Houston woman loses her savings in elaborate scheme, wants to warn others
The Brief
A Houston woman lost her savings following an elaborate scheme.
Heather Sanders said she lost more than $4,000.
Wells Fargo told FOX 26 they were reviewing Heather’s case.
HOUSTON – A Houston woman who lost her savings in an elaborate scheme is warning others about what happened.
Houston woman loses savings in scheme
What we know
Heather Sanders says she’s been a Wells Fargo Bank customer since 1996.
She says the bank called her in the past about transactions being fraudulent.
The number that appeared on Heather’s phone belongs to Wells Fargo. She said she even called the man back on that number.
He was telling her about Zelle transactions Heather says she didn’t make.
“He didn’t ask me to verify my account,” she said. “He was already in my account.”
Next, Heather says the caller sent her several texts.
“Each check would have a merchant number where it was going,” she said. “Please allow 24 hours for the money to be put back in your account.”
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The caller told Heather to cut her card in half, put it in an envelope, and a courier was on his way to get it.
“He told me Wells Fargo was really getting tired of scammers getting away with it,” Heather said. “It sounds silly now. He said they had special tools they could put the card in and trace back exactly where it was skimmed.”
Two different couriers showed up.
Heather wasn’t home for the first one, who looked under the welcome mat.
“I made the mistake, I didn’t cut the chip in half. I just cut the card in half like he said,” she said.
Heather says the caller told her they were overnighting her a new debit card.
“Put your old pin in your phone. I dialed it into the phone. He said, ‘OK, pick a new pin, do that twice, and hit pound. I did,” she said, “He said, ‘OK, I’ll give you a call at 8:30 in the morning. I’ll let you know what we found out.”
The caller didn’t call back the next morning. Instead, the thief or thieves, withdrew $2,500 from Kroger, $900 at HEB, and $1,000 from a Wells Fargo ATM.
Heather says the thief was able to transfer her savings into her checking account. She says she lost more than $4,000.
In a letter to Heather, Wells Fargo states, “We understand you unknowingly participated in a fraud scheme. While you may have acted in good faith, we can’t assume liability for financial transactions a customer negotiates or otherwise authorizes with unknown individuals.”
What’s next
A spokesperson with Wells Fargo told FOX 26 they were reviewing Heather’s case again and will get back with FOX 26 in a few days.
The Source
FOX 26 Reporter Randy Wallace spoke with the victim as well as Wells Fargo Bank about what happened.
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