BRADENTON, Fla. (SNN) – A woman narrowly avoided falling victim to a scheme that could have cost her everything.
“Something didn’t jive with me,” Jeanne Teel said.
Teel shared her cautionary tale this holiday season.
“It was a lot of money,” Teel said. “He wanted me to transfer that money they had accidentally put in my account back to their account.”
Teel worked with the Achieva Credit Union in Bradenton. She said a person claimed to be a part of the organization that she has been a part of since 1970.
Looking back, she said his knowledge about her and the credit union was alarming.
“He knew stuff, and I thought, ‘Well, maybe he’s legitimate,’” Teel said. “But then, something just didn’t feel right.”
That is when she decided to hang up and call the credit union herself, using the main phone number. They quickly caught on to what was happening and shut down her account.
“If it wasn’t for that, God knows where I’d be today,” Teel said.
She said it took 10 days before she could access her funds again. Teel said the man on the phone knew all the right things to say, but there were some red flags.
“He kept wanting me to do this and that with my account number, to give him this information, that information, and I needed to call him back in like 15 minutes,” Teel said. “And if that didn’t happen, I was toast.”
While Teel was targeted this time, it could have happened to anyone. So, it does not hurt to follow some tips to help keep potential scammers at bay.
“Make sure you’re talking to the actual company, not the invoice phone number they are providing,” Vice President of Risk Management at Achieva Credit Union Jeff Trunzo said. “In many cases, they are scammers, and they will do whatever they can to take that person’s money.”
He said to watch for pressure tactics that push you to act without thinking.
Teel said she is grateful for people like Trunzo at the credit union who took the time to save her money from falling into the wrong hands.
Trunzo added that her case was one of many.
“We’ve stopped a lot this past year,” Trunzo said. “Close to $2 million in losses.”
While he said there were a lot of scam attempts all year long, he said they do see a spike during the holiday season.