$7,500 Abruptly Drained From a Florida Couple’s Wells Fargo Account After Criminals Impersonating Her Bank Call Her

Scammers posing as Wells Fargo’s fraud department have taken more than $7,500 from a couple after convincing them to read back verification codes sent to their phone.

Carmen Evans says the caller ID on her phone showed Wells Fargo, and the man on the line, who called himself Michael, told her there were questionable transactions on her account, reports WKMG News 6.

The caller mentioned purchases at Sam’s Club and Walmart that the Orlando, Florida resident recognized, then brought up a $3,000 charge she says she never made.

Says Evans,

“I did not have to give him my name. The only thing he asked me at that point was, ‘You’re going to be getting some text with the code. Just make sure you repeat the code to me.’”

After she shared the codes, Evans says she could no longer get into her bank accounts.

She and her husband, William, went to a Wells Fargo branch, where William says an employee told them there was activity in their accounts while they were standing there.

The couple says money was shifted between their accounts and then sent out through Cash App using Carmen’s linked Wells Fargo debit card, transfers she says she did not make.

The losses included about $3,000 in savings, plus her Social Security payment and paychecks from her part-time job.

“They took stuff that we needed, and we had to turn around and take loans to cover bills.”

With rent and a car payment due, the couple also had to ask their children for help.

Says William,

“It was hard to go to our children just to say, ‘Well, this happened. And now we don’t have any money.’”

Evans says she disputed the transactions but has not been able to get the money back.

She has since deleted Cash App, and the couple says they are moving their banking elsewhere.

The American Bankers Association says banks will not call customers and ask for their one-time login codes.