MN Scam Warning: How This Texting Scam Drained My Accounts

THIS COULD BREAK YOU

As someone who writes about scams quite a bit, I always figured I wouldn't fall for the many scams that happen day in and day out. But earlier this week, I was caught off guard and almost lost all of my funds to a scam that took me a while to figure out.

I had been in my bank a week earlier inquiring about an account, and I was told by the banker that it's really important to respond to their texts yes or no, about transactions that they flag.

DON'T RESPOND TO A TEXT WITHOUT CALLING THE BANK FIRST

I usually don't respond to texts because any text can be a scam. Unfortunately, I was having an extra stressful week, and when I received the text that said a $400 charge was getting ready to come out of my account in Miami, Florida, I responded to the text as instructed by my banker.

Immediately, the fraud department contacted me about the transaction and assured me that it would be taken care of. Before they could speak to me about it, they needed me to give them a code that would be sent to my phone for a two-point authentication. I gave them the code, and that was the beginning of my nightmare.

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THE SCAM

The banker from the fraud department told me they would call me back the next day and asked what time they should call. They did call the next day and confirmed to me that the report had been made and they were in the process of finding the perpetrators.

They asked me if I wanted to press charges. That caught me a bit off guard because I've never been asked that before.

They told me that everything would be cleared up by the following day; and that I didn't need to do anything for the next 24 hours while the investigation was continuing.

WAKE UP CALL

In the middle of the night, a few things started weighing on my mind. The fact that they asked me if I wanted to press charges was odd. The fact that they didn't want me to do anything with my account until the next day.

I went to my app and opened up my account only to find that they had taken all of my money out of my account. I didn't give them any account information. All they needed was that 6-digit code. On top of this, since it wasn't a credit card, there was no way to contact the bank until 8 am the next morning.

I couldn't sleep. I was sick to my stomach. It didn't only affect my account, but as a signer on one of my kid's accounts, it also affected them. The scammers took everything out of my and his accounts. I was devastated.

Luckily, I was able to work with the bank and report the scammers. In this case, since I didn't give them any permission to take money; I didn't transfer any money, and the bank has assured me they will be replacing the funds. It hasn't happened yet, but I was assured that it would be taken care of. I can't tell you how thankful I am. Unfortunately, it still has negative effects, as it can take a while for the funds to be put back.

It's quite scary what could have happened, and I might not have been so lucky in other scenarios. I've had to close all of my accounts, and inform the police department and the credit bureaus of the recent activity.

I'm telling you this because there are some things you can do to make sure this doesn't happen to you.

• REGARDING MESSAGES YOU RECEIVE: If you receive a text message, email, or other form of communication from your bank, CALL YOUR BANK before you respond to anything, and DON'T use the phone number that may be listed in the text, email or other documentation.
• RESPONDING: If you respond YES or NO to the text, you may immediately get a phone call from what appears to be a bank. Again, Do NOT take the call. Call your bank and tell them what's happening.