On March 12, 2022, in South Florida, the computer screen of a seemingly sharp Ph.D. in her early seventies went crazy. A phone number appeared on her screen, purportedly for Microsoft. The supposed Microsoft customer service representative told the woman that her computer contained a trojan horse inserted thereby an international gaming company. The representative lied that the gaming company had already received preapproval to take $4,500 from her Bank of America checking account and would soon be accessing the remaining $3,300.
He transferred the woman to another scammer who supposedly worked for the FDIC and was conducting an undercover investigation of a Bank of America employee. The scammer instructed the woman to take all of the cash from her Bank of America account and told her to deposit the money in a cryptocurrency ATM. The scammer kept her on the line and explained how to open the account in order to make the deposit. He also warned her that she should not tell anyone about the “investigation.” Soon thereafter, the woman’s new cryptocurrency account was emptied by the scammers.
Although Bank of America gives customers the opportunity to designate a trusted contact, this woman did not have one. The trusted contact undoubtedly would have seen the obvious red flags of fraud and stopped the woman from flushing her money into a cryptocurrency ATM.
RIAs should encourage clients to designate a trusted contact
Registered Investment Advisors (“RIAs”)…
