Golden sunsets
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Wow. Hope no one on this board loses any money.
Best CD, MM Rates & Bank Special Deals Thread 2020 - Please post updates here
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Wow. Hope no one on this board loses any money.
njhowie
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If it is a fraud, then obviously I apologize, as I was simply going based the info shown on the website, as I'm sure you were.
Mods - based on what Dtail is indicating, maybe remove my original post as well as the followups, so others do not potentially fall into this.
Dtail - is it possible that the Synovus folks you spoke with at the bank are not familiar with this group? It says right on the web page that it is "A Synovus Company".
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njhowie
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Many are using Apex - including Ally:
https://investorjunkie.com/stock-brokers/broker-clearing-firms/
Dtail
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
They looked up the rep I was dealing with who I called generically with the number provided on the reference and stated for sure that he does not work for any Synovus company.
She also stated that the Wealth Management Group is located within the retail branch like BOA/ML. The rep I was dealing with stated that they operate totally separate from the retail branch and they wouldn't know about the deal.
Additionally the email that the person used "groupsynovus", she stated that no one uses that email at any divisions at Synovus.
Also stated that there are no offices in Virginia, where he stated he was located.
Dtail
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
The clearing firm quoted was "Apex Trading House", which is not the same firm that Ally uses.
Dtail
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Harley supposed to fund his account today. I sent him a PM.
njhowie
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Dtail
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
No problem njhowie. You have given us a wealth of info which have provided many of us with great deals and bonuses.
Golden sunsets
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It does beg the question though as to whether we should be highlighting promotions that might not be legitimate.
harley
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Just as a heads up, that was a scam. I'm ok, but it was a very close thing. I'll give more details later.
njhowie
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Thank heavens - I've been having heart palpitations for the past hour.
I can't apologize enough about this.
Dtail
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Personally, njhowie has provided good info on many great deals and I would like to continue to hear about them.
Everyone needs to do some due diligence. Yes, Harley and I (no financial patsies) were close to a big mistake and there is a lesson to be learned from it.
pb4uski
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If I'm following the thread correctly though, one key difference between prior deals that many of us have taken advantage of was that they were directly with the bank or credit union issuing the CD.... in this case it was through an intermediary... an agent... rather than directly with Synovus. Is that correct?
I'm glad it was figured out before anyone got burnt.
I'm glad it was figured out before anyone got burnt.
Dtail
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Agent - yes and no
He stated that his wealth division was a part of Synovus, but all other aspects sounded like more of an agent.
The name of the bank where the wire instructions were to be sent to appears to be a legitimate bank. I wonder if they know about this whole scam.
RetiredAndLovingIt
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The link has changed to say they are a Community Federal Company
[mod edit - removed link, appears it was a scam]
[mod edit - removed link, appears it was a scam]
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harley
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
THE STORY (long, and the mods should feel free to move it to another thread if they think it appropriate. Maybe start a Darwin award forum):
OK, first off, no blame to njhowie at all. This was a perfect example of "If it's too good to be true, it's not true". I've listed all the red flags I ignored, just for educational purposes. The first one was that the rates were too high, and they didn't drop when the Fed dropped the interest rate.
I got started on the process by calling the number on the [mod edit - removed link, appears it was a scam] website. Red flag #2 - No email information, just a phone number. I spoke to a Mr. Mark Guntle, who described the products and the process, which sounded pretty legitimate. I don't think I'd have fallen for this if it wasn't listed as part of Synovus Bank, which is my bank.
Anyway, while filling out the application that he sent I was doing some due diligence (ha!). I looked up Mark Guntle on BrokerCheck.com, and there he was, listed with DMG Securities. They have been in business for decades, and have a pretty good record. Red Flag #3 - The company name wasn't the same. Neither was the phone number, although the address was. But I missed that at first.
When I started the $250,000.00 wire transfer, Red Flag #4 I was disturbed by the fact that if he was with Synovus and I was with Synovus, why did I have to transfer the funds through Apex Trading House. But I ignored my misgivings and did the wire transfer. I followed the proper procedures, receiving the wire transfer information via email, then calling Mark Guntle to verify they. Obviously if you get the original information from a scammer, that's not a real security check.
A few minutes later, I got the confirmation call about the wire transfer. While I was confirming, I did a quick internet check on Apex. They are registered in Sheridan WY (Red Flag#5). Not a hotbed of the financial industry.
Anyway, I gave the approval on the wire transfer, despite the nagging voice in the back of my head. But just as I hung up I noticed the company (Apex) had only been registered since July 2019. I freaked out and called the Wire Transfer Dept. back, but they had already put it through. I'm talking less than 2 minutes, but the money was gone! I asked if they could recall it, and they told me I'd have to deal with my branch. I drove there (1/2 mile, took me about 10 seconds) and talked to the manager. She started the recall process, but didn't think it would do any good. Once they send the money, it's like a cash transaction. It's gone. I had my laptop and tried to show her the website saying they were a Synovus company. Well guess what? Today it said they were a Community Federal Company, Cleared by Apex Clearing. All references to Synovus were gone.
