Rancho Cordova woman scammed out of $9K; Call Kurtis volunteer helps to get it back
RANCHO CORDOVA – A Rancho Cordova viewer was recently scammed out of $9,000. Afterward, she reached out to CBS13 and the Call Kurtis consumer investigative team for help.
Very often, when the money is gone, it is gone for good. But there is pressure on banking institutions to ask a few questions before they let you wire off your money.
In this case of being scammed out of her life savings, Barbara of Rancho Cordova saw her bank logo pop up on her computer, saying she had been hacked and asking her to call a number. She did. They advised that money was being taken out of her account.
Barbara had to rush to her bank, emptied her bank account and redeposited the money elsewhere. They stayed on the phone with her the entire time.
As it turned out, the $9,000 Barbara deposited in a Bitcoin machine at a convenience store transferred money right to the scammer.
Call Kurtis volunteer Joni learned that Barbara's bank has a policy for its tellers to question customers to help stop fraud – a question they did not ask.
"They failed to comply with their own protocols, and they gave her a refund for the money," Joni said.
Case closed.
If a bank has a policy, it should follow it.
An elder fraud protection bill by outgoing State Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa), to help protect California seniors from scammers, is awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature. The deadline to sign it is Sept. 30.
Please remember that CBS13 is the only station in town with a team to go to bat for you. If you have a consumer problem you can't resolve, let us know about it by filling out our form.
