So, I just received an email and text message that I had opened a savings account with a major bank I have never previously used. I didn’t open any links on the texts or email. I went to the major bank’s website directly from Google and called their fraud department. They confirmed there was an account under my name and closed it. I am filing a fraud report with the credit bureaus. I always have my credit frozen.
What is the scam here? What could some one do with a savings account linked to both my email and number?
In: 53
none of the comments so far seem to have gotten it right, so i’ll chime in. for reference, i’ve worked in banking for 4 years (im still in my 20s, so 4 years is a majority of my working career).
first of all, a savings account has no credit, or line of credit attached to it. so no one is going to be using the account to purchase items. a freshly opened savings account with $0 is practically worthless.
secondly, no one is going to get a job and then use someone else’s bank account to deposit the funds. if you think about it, thats just dumb. most employers are still happy to write you a check if you don’t have a bank account.
the real reason to open an account under someone else’s name is to write bad checks and deposit them into the victims account. once the bad check clears after 1 day, the scammer will withdraw the funds. after a week or so, the bank will catch on to the bad check, but the funds have already been withdrawn by then. at this point, the victim is responsible for the lost money unless they can prove the account was opened due to fraud.
Are you familiar with “money mule” concept? It’s a similar thing, but instead of you being actively involved or not, your identity is used instead. That’s one of the use cases.
The purpose of this is white washing criminally acquired money.
* a criminal has retrieved a set of sum by various means (ransomware payout, digital theft, drugs pay out using bitcoin, phishing, …)
* problem: all that money is digital. Easy to find back by investigators. Digital transactions are tracked everywhere
* solution: use of money mule -> get a bank account of a person you can use. They often have multiple money mules.
* the digital money are transferred to these money mule accounts
* criminal (or acquaintance) goes to a bank booth (or multiple) and withdraw all that money cash
* end result: all digital traces lead to the money mule, but not the criminal person that has his money, in cash now.
* cash money is very hard to trace
Sure, there are camera’s at bank booth, but if a criminal is smart, they can disguise themselves or use other people (those acquaintances) to get the money in cash.
You probably get a fraudulent mail that someone deposited a significant amount, and then someone who wants it back (for real).
They are using your name and ID for Money Laundering and probably wire fraud.
You did the right thing to shut it down!
The last thing you need are Federal Agents on your doorstep with stainless bracelets!
It’s most likely the case that a criminal set up an account in someone else’s name so they could run cash through it to make it harder to trace the origin of the funds. This is called layering.
If a criminal is going to use an account for layering, they probably prefer it to be in someone else’s name rather than their own.
Cheque fraud is a lot less common than money laundering. Consider the number of dirty dollars obtained consentingly through drug deals etc versus the number of dollars that are stolen. There’s just more money to be laundered than stolen
Source: have worked in banks, we received quarterly training on spotting and reporting suspicious activity
This is very unlikely to be it, but: I’ve seen more than one British drama in which Badguys, in order to discredit an official who’s in their way, open a bank account in the official’s name – using a mail-drop address – and deposit, say, £10 000. They then give an anonymous tip to a reporter that the official has a secret bank account …
I have no idea how often that has ever happened in RealLife, or whether it’s still possible today. I’d guess it can still be done in some countries but not OECD.
Use the opened savings account not to scam you directly, but to make it easier to scam you. Now that they have a verified Savings account its much easier to get a Credit Card from that bank in your name or even a loan.
Besides some of the reasonable explanations mentioned, another reason they’ll sometimes do it is if they’re also stealing credit in your name (fraudulent credit card or line of credit). Opening a bank account with the address they’re using might let them “prove” that address to the creditor if they’re flagged for fraud there, via either account documents like statements, or the info now appearing associated with you.
While bank accounts may not go to credit bureau reporting, some of the info may end up sold to other data aggregators that financial corporations use to verify info to fight fraud.
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