A lifetime of savings wiped out by thieves posing as the U.S. Government.
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Consumer Investigator Justin Gray with our sister station WSB-TV talked to a man who said his Vanguard accounts were emptied.
The victim asked for his identity to be hidden, because he has not even told immediate family about the theft.
“I had right around $280,000 in Vanguard,” he said.
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Nearly all of that money in his Vanguard retirement and investment accounts was drained by thieves.
“It was like my heart sank and I felt like I was in a deep pit. I was bewildered,” he said.
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The crooks started by emailing him claiming he had bought virus protection software and had not paid for it.
“He said, well, it shows that you owe this amount of money and you’re going to have to go to your bank and get this money out and then I’ll tell you where to go. So, I did what he said,” the man said.
Realizing he had been scammed out of $6,000, he thought it was an answered prayer when the phone rang again. This time, someone on the phone said they were from U.S. cybercrime and were calling to help.
“He said, I can reverse that. That money that you put in,” the man said.
Instead, the thieves remotely took over his computer, gaining access to his Vanguard passwords.
Threat researcher Willis McDonald told WSB-TV how easy it is for a criminal to take over a computer.
“Someone could do this in a matter of seconds and can be working on gathering credentials, gathering personal information,” McDonald said.
The cybersecurity firm Guardio found a 573% rise in tech support scams when comparing just the recent six months to the previous period.
“They really try and plant that sense of urgency into the situation because that keeps you on your toes. It raises your heart rate, and it really keeps you from thinking about why, am I doing this?” McDonald said.
This man did get his original $6,000 back, but that convinced him to do as the imposter said and log into his Vanguard account and other websites while the criminal was watching on a mirrored device.
“So, I got on the phone and call Vanguard, and they told me about all these withdrawals, and I say I didn’t do that,” he said.
Georgia’s Division of Aging Services sent Vanguard a letter saying the state is investigating this as potential elder exploitation.
The victim has also filed complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulatory agencies.
But a Vanguard employee told him in an email: “due to the transactions having been requested online using your confidential login credentials, Vanguard is not able to assist further.”
The best advice for anyone of any age is if someone calls you claiming to be with a bank, investment firm or the government, you should hang up.
Just slow down and call back to the actual number for the company.
WSB-TV reached out to Vanguard who said in a statement:
“The safety and security of our clients’ assets and sensitive information is Vanguard’s top priority. We continuously invest in state-of-the-art technologies, processes, and trainings to stay ahead of ever evolving and increasingly sophisticated threats. And we routinely share advice and education to help investors protect themselves and their loved ones from scams and financial exploitation.”
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