An elderly JPMorgan Chase customer is out thousands of dollars after scammers convinced him he won a big prize.
An 87-year-old man from Portland, Oregon, lost a total of $13,000 to scammers who told him he needed to pay them money to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars and a new SUV, reports the NBC-affiliated KGW8.
The victim, whose name was not provided, says he received a call one morning from a man claiming he won a Publishers Clearing House prize.
“[He said] that I won second prize. Second prize is $850,000 and $150,000 in cash. And additionally, I was going to [get] a Mercedes SUV.”
However, the victim says he was told he had to meet someone at his bank and hand over money to receive it. He says he followed the instructions and was met by a thief who walked with him into a Chase Bank branch in Northwest Portland.
“I said, how much money do you need? He said $10,000. I said, what’s that for? He said, well, we need people to insure the car, give it license plates, install the plates. It sounded reasonable at the time.”
The scam didn’t stop there. He says the thief got him to come back later that day and withdraw another $1,500, as well as go to CVS to buy three $500 gift cards.
However, he says that when his wife, Iris, came home and he told her about the situation, she realized he had been scammed. She says the bank teller should have figured out her husband may have been a victim of fraud before letting him withdraw the funds.
Says Iris,
“When I got home he said, ‘I have good news for you. We won Publishers Clearing House. We’re going to get a big check.’ After that, I had a meltdown. None of this would have happened if the teller had called a manager. None of this would have happened, and it’s not like he looks like a young man. There was a man, like, shadowing him.”
A Chase Bank spokesperson says the firm is looking into the matter. The Portland Police are also investigating.
Says the victim,
“I used to be a very bright guy, and I feel very stupid now having bought this.”
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