Scammers steal billions of dollars from Pennsylvanians every year and manipulate them into making fraudulent wire transfers.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said the issue is only getting worse as the schemes — including tech support, romance, government impersonation and investment fraud — become more sophisticated.
At an initial hearing Wednesday in Bucks County, several victims of cyber fraud shared their experiences with state leaders, who said more can be done to protect them.
“We hope this event will spur action that will ultimately prevent fraud and give consumers more options to recover assets when they are victimized,” Henry said. “I have heard far too many stories of hardworking Pennsylvanians who have had large portions of their life savings taken away through cyber fraud.”
Older Pennsylvanians, she said, are generally more at risk because they have more money in the bank. But anyone can become a victim.
Keith and Deb Marsh, a retired priest and nurse, said they were defrauded of their pension and savings – totaling more than $850,000 – after scammers convinced them their bank accounts had been compromised. It started with a pop-up on their computer warning him to “call this number immediately.”
To protect their money, the couple were told to transfer it to ‘fake accounts’ the bank had set up for them.
“I think we all have an innate fear of getting scammed, so as soon as it pops up you think, ‘Oh my God, it’s happening,’ and you just panic,” Keith Marsh said. “This person speaking to us seemed like a lifeline, you know, ‘We’re going to get you through this,’ and you believe that.”
The often emotional stories shared during the hearing varied, but the outcome was the same. Each victim was convinced to make large transfers, and their bank never asked any questions.
State law enforcement and legislative leaders say financial institutions can and should do more to detect and prevent these transfers. Republican state Rep. Joe Hogan of Bucks County plans to introduce a bill to give bank employees more authority to flag suspicious activity, freeze transfers for a few days and alert law enforcement.
“They see the example of someone coming in who they know is a victim of this type of scam, and they can’t do anything about it,” Hogan said. “It’s that person’s money. They will give it to him if he asks for it.’
A similar bill passed with bipartisan support in the House of Representatives last legislative session, but failed to gain a vote in the Senate.
Hogan believes they can cross the finish line this year.
“Billions of dollars are stolen here in Pennsylvania every year and almost none of it is returned,” he said. “We need to find ways to protect more people.”
If you believe you are a victim of fraud, you can report it to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Rapid Response Fraud Team here.
