It's taken me 4 weeks to where I felt I could write this story. I've told it over and over again now to the point where I'm tired of repeating the same details. Have you ever noticed that sometimes when you tell the same story, you might feel the urge to switch up a little detail just to keep it sounding fresh so you're not repeating the same thing over and over? Maybe by writing this down it can become a cathartic experience and hopefully it will help me.
May 10, 2023.
That date will be forever tattooed into my memory. I was at my desk at work, about an hour into my day, just an other Wednesday. At around 10:15, my phone started to buzz. I looked down to my left and it was a text message from a number I did not recognize.
It said it was from Bank of America, and that a fraudulent transaction had been attempted from my account and I was given their fraud line to call. In my pivotal mistake, I called the provided phone number. I heard the opening jingle "Welcome to Bank of America."
As soon as I heard the Calcutta accent, I should have known I was being bullshitted. Anyway, this guy said an illegal wire transaction had been attempted from my account by a man named Jeffrey Green in Mexico. He asked if I knew him, and I said no. He then said this was an ongoing criminal case and I would be forwarded to a US Marshall in Eastern Texas named John Garrison.
I checked the Marshall website and the name did match. So I talked with asshole #2 and he explained I had to leave work immediately and withdraw all money from my accounts. My accounts were prone to fraud and they had to be protected and put into a secured wallet as he phrased it. I drove 10 minutes to Bank of America in 90 degree heat and he stayed on the phone. I withdrew all the money in my checking as well as all the money from my football club's account. In total it was $10,540.
And the secure wallet turned out to be a local crypto machine. I felt weird about it. I asked if I would be able to access my money within 24 hours as he promised. He said yes. He lied.
I'm guessing you're reading this and thinking I'm the biggest sucker in the world. Well, that's how I basically felt.
But understand this. These bastards know exactly how to manipulate, how to create fear, how to create doubt, and even give the impression that they want to help.
I had scan my driver's license to create my account, which was in my name. Long story short, I went to 2 different convenient stores and my money was deposited, aka stolen.
When they then asked me to withdraw my retirement and savings credit union accounts, that's when I realized I was getting fucked. Because who are these people to know the status of my other accounts?
I called the real BOA bank fraud line and they told me nothing strange had been attempted. I can't remember the last time I felt that empty, that violated, that robbed; I felt financially and mentally raped.
And then I knew it was time to get buys. That night, I spoke to a police officer, I froze my credit. The next day, I visited the local bank branch and told them what happened, and I launched an investigation. A week later, I changed my driver's license, I was worried information from that had been stolen.
After waiting for the weekend, I got tired of waiting for the cop to call me back and I filed an online police report.
Hell, I even called the real Marshall's office in Texas to let the know the man was being impersonated. Anything to take these scammers down, I will do it.
I also submitted a fraud claim to bitcoin depot. But they let me know all transactions are irreversible. So I'm not getting it back from them. The best they can do is return the fees to me and I've submitted the report for that. I can't imagine it would be much at all, but every little bit does matter.
There's no guarantee any of the money will be restored. The problem is the money is all in crypto and I made the transaction, so even though I was being clearly manipulated, scammed, and mind-raped, it may not matter to the bank. I know about FDIC protection, but I'm approaching this like a sports team or a date. I expect nothing and hope for the best.
What really sucks is the payments for my rent, Roth IRA, and mutual funds were all scheduled to pay on the 10th. They all paid one day late. Had they paid as they should have, it would have saved me $2,200.
I am thinking a lot about why this happened, why God allowed it to happen, what have I done wrong that warranted this complete robbery and violation. I don't have the answers to any of those questions yet. I may never know. What I do know is what happened to me is as traumatic as anything I've dealt with in many many years.
But just because these lowlifes stole thousands of dollars from me, it does not mean that they win. I beat them in the way I live my life, and not allowing myself to fall into bitterness. So now it's about getting back what was stolen. I have a goal to save $5,000 between now and December. I moved over $5,500 from my mutual funds into my checking account.
So I have put up a support page, a Gofundme, so I can stay on top of my bills, which aren't going to stop and also so I can replenish my savings.
If you would like to donate, please visit the following link:
https://www.gofundme.com/manage/scammed-by-hackers-for-10000
Thank you for reading.
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