At this point I had already assumed I'd lost the money, and was going insane. I called Mark Guntle and asked him to cancel the transaction. He hung up on me. Bad sign.
Now here's where I give myself a little credit, although up to here I think I had been a total idiot. I felt like panicking and running around gibbering, but instead I called the receiving bank, Community Federal Savings Bank in Woodhaven NY. I explained the situation, and gave them the account number for the wire transfer. They told me that wasn't a real account number for them, it was a holding account for a company called Transferwise, who do international financial transactions. They are a legitimate company, although from what I've learned since they also are used by international scammers just like was being done to me. Anyway I spoke to someone there and again explained the situation. He took my information and said he'd get back to me. Not totally encouraging. I also called the Mrk Guntle that I *thought* I had been dealing with, and let him know that someone was using his name, address, and a similar company name. He had never heard of me, proving again that it was a scam. I don't think he believed me about the identity theft. At this point my branch manager said there was nothing else to do, I'd just have to wait until tomorrow.
So I came home and broke the news to DW. She's amazing, and I'm still alive and married. But it was incredibly traumatic. While I was waiting I filled out an FBI Internet Fraud report. DW and I talked and took a walk and tried to come to terms with it. It's not the worst thing we've been through together, but it was pretty high up on the list.
Finally, at 5:30 pm I got an email from the Synovus Wireroom team, saying that my money was back in my account!!!!! That was almost as traumatic as the first realization of the scam. I'm not sure my heart can take much more of this. I still, at this point, don't know which of the two organizations (Community FSB or TransferWise) caught the transfer and reversed it. I hope to find out tomorrow. But I think it was Transferwise, and I think they process all their outgoing transfers in a batch after business hours. So only the fact that I moved so quickly gave us a chance. Of course, moving quickly is what got me into the situation in the first place.
So, that's the saga. I am thanking God and we are considering this found money at this point. We will spend a little time figuring out how to share our good luck, but we've definitely got to do something. We can't even go out to eat to celebrate, since we're staying home and everything is closed anyway. There may be a large glass of bourbon in my immediate future, though.
OK, first off, no blame to njhowie at all. This was a perfect example of "If it's too good to be true, it's not true". I've listed all the red flags I ignored, just for educational purposes. The first one was that the rates were too high, and they didn't drop when the Fed dropped the interest rate.
I got started on the process by calling the number on the [mod edit - removed link, appears it was a scam] website. Red flag #2 - No email information, just a phone number. I spoke to a Mr. Mark Guntle, who described the products and the process, which sounded pretty legitimate. I don't think I'd have fallen for this if it wasn't listed as part of Synovus Bank, which is my bank.
Anyway, while filling out the application that he sent I was doing some due diligence (ha!). I looked up Mark Guntle on BrokerCheck.com, and there he was, listed with DMG Securities. They have been in business for decades, and have a pretty good record. Red Flag #3 - The company name wasn't the same. Neither was the phone number, although the address was. But I missed that at first.
When I started the $250,000.00 wire transfer, Red Flag #4 I was disturbed by the fact that if he was with Synovus and I was with Synovus, why did I have to transfer the funds through Apex Trading House. But I ignored my misgivings and did the wire transfer. I followed the proper procedures, receiving the wire transfer information via email, then calling Mark Guntle to verify they. Obviously if you get the original information from a scammer, that's not a real security check.
A few minutes later, I got the confirmation call about the wire transfer. While I was confirming, I did a quick internet check on Apex. They are registered in Sheridan WY (Red Flag#5). Not a hotbed of the financial industry.
Anyway, I gave the approval on the wire transfer, despite the nagging voice in the back of my head. But just as I hung up I noticed the company (Apex) had only been registered since July 2019. I freaked out and called the Wire Transfer Dept. back, but they had already put it through. I'm talking less than 2 minutes, but the money was gone! I asked if they could recall it, and they told me I'd have to deal with my branch. I drove there (1/2 mile, took me about 10 seconds) and talked to the manager. She started the recall process, but didn't think it would do any good. Once they send the money, it's like a cash transaction. It's gone. I had my laptop and tried to show her the website saying they were a Synovus company. Well guess what? Today it said they were a Community Federal Company, Cleared by Apex Clearing. All references to Synovus were gone.
At this point I had already assumed I'd lost the money, and was going insane. I called Mark Guntle and asked him to cancel the transaction. He hung up on me. Bad sign.
