Kish Fraud Awareness Week: 12/11–12/15

An older customer visited her Kish branch to have a large amount of cash withdrawn from her account. This was an unusually large amount for this customer, who seemed upset, so the Personal Banker asked questions to make sure everything was okay. The customer said she had received a phone call from a person saying she was her granddaughter and that she had been in a car accident. The girl said that she was at the police station and needed $10,000 for bail. When the customer remarked that the girl didn’t sound like her granddaughter, the girl explained she had broken her nose in the accident.

After the customer said she didn’t have that kind of money available, the girl eventually claimed her bail had been reduced to $5,000. The customer was instructed to go to the bank and tell nobody what had happened and was given a phone number to call once she had the money in hand. Having knowledge of such scams, the Kish Banker encouraged the customer to call her granddaughter’s actual phone number to see if she would answer. The customer did so, and the granddaughter was just fine. The customer was very grateful and her trust in her banker was strengthened.

A male customer had been in communication with a woman oversees for many years, though they had never met in person. One day, the woman asked the customer to pay off a package she was sending to him, which she said contained money for him to go visit her but was stuck in customs. When the customer told this story to his Kish Personal Banker, the banker recognized
the red flags—it was suspicious that the woman would ask him to send money to allegedly get it right back. The customer admitted that he hadn’t thought to question it. Having learned of similar scams, the banker was able to predict the rest of the story before the customer could send any money, and he luckily avoided being financially scammed.

A female customer shared with her Personal Banker that she had joined an online dating service where she met an attractive younger man from Greece. Over time through their online conversations, the man shared how difficult his life was and how he had very little money. He told the customer that he loved her and that he was trying to come to the United States to be with
her but couldn’t afford a passport and air fare. The customer started sending him money weekly to “save” for the trip. This story sounded suspicious to the Personal Banker, who contacted Kish Client Solutions for help. After checking online, the Kish team discovered that the photos the man claimed were of him were actually stock photos. The customer was grateful that her banker identified the scam and was able to prevent her from losing any more money.