CHICAGO (CBS) – Huge chunks of money were transferred in an instant. That’s how a wire works.
A Chicago salon owner said a scammer tricked him into sending one – $19,000 gone in a flash. It left today’s payroll in jeopardy.
Morning Insider Lauren Victory showed us he’s not the only victim in the area.
Salon DJ stylists make people feel beautiful, while ugliness lurks in the boss’s office.
They got a call from a number for Chase Bank, which is why salon owner Daniel Janicek said he didn’t suspect anything as he walked into work. A fake banker somehow manipulated the caller ID and was asking about a bunch of Chase business charges.
“It kind of put me in a little bit of a panic,” Janicek recalled. “‘Let’s stop that from happening. That’s definitely not me.'”
Michele Damico and Seneka Drdak shared similar stories of wire fraud that began over text with instructions to call a number they thought was Chase Bank.
“Did you make this in Florida? Did you do this? And I kept saying ‘No,'” Damico said.
“‘You got suspicious activity,’ and I said, ‘Well if you can, just shut it down,'” recalled Drdak.
Victory: “Did that person ask you for any identifying info?
Seneka: “No just to verify who I was.”
Damico: “You don’t realize that they’re just throwing random questions out there. That’s when they know that they have you sucked in.”
Damico lost $50,000 she planned to use to start a fashion consulting firm.
Here’s the lie that did her in: “‘Transfer the $50,000 into your…
