Scammer Call

This happened about ten years ago. It’s gonna sound ridiculous, but it’s fact. I’m not the best storyteller, but I’ll give it my all.

So, I worked for a major American bank at a call center. An account holder calls in on an American line (we had caller ID/authentication).

I hear this crazy dumbek solo. I say to the caller, “Thank you for calling (bank), it’s my goal to service your concerns today! My name is (Monster). May I have your name please?”

A man with a heavy accent verifies the acct with address and DOB.

The “customer” wanted the amount of the last deposited check/direct deposit.

To those of you out of the banking loop, this is the most crucial piece of data that exists. It is a single verifier. If a scammer gets this, they have Carte Blanche on your information.

There was also a fraud block on his account because charges from China, Russia, and various African countries were attempted with no travel notification.

We had to use additional verifiers to release the deposit amounts.

When I brought up that we needed more info from him, the dumbeks picked up. His voice got staticky.

I told him his music was too loud. He said, “I’m at a Gucci in South Africa! What the fuck am I supposed to do? Give me my info!”

Then, the background music turned to rainforest. I heard rain, bird calls, and monkeys doing the stereotypical “Urraangh urrragh!” Then the dumbeks went crazy.

I heard a guy (clearly American) in the background go, “Shit! They’re never gonna believe this!” Then the recording started over.

It was so surreal. I told the caller that I had reason to be suspicious of his call. He goes, “Fuck it, we’ll call back and try again.”

I hope I did it justice.