An elderly Bank of America (BofA) customer says he lost tens of thousands of dollars to a fraudster after receiving “proof” that he was speaking with a member of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The victim, who prefers to stay anonymous out of embarrassment, says he got a phone call from a woman posing as an Apple representative, CBS reports.
The man’s son, Tony, explains that the woman warned him about fraudulent charges on his account, saying his father’s account has been compromised. According to the victim himself, the woman handed the phone over to another person who claimed to be a US Marshal.
The victim says he received a photo of a man named Silas V. Darden, flashing a U.S. Marshal badge.
“Then suddenly he’s got on the phone so he says, ‘I don’t want you to take them a scammer. He says, ‘I’ll send you the proof that I am not.’
The victim says he subsequently received a Wells Fargo account number where he could stash his cash safely. On March 12th, he says he visited a local BofA branch to make an initial $24,000 deposit as instructed by the scammer before wiring $45,000 four days later.
But when he visited a Wells Fargo branch to confirm whether the accounts where he sent the money are in his name, the teller wrote on a piece of paper that he was a victim of fraud.
“I can’t explain how difficult it is… You can’t sleep, you can’t eat… Why it happened to me?”
Brady McCarran, spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service, says Darden is a real person, but he no longer works for the agency.
“Law enforcement will never call you. We will never ask for any money. No federal law enforcement agency would…. AI has given these scammers opportunities to make anybody fall for their scam. So they believe the phone number is real. They believe the photo is real. People are gonna fall for it, and that’s unfortunate.”
In total, the elderly victim lost $69,000 to the scammers, and his son says the figure accounts for 40% of his total lifetime cash liquid savings.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at CapitalAI Daily are not investment advice. Investors should do their own due diligence before making any decisions involving securities, cryptocurrencies, or digital assets. Your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. CapitalAI Daily does not recommend the buying or selling of any assets, nor is CapitalAI Daily an investment advisor. See our Editorial Standards and Terms of Use.