When Bank of America put Hank Molenaar on hold recently, it told the Houston resident there would be a long wait time and he could press 1 to get a call back instead. But before the bank called, criminals called, impersonating the bank, and stole his money via Zelle. It was a Perfect Scam. And the vulnerability that was exploited? It was poor customer service.
There’s a new, disturbing trend I’ve spotted and it’s time to ring the alarm bell. It’s hard work to hack into a bank and steal money. It’s much easier to enlist real consumers as allies to do it for you. Theft via scam is on the rise, overtaking traditional identity theft / credential hacking, according to a recent report by Javelin Research & Strategy. Criminals are enlisting the help of account holders and other consumers with all manner of creative cover stories and impersonation schemes — the kind of stores I tell at AARP’s The Perfect Scam podcast. Financial institutions and retail outlets have laid the groundwork for this shift through years of neglectful treatment. When it comes time to make a trust choice — as a consumer, do you trust your bank or the person on the phone telling you a bank insider is stealing your cash? — all these years of mistreatment are forcing victims into the arms of criminals.
That’s what Diane Clements told me during a heart-wrenching interview for The Perfect Scam. Diane and her husband, Tom, are both…
