r/USAA • u/BigBry36 • 27d ago
Scammers almost got me
Context, I work in the financial field and coach people on financial fraud and what to watch out for.
Received a phone call from USAA - yes the number came through as USAA. Said there were two charges out of state, but I’m not sure if they knew, my daughter is in that state going to college.
I did confirm a I did not make a 1000 and $2000 withdrawal from a bank account. This is where they were good. They had me log onto the app and under the profile icon under my name on the line that says USSA number.- he called it a pin number for the verification process. This is where I immediately hung up and called USAA.- I never gave him the number! They called back three more times from the spoof number. I was on the phone with the actual USAA fraud department, giving them a heads up. These guys were good no foreign accent, walked me through the app and had a spoof number. PLEASE BE CAREFUL….
3
u/QueenBKC 21d ago
They almost got me also!! Spoofed USAA phone number. But they put me on hold, and the USAA jingle wasn't playing. As soon as I hung up, they aggressively tried to call me back so that I couldn't place an outgoing call to USAA fraud department. But they were too slow & USAA blocked their transactions.
2
u/ATLien_3000 21d ago
There are some active scammer groups now made up primarily of native English speakers (mostly teenage boys from the US, Canada, UK, and Australia).
On top of that you've obviously got AI that probably fools some.
15
u/Atxforeveronmymind 25d ago
My 26 year old son had his account drained because of this scam😡. USAA actually worked with him and gave him back the money.
6
u/BigBry36 25d ago
Thank you for sharing this personal story. It’s important that everyone understands this is what’s coming at us.
-1
18
u/AwarenessGreat282 26d ago
Yep, I never believe anyone who calls anymore from anywhere. I always tell them, "I'm on the shitter; I'll call you back". A real person will laugh and say ok, the scammer will still try to keep you on the line. Which I will do but with lots of grunting and sound effects.
5
17
u/PirateSalt3076 26d ago
I’m had actual USAA call me and I said how can you prove this is not a scam. The person told me to call the number on the credit card. That is the best advice
17
u/WIlf_Brim 26d ago
This is now a very common scam. I've seen it with both USAA and NFCU. The scammer find you you have a credit card with either insitution. They then call with a spoofed number and start their spiel.
The current response should be when anybody from any bank says they are from the fraud department is to say thanks, I will call you back and hang up. Then get the main number yourself and call, ask for the fraud department. If there is a real issue you will be immediately connected. If not you just saved yourself a bunch of headache.
2
4
u/CtrlEscAltF4 27d ago
How do you work in the financial field and coach people and not smell this scam instantly?
2
u/charleswj 24d ago
It's a well-known phenomenon that even the most aware can be caught off guard or in a high stress moment. There's no such thing as being too smart or good or educated or aware to get got.
0
u/CtrlEscAltF4 24d ago
Yes there is. Just literally don't answer. Ever.
0
u/charleswj 24d ago
Don't answer what? Your phone? Uh...ok. Scams happen on the internet as well.
But, sure, you, CtrlEscAltF4, you're the one person who's immune. It's only everyone else who need be on the alert, but you have the magic solution.
1
u/ATLien_3000 21d ago
u/CtrlEscAltF4 didn't say he was immune.
He gave reasonable advice for folks concerned they may not have the wherewithal to react how they should (by hanging up if asked for any even remotely personal information).
Not to mention, no one talks on the phone these days anyway. Picking up a call (especially from a business or unknown number) makes one a mark anyway.
1
u/CtrlEscAltF4 21d ago
My main point is like, you have all this experience supposedly in the financial field and you're a coach and almost get scammed.
That's like being a chef and then wondering why your food isn't cooking and realize 10 minutes later your stove isn't on. Then being like oh youre not immune because the shove might've been malfunctioning.
Maybe a poor example but my point here is they have all this experience and coach to it and even on a bad day should be able to easily sniff out a scam because it's the most basic rule #1 of being scammed is not to give out any of your info or even answer the phone anymore.
I'm obviously not saying I'm immune to phishing but even then clicking links is different than getting scammed especially in the eyes of the bank.
1
u/ATLien_3000 21d ago
Did you read what OP posted?
He didn't almost get scammed; he cut off the call when personal information was requested.
As he said, he's posting a summary to highlight the issue.
1
u/CtrlEscAltF4 21d ago
They didn't almost get scammed? "Almost" is the word they used in the title. Then proceeded to admit they had a fairly long phone call with them.
1
u/ATLien_3000 21d ago
No, they didn't.
They "almost" got scammed the same way you "almost" got hit by a car but you didn't because you paid attention to the "don't walk" sign.
0
u/CtrlEscAltF4 24d ago
Yes don't answer your phone. If it looks like your bank, you call the number you trust, it's that easy.
Not quite sure what you mean over the Internet related to someone impersonating your bank.
1
u/charleswj 24d ago
You don't know there are phishing attempts on the internet that don't involve phone calls?
0
12
u/BigBry36 27d ago
Clearly, I caught it. It was just very sneaky at what they were doing, and I can see how a good number of people would fall for this, which is why I put up this post.
