Cheryl Friedman, a resident of Norton, Massachusetts, became the victim of a scam that led to the unauthorized withdrawal of $3,500 from her Bank of America account, according to a recent report by CBS Boston.
Despite reporting the incident to the bank and local police, her request for reimbursement was initially denied. It wasn’t until media outlets like CBS Boston and WBZ-TV’s I-Team began investigating that Bank of America decided to refund the stolen amount.
Friedman was in the process of helping a friend with a PayPal refund when she received a fraudulent call from someone posing as a PayPal employee. Trusting the caller, she clicked on a link sent to her, which ultimately granted the scammer access to her bank account. Cybersecurity expert Peter Tran compared the act of clicking on such a link to “giving everybody a key to the front door of your home.”
Media involvement leads to refund
After the media picked up Friedman’s story, Bank of America reversed its decision and processed the refund. The bank cited “additional information” provided by Friedman as the reason for the change, although the nature of this new information has not been disclosed. This development has led to questions about why the bank initially refused to reimburse the stolen funds and whether media attention was the primary factor in the bank’s reversal.
Friedman expressed both relief and frustration following the refund, questioning why the bank didn’t have more robust fraud protection measures to flag suspicious transactions. The bank’s initial denial and subsequent reversal after media involvement have raised questions about its fraud protection protocols.
Peter Tran, a cybersecurity expert, emphasized the risks associated with clicking on unverified links, stating that such actions could be likened to “giving everybody a key to the front door of your home.” He mentioned that scams like these are becoming increasingly sophisticated, making it difficult for individuals to distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent communications.