FTC warns of scammers after NY Mag finance columnist lost $50K in voice phishing hoax

[Dashinka 24,480]

So this is the person we are supposed to listen to with financial advice?

 

FTC warns of scammers after NY Mag finance columnist lost $50K in voice phishing hoax

 

Khan said Americans lost $2.7 billion last year because of vishing, or voice phishing — where scammers impersonate government agents over the phone.

 

Her Thursday post on X came hours after Charlotte Cowles published her troubling tale on The Cut, the digital fashion news site that operated under the umbrella of New York Magazine.

 

The first-person account — headlined “The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger: I never thought I was the kind of person to fall for a scam” — revealed how Cowles was taken in by someone claiming to be “an investigator with the FTC” who “gave me his badge number.”

 

https://nypost.com/2024/02/16/business/ftc-warns-of-scammers-after-ny-mag-finance-columnist-lost-50k-in-vishing-hoax/
 

https://www.thecut.com/article/amazon-scam-call-ftc-arrest-warrants.html#/

[TBoneTX 45,258]

Wow.  This was (is) an expensive lesson.

[Dashinka 24,480]

14 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Wow.  This was (is) an expensive lesson.

What I found interesting is that the scammers even went as far as to almost make contact with the scamee.  That is quite risky.

[TBoneTX 45,258]

3 hours ago, Dashinka said:

That is quite risky.

Risky for both parties.

[yuna628 9,671]

These are the same types of scams that youtubers like Kitboga highlight and try to take the scammer for a long and hilarious torture session. Usually they will go after an elderly person in a variety of ways. There is generally a network of individuals in call centers abroad and then drop off locations or collectors in the US.

 

I'd be very sympathetic normally, but after reading that article it truly was another one of those insufferable things and they did get dragged all over the internet for writing it. One theory out there is that the person actually lost the money another way but wrote the article and the elaborate scam as a cover story. One thing I've always told my parents is the various ways people can scam you. Mom's recent dealings with the medicare scam that she took no part in certainly has infuriated her, that the government isn't doing more to protect the vulnerable. My husband is currently working on stopping new types of scams that are attempting to defraud the government and college institutions out of student loans and grants. He says it's always unbelievable when he sees employees put clearly suspicious accounts through - giving them access to thousands of dollars. 

[TBoneTX 45,258]

5 hours ago, yuna628 said:

My husband is currently working on stopping new types of scams

Three cheers, hearty encouragement, and best success to Mr. Y man, Y ma'am.