Fuslie tells how she got SCAMMED...

Summary

The narrator recounts a distressing scam experience involving their bank and cryptocurrency account. They received an email about unauthorized access to their bank account, followed by another from Coinbase with a similar claim. After a convincing phone call, they transferred their Bitcoin and Ethereum to a 'Coinbase Wallet' address, which was actually a scammer's address. Despite red flags and warnings, they fell for the scam, losing their funds. The story serves as a cautionary tale about online scams and the importance of vigilance.

Takeaways

• 😱 The narrator fell victim to a scam involving their bank account and cryptocurrency holdings.
• 📧 They received an email about unauthorized access to their bank account from Atlanta, Georgia, which turned out to be legitimate.
• 🏦 The bank responded by canceling the narrator's card and issuing a new one.
• 💻 An email about a login from the same location, Atlanta Georgia, was received on their Coinbase account, which they initially thought was also legitimate.
• 📞 A call from someone claiming to be from Coinbase followed, where they were instructed to transfer funds to a 'Coinbase Wallet'.
• 🔗 The scammer sent a link that didn't work, then asked for manual entry of a 'ticket number' to proceed with the transfer.
• 🚨 Despite red flags and warnings from the email service, the narrator proceeded with the transfer due to the scammer's reassuring demeanor.
• 🤔 The narrator later realized it was a scam after checking their wallet and finding the funds gone, along with no callback from the supposed Coinbase representative.
• 😭 The narrator felt embarrassed and regretted not heeding the initial warning signs.
• 💡 The story serves as a cautionary tale about scams, emphasizing the importance of vigilance and verifying the legitimacy of requests for personal or financial information.

Q & A

What was the initial trigger for the speaker to suspect a scam?

The speaker received an email stating that someone had accessed one of their bank accounts from Atlanta, Georgia, and saw a bank charge that wasn't theirs.

What action did the speaker take after noticing the unauthorized bank charge?

The speaker called their bank immediately and reported the unauthorized charge, leading to the cancellation of their card and the issuance of a new one.

How did the scammer manage to deceive the speaker into believing the call was legitimate?

The scammer claimed to be from Coinbase, mentioned a login from Atlanta, Georgia, which matched the location of the bank charge, and asked the speaker to transfer funds to a Coinbase wallet, which is a legitimate service.

What was the scammer's method for transferring the speaker's cryptocurrency?

The scammer instructed the speaker to download the Coinbase wallet app and then to transfer their Bitcoin and Ethereum to an address provided by the scammer under the guise of securing the funds.

What was the speaker's reaction when they realized they had been scammed?

The speaker felt physically ill, embarrassed, and even had intrusive thoughts about harming the scammer.

What steps did the speaker take to try to rationalize or cope with the scam after realizing it?

The speaker tried to justify the scammer's actions by imagining their possible hardships and also attempted to contact the scammer repeatedly.

How did the speaker's friends react to the news of the scam?

The speaker's friends were disappointed and one friend, Leslie, insisted on being informed before any future money transactions.

What was the outcome of the speaker's attempt to find a solution or get their money back?

The speaker discovered that cryptocurrency scams are difficult to recover from and that the money was unlikely to be retrieved.

What was the significance of the Reddit thread the speaker found during the call?

The Reddit thread falsely confirmed the scammer's request as legitimate, reinforcing the speaker's trust in the scammer's instructions.

What was the final realization the speaker had about the scam after researching more about it?

The speaker realized that the emails were not from the official Coinbase domain and that Coinbase would never ask customers to transfer funds out of their account.