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Scammed for $5000 for Omega Speedmaster watch

Bernardino
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O Odat
Yes I did. They said all they can do is ask him to give back the money. They said I could file a police report against him. They weren’t much help really.

That’s a poor response!

I wouldn’t give up, maybe try the police route.

Not sure who you’ve contacted within the bank but it might be worth emailing the CEO or someone at that level, google should provide email addresses.

You might not hear from the main person themselves but it will be looked at by some kind of executive support team.
 
O
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Bernardino Bernardino
That’s a poor response!

I wouldn’t give up, maybe try the police route.

Not sure who you’ve contacted within the bank but it might be worth emailing the CEO or someone at that level, google should provide email addresses.

You might not hear from the main person themselves but it will be looked at by some kind of executive support team.

Just called them again and they said they are looking into it. Good idea. Will do. Thanks for the tip!
 
U
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Peemacgee Peemacgee
I didn’t know WUS had been hacked.
I hadn’t been on WUS for years - since I found OF

Spent the morning changing all my passwords.
Hopefully everything is a lot more secure now....

I did know WUS was hacked, and I hope some idiot does get my old password so they’ll end up adding their IP address to my “banned file”. 😜
 
Peemacgee
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U ulackfocus
I did know WUS was hacked, and I hope some idiot does get my old password so they’ll end up adding their IP address to my “banned file”. 😜

It’s okay -everyone will know it’s not you.
One post from a honey-tongued scammer and they’ll think
“Well that’s definitely not Dennis”
 
Retromlc
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What about if you tell the bank if they don't help you will take your business elsewhere and lanchl an online campaign about their lack if assistance, be bad PR fir them, might help
 
bonerp
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keep pushing the bank....they have to provide a safe environment for everyone and scammers should be investigated by their fraud team. I'd position that they clearly do not know there customer and indicate that they might want to compensate you for lack of due diligence.
 
Bernardino
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bonerp bonerp
keep pushing the bank....they have to provide a safe environment for everyone and scammers should be investigated by their fraud team. I'd position that they clearly do not know there customer and indicate that they might want to compensate you for lack of due diligence.
Agreed, first step, get your money back, second step, additional compensation, enough to buy the watch you were after......just a thought
 
O
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Will definitely keep bugging the bank!. Thanks for all the input.
 
Mouse_at_Large
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Sorry to hear about this. From my limited knowledge, the federal authorities in the USA take a very dim view of "wire fraud". Not sure whether the police will take much of an interest in such a case, but from the bank's point of view, I'd imagine that the last thing they'd want is local or federal law enforcement crawling around them.

Might (hopefully) give you some leverage without the expense of employing a lawyer.
 
Meme-Dweller
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I thought bank wires require a bunch of information like address, phone number, etc...
 
BlackTalon
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My first step would be filing a police report. This was criminal action, and I would not assume the bank will handle it just because both accounts were with the same bank.

FWIW, BoA did very little to help me years back when a bank insider gained account info for a bunch of people. The crime group that was responsible was actually busted about 6 months later thanks to work by American Express's investigators. I still bank at BoA due to the convenience, but do not use them for credit cards, loans, etc. as I would rather let other companies profit off me (like Am-Ex).
 
pitpro
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R3D9 R3D9
You can store your passwords locally on your device and back up locally to your PC/MAC... nothing stored on external servers. 😜
I use 1Password on the iPhone for storing website logins.
Nothing should be stored on a PC/Mac, imho
Sensitive passwords(banks, brokerage) should be unusually complex(no repeated characters, minimum 14 characters, using All of the keyboard character types) and stored
on an encrypted file on encrypted usb key.
NEVER USE THE SAME PASSWORD FOR ANYTHING
Disconnect, then Flush clipboard after cut and paste use.
 
sjg22
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BlackTalon BlackTalon
My first step would be filing a police report. This was criminal action, and I would not assume the bank will handle it just because both accounts were with the same bank.

FWIW, BoA did very little to help me years back when a bank insider gained account info for a bunch of people. The crime group that was responsible was actually busted about 6 months later thanks to work by American Express's investigators. I still bank at BoA due to the convenience, but do not use them for credit cards, loans, etc. as I would rather let other companies profit off me (like Am-Ex).

+1 for AmEx. Great company. My Uber account was comprised recently - Uber wasn’t helpful and neither was MasterCard, but Amex was awesome. They were the ones that originally alerted me to the issue and prevented any charges from coming through.

Not the first time - they’re a fantastic company to deal with.
 
deryk527
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I’ve investigated frauds like this numerous times. Unfortunately the bank will not be able to be much help to you as an individual due to their hands being tied by privacy laws. The bank internal fraud department will be best suited to complete the investigation. Unfortunately they will likely only initiate an investigation with a police file number attached and provide the resulting report to police to be put forward for prosecution.

Contacting the bank manager or even the CEO as suggested above will not make much difference (a bank the size of BoA is likely to see a situation like this a thousand times a everyday).

Wire transfers (due to their relative anonymous nature, near instant payoff, and few security checks) are the preferred method of criminals when trying to defraud unsuspecting victims. (There is a newer tactic where they have been somehow tricked people into purchasing and providing prepaid iTunes card codes to pay their taxes to the CRA or IRS). I always recommend that wire transfers be avoided at all costs.

Contact the appropriate police jurisdiction (preferably where he offence took place). They may have some success after obtaining the appropriate judicial authorizations.

This situation is unfortunate but it can be resolved. Be patient and trust in the process everyone is rooting for you. I hope this all works out for you in the end. Good luck.

Feel free to PM if you need anything.
 
dan7800
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sjg22 sjg22
+1 for AmEx. Great company. My Uber account was comprised recently - Uber wasn’t helpful and neither was MasterCard, but Amex was awesome. They were the ones that originally alerted me to the issue and prevented any charges from coming through.

Not the first time - they’re a fantastic company to deal with.

+1 for Amex. I rented a car a few years ago. It got hit after I dropped it off. The rental company "found me responsible" for over 2K in damages. I called AMEX who I rented the car through, and they basically said that I wasn't and they'd take care of everything. I never heard anything else on the matter.
 
pitpro
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3,570
sjg22 sjg22
+1 for AmEx. Great company. My Uber account was comprised recently - Uber wasn’t helpful and neither was MasterCard, but Amex was awesome. They were the ones that originally alerted me to the issue and prevented any charges from coming through.

Not the first time - they’re a fantastic company to deal with.
My sons had $5000 in uber put on his CC. Chase took it off.
Uber seems to be a common target
 
R3D9
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pitpro pitpro
My sons had $5000 in uber put on his CC. Chase took it off.
Uber seems to be a common target

Unless you’re guilty of gross negligence, banks almost always will reverse unauthorized transactions on your credit card. They do this largely out of self-interest... the want people to feel secure using the card and the profit margins are sufficiently high that they can pay out large dollars in fraud claims each year and still maintain an extremely lucrative business.
 
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