A CONSUMER has lost thousands of dollars in savings after a banking scam left her empty-handed.
Initially, the bank refused to help her recover the money thinking all was well.
Denver resident Megan Holt invested over $7,000 in savings with a banking company called SoFi — just to have it all drained.
SoFi is an “all-in-one” online banking service that manages over 10 million customers, according to its website.
“I’m only depositing money and not using the card to make any other purchases. So, it’s solely for savings,” she explained to KUSA’s Colorado affiliate, Tegna.
After several mysterious transactions, Holt received a call from her bank, notifying her of the periodic withdrawals.
“They had done 19 transactions between $100 to $900. They did it almost like every day,” she said.
A whopping $7,363 was transferred to an unknown person.
After reporting the incident to her bank, Holt was able to freeze her accounts while SoFi conducted an investigation.
Initially, the bank found no signs of unusual activity since the hacker accessed Holt’s personal account effortlessly.
Holt admitted that many of her passwords were identical at the time.
“They said that it doesn’t look like there was a struggle to get into the account, to get the password and get in,” Holt said.
Following a tip-off from KUSA’s Consumer Investigator Steve Staeger regarding the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA), Holt successfully reclaimed her funds.
The EFTA was intended to protect consumers from unauthorized electronic fund transfers.
The law was passed in 1978 to provide a system of checks and balances between consumers and financial institutions.
“Keeping our members’ money safe is a top priority,” a SoFi spokesperson wrote to KUSA.
Bank tips for avoiding scams
As scams become more sophisticated with the use of artificial intelligence, it is important you know how to spot a scam:
- Be skeptical of online deals that seem too good to be true, especially on social media.
- Scammers will often use tactics to make you panicked so you make quick decisions – be cautious if you are told to take immediate action and verify who has contacted you.
- Chase Bank warns customers to “never return any unexpected funds without calling Chase first.”
- Never send money to someone you have only spoken to online or by phone as this is likely a romance scam.
- Unless you 100% know who you are talking to, never give someone remote access to your device.
- Never accept help from strangers at an ATM and always be vigilant when making withdrawals.
- Do not send money or click any links indicating that you have won a prize.
Source: Chase.com
“We encourage members who are concerned about suspicious activity to immediately contact SoFi and provide information that allows us to fully investigate,” they wrote.
According to EFTA, consumers who fell victim to a scam have 60 days to dispute suspicious transactions.
SoFi did not immediately reply to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.
Federal Trade Commission data shows that consumers lots over $10 billion to fraud in 2023 — an unprecedented high.
This is a 14% increase over reported losses from the pervious year.
In 2023, consumers reported losing over $4.6 billion to investment scams.
The same year, consumers cited losing more money to bank transfers and cryptocurrency than all other methods combined, as stated in the report.
“Digital tools are making it easier than ever to target hard-working Americans, and we see the effects of that in the data we’re releasing today,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
“The FTC is working hard to take action against those scams.”