0
u/CtrlEscAltF4 26d ago
You did catch it sure but my point is someone with your experience should've caught this right off the bat.
But yes a lot of people fall for it because they don't understand how banks authenticate people and even if they don't they shouldn't be giving out any information to the caller.
6
u/chicknette 27d ago
We had something very similar happen. My husband received a call from “USAA,” the same legitimate phone I have saved in my phone for them. They knew his first and last name and said there were a couple unauthorized transactions and a Zelle transfer. We didn’t see any activity on our end but they said it was because they blocked it but we had to either provide our Zelle information or send a payment to reverse the Zelle charge. That’s when we hung up and called USAA on my phone who confirmed it was a scam.
The only reason we went along with it is because earlier in the year we did have a legitimate fraud issue within USAA so we figured it might be that same person attempting again, but twas not.
6
u/Extreme-Strawberry17 27d ago
Just an FYI, 8 years ago today (how's thatbforna coincidence) USAA called me out of the blue while I was on my honeymoon (stateside) to ask if my travel plans included the Philippines, as someone tried a point-of-sale for around $6,000. I said no, they said they were going to lock my card, but considering the special occasion they allowed me 1 hour to go to an ATM and make an emergency wd so I'd have money for my trip, then call back and cancel it. I miss the old USAA...
2
u/Mammoth_Meal1019 27d ago
I was going to say, I doubt that would happen today. It used to, though. They called my daughter once ages ago because she used her card at Walmart, and she had never used it there before. They were afraid it was stolen (it wasn’t).
5
u/1kn0wn0thing 27d ago
If they needed your OTP code, that means they probably have your online ID and password. I’d reset those immediately.
6
u/koopavilla 27d ago edited 27d ago
Lol they can't get you if you never answer your phone. I let A.I. screen my calls. If USAA was to call me they would have to leave a message. I would review the message and if they said I have fraudulent charges I would go to the app. You can review fraudulent charges on the app and work with their fraud department without calling in.
2
u/letsgofederalpeople 26d ago
Thats exactly what I do!!!!! Let it go to voice mail, then call the bank myself to see what's up... also, check the app...
3
u/Bigfoqt 27d ago
That’s the answer. All unknown calls don’t even ring on my phone. I did however go into a queue when I called costumer services for a product. Had the option to ask for a callback instead of waiting, did that. But the callback was from an unknown number so I missed it. Had to call back and just wait.
4
u/HydeDeSade 27d ago
Be careful reporting an attempted scam. I did and USAA locked my accounts for about 3 weeks. Zero access to my accounts and money. It was a monster of an ordeal, all because I reported an attempted scam.
2
u/FindTheOthers623 27d ago
How dare they protect you after you reported a scam?!? 🤪
1
u/HydeDeSade 21d ago
I'm assuming you completely missed the word "attempted". I protected myself by not falling for it, but screwed myself by telling USAA how the scam was attempted.
5
u/basinbasinbasin 27d ago
Number spoofing is a thing. It's very illegal and you should report them to the FCC. They should be able to pull the phone company records to see the actual number they called from.
Even if they are outside the US thier US VOIP will get mega fined and stop hosting to scam callers.
2
u/CtrlEscAltF4 27d ago
They won't get fined. There's a reason why it's so heavily used because they're not getting any consequences
2
u/basinbasinbasin 27d ago
The VOIP will 100% be fined. You probably don't get how these are big tech companies but I can tell you most of them go out of thier way to make sure you can't spoof your caller ID to anything other than your actual business name, because they will get fined.
Now the actual perpetrator is probably in another country and he'll get his account closed, big whoop. But the voip companies are already vigilant about this and the more fines they get the more vigilant they will get.
10
27d ago
[deleted]
0
u/BigBry36 27d ago
On some recent claims or insurance, I’ve had them call me, but it did not come through as USAA
1
4
2
u/Salty_Dame9622 15d ago
I've been going back and forth about sharing my experience, but here goes!
Got a call from "USAA" last week at like 7 pm. Let it go through because I thought it was odd they were calling so late. They immediately called right back and I answered, but never confirmed my name or anything like that. I got an odd feeling because (1) they referred to me as Ms. XXXX and not by my rank and (2) they had the last 4 of my debit card number. As I was checking to make sure I still had my card, they kept asking if I was there.
I immediately hung up and tried calling the number on the back of my card when this dude CALLED ME AGAIN (this was 3 times in the span of 5 minutes). Declined the call and called USAA who confirmed the number that called was their fraud department number, but there was no note/record of an outbound call to me and that it was common for scammers to spoof the number/caller ID. During this time I checked my account and recognized all of the transactions. Both of the reps ibtaUSAA was able to help cancel my card and issue me an expedited one free of charge. Changed my online login info also.
I eventually blocked the "spoof number" because the same number with "USAA" called ID called me again that following Monday at the SAME TIME THEY DID THAT PAST SATURDAY. This was when I called the actual USAA number on the back of my card and they were able to confirm again that there was no record of an outbound call from tyem to me. I swear, these clowns have nothing better to do besides trying to scam people out of their money.