Consumer complaint received 2024-10-18 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: Early Warning Services, LLC
State: AZ

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I became a victim of an imposter scam. I had never heard of an imposter scam prior to XX/XX/XXXX. I did also file a complaint with my local police station ( completed their fraud packet to seek prosecution ), a claim with the FTC, as well as XXXX XXXX  ( who says they can't help because I " authorized '' this fraud. Unreal. I thought my money was FDIC insured and safe? They said I did not provide proof that the calls came from a spoofed XXXX number, which is untrue... I did and can again. 

On the afternoon of XX/XX/XXXX, I was coming home with some of my kids when I got a call that said " XXXX '' on the caller ID. I hate being on the phone because my kids are obnoxious but I figured it was important if my bank was calling me. So I picked up and it was a man with a thick accent stating he was from XXXX Fraud ( said his name was XXXX XXXX ID number XXXX ) and they got an alert that there was suspicious activity on my account. He went on to say there was an attempted wire transfer of over {$5000.00} and a couple of pending Zelle transactions for {$2000.00}. He said someone was trying to buy a care in XXXX  at a buy here pay here. I stated that that obviously wasn't me as I was in XXXX. 

He went on to walk me through turning on my " two step authenticator '' and telling me different ways to keep my account safe and how scammers are getting peoples information these days. Then put me on hold for a bit. When he came back he said he had moved all of my money to one account, so I looked at my account and sure enough, he did. He moved all of my savings to my checking. I did not give him access or authorization, I have no idea how he did this. But again, I thought he was a XXXX agent, so I didn't think much of it. He then told me that he was going to need me to help with a manual override to stop the pending Zelle transactions ( basically sending them through a chase act to myself ). He asked me to put the recipient as my initial, backwards XXXX and the name XXXX which was supposedly the last name of his supervisor. I felt hesitant but reminded myself the caller ID said " XXXX '' and he moved my money without my help. But as one last effort, I used my daughters phone to call then number he called from to see if it went to chase, and it did. I will attach that proof as well. So I followed his instructions. {$2000.00}, sent to XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. He then told me we had to wait til the next day to override the second one, so we would do the same thing the next day and then the amounts would disperse back in my accounts, in the amounts I started with. 

The next day, he did in fact call back and we repeated the steps for the next " manual override ''. {$2000.00}, sent to XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. He put me on hold for some time and came back and told me it was taking a bit longer than expected, then put me back on hold. When he came back and told me it would be just a bit longer, I got irritated and he hug up. I called the number back and got a XXXX representative and found out that I had been scammed for {$4000.00} by a XXXX imposter, using a spoofed number. I am devestated and feel incredibly stupid. I am the main income earner and that {$4000.00} Is my mortgage, literally. My youngest of XXXX has XXXX  XXXX and XXXX  XXXX, that money is needed. I did not receive any benefit from this scam, no service or product. I believed I was talking to a XXXX fraud rep. I feel so violated and unprotected. 

After doing some research because of XXXX 's absolute refusal to help rectify this situation, I came across some information regarding new laws from XX/XX/XXXX. It's hard to tell, but Im hoping these laws protect me and my finances, as a victim of imposter fraud of this level. I am contacting legal aid to hopefully get more insight as well. I do appreciate your attention to this matter.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation