" who are considered "professionals" were also scammed, this somehow gives "you" the "professional financial analyst" a pass. In fact, these scams are not really hard to detect or to avoid. Checking your accounts regularly OR checking them "yourself" when there are any possible issues, will help you to avoid many of these scams.
It's nice that she's going public and raising public awareness, although you'd have to have been living under a rock for the last 20 years to be unaware of these scams. I probably get 10-20 phone calls/emails/texts on a weekly basis from one scammer or another. The sense I get from this interview is a deflection of responsibility for her own actions via a series of statements like: "There's no stereotypical scam victim" What about naivety and/or hubris? Many educated, professional people get scammed simply because they think they're too smart. "Scammers are really good at what they do" If that were the case, their success rate would be much higher. Just because You were successfully scammed, doesn't mean they were good, just that they were better than you. Accept that and move on. Somehow being home alone made her more susceptible? Is she Macaulay Culkin? I'm assuming she left the home in order to get the $50 000 in cash. I wonder what the outcome would have been if they'd asked her for $50 000 in gift cards? It's unfortunate that she lost that money, certainly, particularly since such scammer successes not only encourage the scammers, but fund future scam endeavors. Maybe they could have used this opportunity to discuss measures that the government could implement in order to protect people from such scams. That would have been useful.
How can the government protect people from their own stupidity and lack of awareness??? This type of scam has often been reported - if this chickie didn't know about it, it's her own fault that she got taken.
Well said. I am sorry for her, but it really doesn't make any sense that she fell for it. Professionals are usually trained to be skeptical by trade. Plus, Amazon will never call you if you didn't schedule a call with their customer service.
No. This is not like a regular scam. If this hasn’t happened to you, you do not know. They know all the right things to say and do and with a comment like this you’re clearly underestimating them.
To the contrary, I don't under estimate them. I'd surely hand out $50 000 to anyone that told me they were from the CIA and needed the money to safeguard it from theft. I'd also surely not ask for ID or a receipt for the money. I had the $50 000 all ready to go, actually, but I was all out of shoeboxes, sadly, so the the transaction fell through:( Maybe next time I'll be more fortunate.@@kseniaeverton8088
I don't look at emails much anymore. I live in Thailand and there are Chinese gangs that kidnap Thais to make them work at scam call centers, and so of course the telecom companies can stop this but they're behind it, too. So, when it comes to calls, nope. Emails, nope. The only way to really verify anyone is by my website or Instagram. Those are the only two places I really do business. Facebook I've done away with because indians have ransacked it like crazy.
i was just thinking that. a lot of the "sensitive information" is stuff plastered all over social media. (the SSN tho.... that's a little different could be unprotected wifi at cafes or something though, or easy to guess passwords.)
Some scams don't happen online. Beware of the girl guides who sell cookies at your door! It happened to my aunt Mary in Canada. She almost died after eating every cookie in the box.
Exactly!! The reason these scams keep going is because people answer unknown phone numbers and then carry on conversations with these scammers. Why would you even think to do that in the first place??
She's naive. Anytime someone over the phone tells you that you can't reach out to anyone because you are being surveilled should be a big red flag. Immediately hang up the phone. I never answer a call from a number I don't recognize. If a message is left I don't call back the number that they left, but rather I look up the number to the agency or department and call that number and inquire about the issue. No credible agency or department is going to call you for money unless it's a creditor. In that case you know whether the request is genuine.
I wouldn’t buy those tacky shoes, BUT I’m voting against the braindead Marxist puppet who’s costing every American family $12k more per year for the same basics, massively inflated from just 3 years ago.
@kissmyaxe531the money is going to a man to pay for his fraud... fraud is the legal term for a scam. These shoes pay for the legal consequences of a scam. But tell me more about the buying power of the working class in Biden's economy. 😂
So number one is never talk to the scammers, unless, of course, you know what you’re doing, and you know you’re being scammed. Remember, the scammers are calling you for a reason, because if they could just take your money, they wouldn’t bother calling you. So they’re calling you because they need you to do something and that’s what she did. She fell for the scam, and they got her to do something that they couldn’t do themselves, which is to go into her personal bank account and withdraw the money, that should have been the red flag, even if she had missed all the other flags, that should’ve been the flag that said to her, you’re being scammed, so end the call, and call the cops. Capeesh!
A tip: If someone contacts you that you are a victim of identity fraud(even if it's your bank, your wife, the King of England, or a Russian bot), and you believe the message, you WILL become the victim of fraud! Always contact the said company involved separately AND from a different phone(in case they cold call and THEY don't hang up: meaning they would still be on the line even if you dial another number)
I read the article she wrote in NY mag about the experience. There has got to be something psychologically wrong with her to have bought this crap. At no point did the scam seem credible. At no point in the story did I say "Yeah, if I were in her shoes, I may have been duped too." I also think her husband has been more understanding than she deserves. When you have a husband and child, giving a huge amount of money away impacts them too.
Yep, I wouldn't fall for it that easily. I world tell them I want to look into it first. No one, including the CIA, should pressure you into a financial decision within hours. I think the real CIA would understand if you needed more time. Giving money to anyone is a tough decision that you don't make that quickly... at least people who have been on Earth longer than 10 years.
I’m not giving her a pass. The information they had on her is the stuff floating around the internet. Home address, last 4 digits of her social security number…. Speaking to a stranger on the phone presents a problem for both parties. How do you know if the person is who they say they are. Therefore, it is perfectly acceptable to tell anyone who claims to be law enforcement that you don’t discuss things like this over the phone. Besides, a quick google search would have told her the CIA doesn’t conduct domestic investigations, they are an intelligence agency.
funniest shit ever. Unless it's a marked policemen who I have visited at th e main branch in Bangkok, Thailand, ain't no fuking way I believe a soul. Lol
While I will say that this particular situation was unusually well constructed, and honestly seemed like it was target'd specifically at her .. there were so many red flags along the way, even things they said right off the bat that make no sense and it only got crazier the longer she talked to them. There was no reason to believe them.
"Unusually well constructed"?? Are you serious? It was so unbelievable, I'd be embarrassed as the perp coming up with this ridiculous scam, cause my fellow scammers would laugh at how ridiculous it was!😂
When you've toiled and poured your blood sweat and tears into EARNING your money...believe me, you're more protective of IT than you are protective of even your children. This woman would NOT have so easily parted with her money, if it was HARD EARNED!
@@robertmuckle2985 Please tell us what your in-depth research revealed about her finances and work history. Surely you wouldn't make such a ridiculous statement without at least some facts.
On the phone with them for 5 hours she said. That's some smooth talking. I'd would have liked to hear the scammers CIA war stories while he conned her without remorse.
@@jsk7591 The facts lie in her frivolous and flippant handling of her own money! When you have strived in life having EARNED every single dime, you don't suffer fools gladly, and would NEVER fall for such a ludicrous scam! Show me you haven't earned your own nest egg by disagreeing with this age old FACT!
I think they intentionally left out SO MANY details like how they instructed her to withdraw money from the bank, etc. so that she wouldn’t look even worse than she does. Why are so many details missing?
She didn't explain exactly what the conversations were from the scammer, but after 5 hours I would think you might just hang up and realize it was a scam. Or when someone on the phone tells you to withdraw money from your account, all kinds of red flags would go off esp if they said it was for/from the CIA?
I’m sorry to hear that. That’s why I wrote my book “Grandma Don’t Click that Link” to help people learn before they find themselves in this type of predicament.
4 yrs old advice: "don't take candy from strangers" 30 yrs old advice: "don't hand strangers shoeboxes full of $50,000 cash". Her calendar has more goose eggs on it than the national debt, yikes! 😂😂😂
The day I saw DJT and the Russians in the Oval Office, sending the US translator out of the room, I was convinced he was a traitor. I called him the Traitor in The White House ever since
@@managua67DTS only affects weak & gullible GQP snowflakes. If you don't own a red hat or send money to self-proclaimed billionaires, you probably don't have it.
So do you think your hate problems stem from eating paint chips, being dropped on your head, or both? When you watch the movie Deliverance, do you see a mentally challenged kid or biden playing the banjo on the porch?
Number 1. NEVER ANSWER the PHONE If you do not know the phone number. 1a. DON'T OPEN EMAILS. If you do not know who it is from. 1b. NEVER OPEN TEXT MESSAGES. If you do not know who it is from! Stop falling for this crap. You can research phone numbers online if you don't know the phone number.
That's why scam calls will never end. Why are you even answering the phone in the first place if you don't know the person, don't recognize the phone number. But, people keep talking to these scammers, so it will continue on and on forever. Use your head people and stop talking to strangers and giving them more information....cripes. Is it that hard not to anwer the phone?
I am glad she had the courage to tell the story, even if it seemed embarassing. More people need to know what tactics they are using so they can resist.
Not always a good idea since someone you know could be calling from a different number. Had that happen plenty of times. Even had people from my doctors' offices call using their cellphones because they were working from home due to the pandemic. Missed some important calls because of that.
If you get a call from someone claiming to be from Amazon, do not return call to the incoming number. Call Amazon directly. If they claim to be from your credit card company or bank, call the number on back-of the card. Every parent’s vulnerability is her/his children.
How close to home this hits.. about two weeks ago, somebody called me pretending to be from Amazon. I was lucky in that I kinda knew that Amazon would never call somebody in regards to an order they had placed so as soon as I sensed the stench of a scammer, I had a few choice words for the person to whom I was speaking and then I hung up on him. He was a foreigner so I don't think he understood much of my vulgarities. I was pissed and made sure that he knew it
Same here. They couldn’t even be consistent in why they were calling and wanted me to open the app. Be careful answering in the future, they can still hack that way.
All the public has to do is search Google for more details about her story. Not sure why more people don't know or do that after watching RU-vid videos.
@@scribe712 definitely not scared to Google, however if they are doing a news story on her and what she experienced, they should have had the whole story on how she was scammed.
It should be embarrassing. No one should fall for a scam like this. I can't help but wonder if this here is a scam. Maybe a book is coming out? Not a single call to a cop or person face to face. Did she have some insurance and this is a part of that claim?
My husband and I have three phones; two cell phones and a landline. We NEVER answer the phone, which forces the caller to leave a message or just hang up. If a message is recorded, it allows us the time to analyze it. Nothing is foolproof, of course, but I feel it’s helped us avoid the scammers.
People who have no need to hide things don't get worried when they have a stranger telling them that "they are in trouble and need to pay up to keep things quiet."
God bless this woman for telling her story! It takes courage to do this. These awful human scammers know how to manipulate otherwise intelligent and cautious people. Be careful everyone!! And go to hell you awful scammers!!!
❤🥶 _”Embarrassing” is me actually getting locked out fully nude on Valentine’s Day after my bath at my grandparents basement laundry door when I was trying to let the cat back inside my towel got caught on the door. Had to walk barefoot in the snow around the house to find the front door doorbell for my grandfather to let me back in._ ❤️🥶🙈😡
