Law enforcement and banks work together to stop scams - KTTC
After a women lost $82,000 to a scam, her bank reached out to law enforcement to help protect her for future scams.
ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – A Marion woman is out $82,000 after falling victim to a scam twice within the past few months.
However the second time, the victim’s bank reached out to law enforcement about the potential fraud.
It started last December when the 72-year-old woman sent $50,000 dollars to a person she met on Facebook.
“She believed she was sending the money to a general who was stuck in Iraq trying to get back to the United States,” Captain of Investigation & Security Services James Schueller.
This week, she again sent $32,000 to the same person.
“All total of $82,000 had been sent to this person in Texas,” Schueller said.
When the victim withdrew the cash from her bank, her bank reached out to law enforcement and said she may have fallen for the scam again.
Banks and law enforcement actually work quite closely together in instances of potential fraud.
“We have a good relationship with them, and they’re always willing to come here and hear what’s going on and see what they can do to help,” Merchants Bank Branch Manager David Engstler said.
“It’s a good working relationship in that it’s reciprocal in social service, the Sheriff’s Office and financial institutions,” Schueller said.
People who work at banks go through training to spot the signs that one of their customers may have fallen victim to a scam.
“Sometimes you’ll notice when they come in they’re kind of nervous and these types of things or maybe they’re doing a transaction that’s just not a normal type of behavior for them and you kind of pick up on these things. We’re asking questions trying to help our customers. Not that we’re being nosy. Again, we’re just trying to be proactive,” Engstler said.
“A lot of the financial institutions have taken the opportunity to take that training. See the warning signs and then know when it’s time to contact law enforcement,” Schueller said.
While bankers may try to stop fraud from happening, sometimes it does occur, but law enforcement and financial institutions will work together to stop it from happening again.
“Basically the only way you’re going to be able to stop it is obviously on the front side, hopefully before it happens, but then also on the backside we are reporting things and so hopefully they can basically catch the people that are doing that,” Schueller said.
If you or someone you love may be a victim of scamming, reach out to both law enforcement and your banks to protect you from future scams.
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source: https://www.kttc.com/2022/02/24/law-enforcement-banks-work-together-stop-scams/
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