Creeper
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 13,991
- Reaction score
- 17,751
Not sure if everyone knows who Andy Cohen is, but he is the creator producer of all those housewives shows on Bravo. I am sure he is loaded, but he lost his debit card and apparently hackers got it, spear phished him and stole a large amount of money from him. There are some great lessons to learn from his experience.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle...t-card-scam-heres-what-he-learned/ar-AA1mKLwT
Never click on a link in an email unless you verify the sender and the URL represented by the link is real and legitimate. If it is something you feel you need to click on look at the URL behind the link. If it is an email from your bank, then check the sender address to make your your banks domain is in the link. i.e. bank.com\something. If not manually open your bank's web page without clicking the link and log in. Or, call your bank to verify the message is real.
If they call you, banks will always verify your identity. They will never ask you for a password, or other codes or to manipulate any settings on your phone. If they ask you to do something suspicious, then ask them to verify who they are. I tried this once and they gave me a hard time. But as I explained to them, how do I know who they are when they ask me for my SSN, or other identifying information to identify me? Tell them you will call them back on the number on the back of your credit or debit card to conduct whatever business they called you about. Somehow the hackers got Andy to forward calls from his bank to them. He is light on details on how this happened but I assume because it was incredibly stupid on his part and he is avoiding the embarrassment.
I don't think Andy is telling the whole story because bank fraud departments are very sophisticated these days. A good bank would not execute these transactions, which we assume were large transfers to overseas banks. They would immediately suspect something was not right about it. A very good bank would require you to come to a branch and verify your identity before transferring large amounts of money. And, banks are required to report transactions over $10,000 to the federal government. Somehow, Andy's bank allowed these transfers to go through.
If I was Andy and this happened to me I would find a new bank. I would tell my new bank I want transfer limits on my accounts. Anything over the limit requires him to visit a branch. I have my account with my bank set up so I get an alert any time there is a withdrawal from by bank account. If it is not me, I know it immediately.
I bet everyone here knows this stuff, but make sure your family members do too, especially your parents if they are alive.
Depending on how long it took Andy to figure out he was swindled, the banks may still be able to recover some of the money. If the money went to US banks, he might have better luck. The FBI may be able to identify the thieves. If it went overseas to unfriendly countries, the money is gone.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle...t-card-scam-heres-what-he-learned/ar-AA1mKLwT
Never click on a link in an email unless you verify the sender and the URL represented by the link is real and legitimate. If it is something you feel you need to click on look at the URL behind the link. If it is an email from your bank, then check the sender address to make your your banks domain is in the link. i.e. bank.com\something. If not manually open your bank's web page without clicking the link and log in. Or, call your bank to verify the message is real.
If they call you, banks will always verify your identity. They will never ask you for a password, or other codes or to manipulate any settings on your phone. If they ask you to do something suspicious, then ask them to verify who they are. I tried this once and they gave me a hard time. But as I explained to them, how do I know who they are when they ask me for my SSN, or other identifying information to identify me? Tell them you will call them back on the number on the back of your credit or debit card to conduct whatever business they called you about. Somehow the hackers got Andy to forward calls from his bank to them. He is light on details on how this happened but I assume because it was incredibly stupid on his part and he is avoiding the embarrassment.
I don't think Andy is telling the whole story because bank fraud departments are very sophisticated these days. A good bank would not execute these transactions, which we assume were large transfers to overseas banks. They would immediately suspect something was not right about it. A very good bank would require you to come to a branch and verify your identity before transferring large amounts of money. And, banks are required to report transactions over $10,000 to the federal government. Somehow, Andy's bank allowed these transfers to go through.
If I was Andy and this happened to me I would find a new bank. I would tell my new bank I want transfer limits on my accounts. Anything over the limit requires him to visit a branch. I have my account with my bank set up so I get an alert any time there is a withdrawal from by bank account. If it is not me, I know it immediately.
I bet everyone here knows this stuff, but make sure your family members do too, especially your parents if they are alive.
Depending on how long it took Andy to figure out he was swindled, the banks may still be able to recover some of the money. If the money went to US banks, he might have better luck. The FBI may be able to identify the thieves. If it went overseas to unfriendly countries, the money is gone.
