A FAMILY who lost $1,000 to a new Cash App scam is warning others not to make the same mistake.
Carrie Peters from Omaha fell victim to scammers who stole the money she was planning to spend on Christmas.
1
In a 6 News report, Peters explained: “Yeah it’s going to hurt this Christmas because we had that money put aside for two specific things.”
She received a call from a number that she thought was her bank and realized too late that it was a scammer conducting a Cash App scam.
Cash App says it uses “advanced security features” to protect your money but scammers are always looking for new ways to trick their way through your security.
The phone call Peters received was from a scammer claiming that an unauthorized purchase had been made from her bank account.
The scammer is thought to have cloned a Wells Fargo bank number so that the victim was lulled into a false sense of security when she received the call.
Most read in Tech
Peters then received a text that claimed she had sent $1,000 through the Zelle Cash App.
She was surprised by this and texted back “STOP”.
Jim Hegarty, President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau, told 6 News: “It seems the trigger that provided these crooks with the access was her responding to the text message.”
It took seconds for the scammers to then take $1,000 from Peters’ bank account.
She said she notified Well Fargo of the fraud but has not received any reimbursement yet.
The bank is said to be reviewing her claim.
Cybercriminals often conduct more scams around the festive period, when they know people are stressed and preoccupied with Christmas spending.
Always be skeptical of your bank texting or ringing you out of the blue.
It’s better to put the phone down, find the official number, and ring back to verify everything is okay with your account.
Cyber security company show how hackers could use your PRINTER to access your Gmail in new cyber security threat
In other news, iPhone owners are being urged to change their settings in order to protect their texts from snoopers.
Google has officially released a new privacy feature that could erase important photos forever.
And, we rounded up 13 common toaster mistakes.
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
