Fran Gwilt lives on a fixed income, so when a caller last month talked about protecting her bank account, she was willing to listen.
“They said they were trying to stop people from having somebody take their money out of the bank,” said Gwilt, 85.
If you’re thinking that the call resulted in money being taken out of Gwilt’s account, you’re right.
During a recent interview in her immaculate home at a senior mobile home park in Sultan, Gwilt admitted feeling a little foolish about being taken by the pitch. But she thought it was important to share her story to prevent others from being scammed.
“They asked me for my bank account information, and I was dumb enough to give it to them,” she said. “But it sounded good.”
The caller, Gwilt said, identified himself as from the government and talked a lot about consumer protection. Gwilt said she was told there would be no charge for the service.
Not long after the conversation, Gwilt’s granddaughter, Kelly Songstad, was checking Gwilt’s bank account online and discovered it was overdrawn by more than $100. The cultprit was a charge for $399 that was labeled consumer protection.
Songstad called the bank and wound up with a toll-free number for the company, which calls itself Consumers Protection Center on its message tape.
She attempted to cancel the charge and was told that Gwilt’s acceptance of the service had been tape recorded, and that they’d have to pull the recording and call back.
“I knew then this was a scam and they wouldn’t call back,” Songstad said.
They haven’t.
Gwilt and Songstand have canceled the bank account. They also will file an affidavit of fraud with their bank and are hopeful the money will be returned. “That’s a third of her savings they took,” Songstad said of her grandmother.
I left a message with the company Friday, and they didn’t call me back either. But I wouldn’t expect it.
The scam Gwilt described is a variation of one that’s been around for a while. In some versions, the caller acts like a bank official investigating improper charges who asks you to provide account information to make sure he’s putting the money back in the right place.
There are many other variations, all designed to get you to reveal financial information like a bank account, mother’s maiden name or Social Security number.
In February, the Federal Trade Commission took a company called Vector Direct Marketing to court for its telemarketing pitch, which charged $399 to supposedly protect consumers’ personal information. The company is accused of providing virtually nothing and also of making threatening follow-up calls to customers who try to cancel their payments.
I don’t know whether Gwilt was contacted by Vector, but it doesn’t matter.
Government consumer officials say there’s only one way to respond to anybody who tries to get detailed financial information over the phone – hang up.
Here’s some other advice from the state Attorney General’s Office to avoid becoming a victim of financial fraud or identity theft:
* Guard your mail from theft.
* Put passwords on your credit card, bank and phone accounts.
* Don’t carry your Social Security card or any credit cards or ID cards you don’t need.
* Tear up or shred charge receipts or credit applications, bank statements or credit offers in the mail.
Act now. Don’t think it won’t happen to you.
“We had banked with them for for 40 years, and I’d never had any problem,” Gwilt said of her account. “I thought, why should I worry about my little dab of money now?”
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459; benbow@heraldnet.com.
Mike
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