A Day in the Life of a Potential Fraud Victim—Part Three

The following story is based on a true case of fraud. The name of the victim has not been revealed for privacy, and the story is the third in a series to convey a day in the life of people who experience fraud. Click here to read the first story and here to read the second story.

Dave's life seemed to change forever when he got a phone call from Publishers Clearing House saying he'd won $500,000.

For Dave, the call was a dream come true—he used to constantly enter PCH contests, but he stopped several years ago after he thought he had failed at winning anything. Now, he felt rich enough to buy the oceanfront home of his dreams.

Dave eagerly told the PCH caller of his plans immediately after learning he had won, and the caller seemed to share in his excitement. He told Dave, however, that he needed to make some temporary payments to PCH for tax purposes before they could send the prize, promising to refund the money along with the prize later.

Over the next five months, Dave sent checks ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 to addresses in Florida and Indiana, where the caller claimed PCH was headquartered. Dave decided to split the payments between his account at Tower and his account at another financial institution.

But after a few months, Tower started calling him about his withdrawals.

A Tower representative noticed Dave's unusual withdrawals—he'd never sent such high amounts to those states before. The representative wanted to warn Dave to verify the recipient's trustworthiness.

Dave grew frustrated with Tower, thinking they were delaying his prize. He switched to using only his other bank for withdrawals since they hadn't flagged any issues with his checks.

Five months later, Dave had sent nearly $100,000 to the PCH-provided addresses. His account at the other bank account was dwindling, and he was growing impatient. He continued receiving calls from PCH, but they still couldn't tell him when they'd send him his prize.

Confused and worried, Dave realized he needed Tower's help after they first raised concerns. He stopped at a local branch and explained everything to a representative.

The Tower representative and branch manager helped Dave realize the hard truth—he'd been scammed, and neither Tower nor his other bank could do much to help him recover his money.

If Dave had paid closer attention to Tower's warnings, he might have realized the scam before transferring money. As a non-profit credit union, we prioritize our members' security by promptly addressing suspected fraud cases and providing specialized resources to prevent scams. For-profit banks may not always provide equivalent levels of attention or protection.

Rushing to get a prize that turned out to be fake, Dave admitted he took Tower's vigilance for granted, leading him to lose nearly all the money he had withdrew from both financial institutions.

To learn more about how to protect yourself against fraud, visit Tower's Fraud & Security Center.