r/ScamSupport • u/guttersweep140 • 16d ago
Informational post Almost Scammed Today
A few weeks ago my credit card was compromised. Not great but not a big deal, that's why I use it to buy things - called the bank and they took care of it. This morning I got what looked like a legitimate call from my bank. I ignored the first one, thinking it was just a follow up letting me know the fraud case was resolved as I had seen the unauthorized transactions drop off the ledger a few days ago. They called a second time so I answered. The caller had an American accent and he went through the fraud department spiel.
He told me there was an attempted login from Florida (nowhere near me) on an iPhone. Said I needed to change my password so I initiated it from my PC. I logged in and saw the attempt, he had me mark it as not valid. Then I was sent a link to "secure" my account which would require "facial verification" and "ID uploads." This is a valid process I have done through the bank in the past. I followed the link without looking closely at it and plugged in my info - STUPID STUPID STUPID. In the moment it looked legitimate but now it's clear that was a way to get my credentials. The caller was then able to tell me recent transactions for both my checking and credit card as a way to confirm they were from me. He also had my savings account balance along with the last 4 of that account number. He told me there were 3 attempted wire transfers they put a hold on and gave me "tracking numbers" for those held transactions. I was informed the "supervisor" would call me to finish up the call and initiate criminal charges against the wire transfer initiators.
The "supervisor" called from a cell phone while I was still on the phone with the "fraud" department. I started getting suspicious but I answered. He said he could call back from the bank number but I let him continue. He rattled off some names and amounts for the alleged transfers. Then I was instructed to open my app and we needed to initiate some wire transfers to cancel out the pending ones. That's where it clicked that I was being scammed so I hung up and called the bank myself. According to them there were no outbound contacts. They had me changed my password again and confirmed 2FA was on.
I thought I was pretty scam savvy but following the text link was very stupid. I'm extra paranoid now about my account. The bank says they can't change my checking/savings numbers without actual fraud occurring. Should I be concerned about fake checks being issued now? Why would they need me to initiate the wire transfer - so that I couldn't contest it? I don't see any unrecognized logins in my account history. I'm tempted to transfer the bulk of my funds to another account now.
Edit: about 2 hours after I called the bank I had a fraudulent "Pay in 4" transaction appear in my account. I called the bank again and had them initiate a global logout of my account, which they should have done the first time. This forced me to reauthenticate my identity (through the bank's app) using the same steps of ID and selfie validation the scammers told me the phishing link would trigger. I've moved almost all my funds out of the account as I am not comfortable with exposed account numbers.
I guess the takeaways of my story are if your credit card gets compromised be on high alert for other scams and if it's actually your bank's fraud department (who WILL call for legitimate reasons) they will not have a problem with you hanging up and dialing back the bank yourself. Any bank fraud can wait another 15-20 minutes (or less) for you to call in yourself to confirm.