Hi, I’m going to use my microphone for this, so I don’t know how well the grammar will be, but I want to share my story and hopefully get some advice or some possible answers. I fell victim to a bank impersonating scam.
They called me yesterday morning, the day after St. Patrick’s Day, so I was definitely hung over and not on my A-game. I was having credit card issues previously, so when I received a phone call claiming to be Bank of America fraud, I believed it was Bank of America fraud. The only information I gave was my first and last name, and they seemed to know a lot. They even asked me if I had logged onto my app five minutes ago because they could see that I had, which I did, but again, that could’ve been a wild guess.
They began to ask me if I had authorized some large purchases, which I denied and disputed verbally with them. They confirmed that they would send me out a debit card and waive the expedition fee, yada yada. Then they proceeded to tell me that someone tried to do a wire inside the bank, meaning they had to use my identity. So now this was an identity fraud case, meaning I had to be transferred to an investigator. Somehow, this investigator made me believe that this was an in-branch situation, that possibly someone inside was doing it, and that I had to stay on the phone and do an in-branch wire to see if this was happening inside the branch. I know this sounds crazy. I cannot believe I’m saying this out loud. Anyways, I did an in-branch wire the whole time. I’m on the phone, and then I immediately go outside and I start crying. I just had this really bad feeling, and they kept reassuring me everything was OK.
I’m 23 years old, and that was my life savings. It was $13,500, and I’m trying to get myself through college. I was saving to go to radiology school. I even told them that. After I did the wire transfer inside the bank at maybe 12 PM, at maybe 8 PM I called my bank and realized something terrible had happened. They told me it looks like the wire is on hold, so they will try and stop the process. When I called this morning, they said it had already processed, but they tried to place a recall. I filed a police report, but they were just kind of cool towards me and told me I probably won’t get my money back. So I guess I just want some advice or just someone to talk to. I’m really scared honestly, and I don’t really know how I’m gonna get through this.