A North Texas consumer is sounding the alarm over a convincing scam. She said she knew the red flags, but a scam caller was still able to gain her confidence.
Read on for the strategy experts recommend to outsmart scams.
‘I thought I was bulletproof’
In Ingrid Marletta’s circle, she said she’s often the one who can spot a potential scam.
“Look at this email. I’m like, ‘Scam.’ Look at this text. ‘Scam,’” Marletta said.
But a recent voicemail convinced Marletta to respond. The caller said he was with the Denton County Sheriff’s office. He left a name. Marletta said a quick web search showed there was someone by that name at the agency.
“I have family that lives in Denton, so I called back. He then told me that he was calling because I had a warrant for my arrest, which was shocking,” Marletta said.
Marletta said the caller emailed letters and court documents, saying a task force is reviewing COVID-19 pandemic relief loans. He told Marletta, who is a small business owner, she was supposed to go to court to show a bank statement. The caller said Marletta missed the court date, which would have been her son’s graduation.
Robin Carter, NBC 5 Responds
Robin Carter, NBC 5 Responds
“I had 100 people in my house for his graduation and my house was turned upside down,” said Marletta. “I was, like, I could have very well missed a letter easily.”
The documents included names of a court clerk, a judge and other federal officials. Marletta said the caller didn’t ask her for money, which would have been a red flag. Instead, the caller provided the jail address and told Marletta what to bring to turn herself in.
“He’s put me into panic mode, which is their MO. They get you panicked and backed into a corner,” said Marletta. “I asked him, ‘Is there any other way I can handle this without going to jail?’”
Marletta said the caller put her on hold, then returned to tell her to pay a bond over the phone. The caller sent a new court date and a receipt for $3,500 Marletta sent through a payment app.
Marletta said her bank flagged the transfer as potential fraud. Marletta said she was so convinced the caller was legitimate, she told her bank to release the hold and transfer the money.
Later, Marletta said she realized it was a scam when the caller contacted her again to say a family member was on the warrant list, too.
The Denton County Sheriff’s Office told NBC 5 Responds the call was a scam. No one at the agency contacted people about warrants. We contacted the judge listed on the warrant. Her office confirmed the judge didn’t sign the document. Some of the documents claimed to come from the FDIC. The FDIC said those documents are not legitimate.
“I thought I was bulletproof, but they’re good,” Marletta said.
Looking back, Marletta said the caller was friendly, low-pressure. It didn’t sound like he was in a call center somewhere. He also spoke like a fellow Texan.
“I’m a born and raised Texan. He had the charming Texas accent and sounded exactly what a Denton County Sheriff would probably sound like in my head,” Marletta said.
‘It is going to get worse’
We don’t know if the call originated in the U.S. or somewhere overseas.
Either way, Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog director at the nonprofit U.S. Public Interest Group, warned a caller can use AI to sound like someone from just about anywhere.
“You could create the voice of a 50-year-old woman who lives in Montana and moved from New York City,” explained Murray. “You just plug in parameters and it happens in seconds.”
A search online brings up a list of AI voice cloning options. Many are free. Some allow users to convert text to an AI-generated voice. Combine this with other tech tools that scrape the internet for information about consumers and tailor-made scams are born.
“We’ve probably only seen the beginning of it, honest to God. It is going to get worse with the amount of information these bad guys know about us when they call us,” Murray said.
Murray said savvy consumers shouldn’t feel immune.
“Anyone who says that couldn’t happen to me, or how did that person fall for that? They should just stop right there,” said Murray.
Victim’s money returned
Marletta said she was grateful because she was able to get her money back. When Marletta reported the fraud, Bank of America told us it was able to recover the money from the account the caller directed Marletta to transfer funds to. A spokesperson said it always tries to recover funds. However, scammers typically vanish with the money as soon as a victim sends it.
Bank of America also shared, “Bank of America prioritizes client protection and takes action to mitigate risk to clients from scams, including proactively warning clients, as we did in this case. We were able to recover the funds and return them to the client.”
The spokesperson said that if a bank warns a customer about potential fraud, the consumer should not proceed with transferring money.
Early Warning, the operator of the payment app Zelle, said it can’t comment on any specific customer’s situation because it doesn’t hold onto a user’s money or manage their accounts. If a consumer believes they were scammed, they should contact their bank or credit union immediately. It said it works with partner banks and credit unions to detect and respond to suspicious activity in real-time.
What you can do
Marletta said she shared her story so others would be on guard for convincing scam calls.
“My hope and my prayer with this interview is that other people’s hard-earned money is not thrown away,” said Marletta.
Marletta said the person who called her seemed to know a lot about her. It helped legitimize the scam.
“If I could switch the light switch on for one person to not fall for this scam, then I’ve accomplished something,” said Marletta. “That supersedes any embarrassment, any comments I’m going to get.”
Marletta said if you ever get a stressful, unexpected call, contact a friend or family member. A scam caller will try to convince you to stay on the line. Hang up anyway. Talk it through with a real person you know and trust.
Murray said that’s the strategy she recommends, too.
“Just reach out to somebody,” Murray said. “A lot of times if somebody says it out loud, then they’re, like, wait a minute. What did I just say?”
NBC 5 News
NBC 5 News
Murray said that consumers should investigate any unexpected calls. A call, text, email or letter may look like it’s coming from a bank, government agency, or even a company you do business with.
“If anybody contacts you and it’s unexpected, assume it’s bad,” Murray said. “If anybody calls you, emails you, texts you, asks for money, asks for information, trying to confirm information and the call is unexpected, the text is unexpected, the email is unexpected, the letter in your mailbox is unexpected, you just need to check it out.”
Contact the actual agency, bank or business at a phone number you know is legitimate. If it’s a credit card company, dial the number on the back of the physical card in your hand. For a bank, dial the number on your bank statement. If it’s a government agency, look up the contact information independently. Don’t dial a phone number given to you by the person who initiated contact.
If you look up contact information, scrutinize web search results.
“Unfortunately, a lot of these bad guys have taken it a step further and they are creating searchable phone numbers online and fake websites,” Murray explained.
“It’s really sad that you need to be careful all the time and just check it out,” Murray added.
NBC 5 Responds is committed to researching your concerns and recovering your money. Our goal is to get you answers and, if possible, solutions and a resolution. Call us at 844-5RESPND (844-573-7763) or fill out our customer complaint form.