A WOMAN has been left scrambling for answers after $50,000 disappeared from her retirement accounts.
The 86-year-old retiree has tried for over two months to get her money back from Fidelity Investments.
Nancy Smith said she’ll continue to fight for answers until Fidelity resolves the issue.
“I’m not gonna give up, and I have decided not to die until this is over,” Smith told ABC affiliate WSB-TV.
“Somebody was asleep at the switch, somebody was not doing their job, or this would have never happened.”
Smith is a retired teacher and mother of five who lives in Fayetteville, Georgia, about 25 miles south of Atlanta.
In September, Smith discovered three new joint accounts had been created at Fidelity in her name.
Each of the accounts was linked to a different person who Smith didn’t recognize.
“Eleven different transfers had been made by these three bogus people,” Smith said.
Three people sent thousands of dollars in each transfer from Smith’s retirement savings to the joint accounts.
Then, the money was transferred out of the joint accounts to other individual accounts.
“Then they would empty their account into God knows where,” Smith said.
Smith said she never signed off on the joint accounts or the transfers.
“For them not to even give me a call or require these people to have a signature, I just absolutely cannot believe it,” Smith said.
“But it’s true.”
Smith slammed Fidelity for not helping her get her money back over two months after it was stolen.
Bank tips for avoiding scams
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- Be skeptical of online deals that seem too good to be true, especially on social media.
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- Chase Bank warns customers to “never return any unexpected funds without calling Chase first.”
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Source: Chase.com
She said a bank manager even told her over the phone to “lower her expectations.”
“My mother would be ashamed of me if I said what I would like to have said because I couldn’t go to the Methodist church after that,” Smith said.
Fidelity hasn’t returned The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.
FIDELITY UNDER FIRE
Fraud investigations can take weeks, a spokesperson told WSB-TV.
They added that Fidelity won’t discuss individual cases.
Fidelity mentioned in a statement to WSB-TV that they prioritize customer privacy. They avoid discussing individual cases openly and prefer to address concerns related to suspicious activity directly with the customers.
They also acknowledged the detrimental effects that scams can have on individuals and their families. Fidelity advised everyone to be proactive in safeguarding their accounts by regularly monitoring them for any suspicious transactions. Additionally, they emphasized the importance of contacting financial institutions promptly if anything unusual, such as receiving calls or messages from unknown sources, occurs.
Fidelity also came under fire in October after the asset manager confirmed 77,000 customers had their personal information exposed in a data breach.