Now here's where I give myself a little credit, although up to here I think I had been a total idiot. I felt like panicking and running around gibbering, but instead I called the receiving bank, Community Federal Savings Bank in Woodhaven NY. I explained the situation, and gave them the account number for the wire transfer. They told me that wasn't a real account number for them, it was a holding account for a company called Transferwise, who do international financial transactions. They are a legitimate company, although from what I've learned since they also are used by international scammers just like was being done to me. Anyway I spoke to someone there and again explained the situation. He took my information and said he'd get back to me. Not totally encouraging. I also called the Mrk Guntle that I *thought* I had been dealing with, and let him know that someone was using his name, address, and a similar company name. He had never heard of me, proving again that it was a scam. I don't think he believed me about the identity theft. At this point my branch manager said there was nothing else to do, I'd just have to wait until tomorrow.
So I came home and broke the news to DW. She's amazing, and I'm still alive and married. But it was incredibly traumatic. While I was waiting I filled out an FBI Internet Fraud report. DW and I talked and took a walk and tried to come to terms with it. It's not the worst thing we've been through together, but it was pretty high up on the list.
Finally, at 5:30 pm I got an email from the Synovus Wireroom team, saying that my money was back in my account!!!!! That was almost as traumatic as the first realization of the scam. I'm not sure my heart can take much more of this. I still, at this point, don't know which of the two organizations (Community FSB or TransferWise) caught the transfer and reversed it. I hope to find out tomorrow. But I think it was Transferwise, and I think they process all their outgoing transfers in a batch after business hours. So only the fact that I moved so quickly gave us a chance. Of course, moving quickly is what got me into the situation in the first place.
So, that's the saga. I am thanking God and we are considering this found money at this point. We will spend a little time figuring out how to share our good luck, but we've definitely got to do something. We can't even go out to eat to celebrate, since we're staying home and everything is closed anyway. There may be a large glass of bourbon in my immediate future, though.
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Dtail
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
The link has changed to say they are a Community Federal Company
[mod edit - removed link, appears it was a scam]
I noticed that too.
Their internet link "[mod edit - removed link, appears it was a scam]" still states that the accounts are marketed by Synovus Bank. I guess they haven't thought of updating that aspect yet.
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copyright1997reloaded
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Just catching up on this thread...and WOW.
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Holy cow, thank you for sharing your lesson with us in detail!!!! So glad all turned out well for you!!! This story has taught me to trust my worrying inner voice and not those who tell me to relax and trust. 
jazz4cash
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Harley.....so glad you were clever and able to have the transfer reversed. Sounds like you figured it out before it was reported here?
If the minimum was 10k instead of 200k I could’ve got sucked in easily.
Someone should pursue this. How can you have a website taken down? At the least report it on scam .com.
On another note I reported a local broker advertising 3.04 apy for 12mos w/FDIC in the Washington Post. It looked sketchy but I called them up and it sounded legit. They sent me a flyer in the US Mail. That’s a green flag since most scammer avoid using USPS. Later this year I may look into using them but I’ll be extra careful after this. Amazing.
If the minimum was 10k instead of 200k I could’ve got sucked in easily.
Someone should pursue this. How can you have a website taken down? At the least report it on scam .com.
On another note I reported a local broker advertising 3.04 apy for 12mos w/FDIC in the Washington Post. It looked sketchy but I called them up and it sounded legit. They sent me a flyer in the US Mail. That’s a green flag since most scammer avoid using USPS. Later this year I may look into using them but I’ll be extra careful after this. Amazing.
harley
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Pretty much at the same time. Once again, greed was driving me. I wanted to get it done before the rates dropped.
I've done more research through the evening, and there are so many things that should have tipped me off. I used to work in network security, for craps sake. No way I should have fallen for this.
Most recent research: I did an nslookup of the domain [mod edit - removed link, appears it was a scam], and this is what I got.
DNS Records for: '[mod edit - removed link, appears it was a scam]'
Returned Data
Name TTL Until Refresh Class Type Data
[mod edit - removed link, appears it was a scam] 86400 IN A 176.121.14.147
[mod edit - removed link, appears it was a scam] 86400 IN NS ns1.reg.ru.
[mod edit - removed link, appears it was a scam] 86400 IN NS ns2.reg.ru.
[mod edit - removed link, appears it was a scam] 86400 IN SOA ns1.reg.ru. hostmaster.ns1.reg.ru. 1583911361 14400 3600 604800 10800
Nothing suspicious there, is there?
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RetiredAndLovingIt
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Glad you dodged that bullet, you got incredibly lucky.
Thank you for sharing all the red flags that you ignored. I would add googling the phone number which I did and it was used for IRS scams a few years back. On the other hand , I found that they are A+ with BBB though not BBB accedited under DMG Securites but when I check them, there is a history from 1986 of fraud. (James was aquitted but Mark is a relative of James)
At a minimum I would suggest that you contact the BBB and relate your story to them. I do remember a BBB scandal some years back where some really bad companies were able to pay them for a premium rating, this may be one of these fake ratings.
Here is some stuff I found on DMG Securities, there is definitely a family connection between these 2 businesses.
https://www.bbb.org/us/va/great-falls/profile/stock-brokers/dmg-securities-inc-0241-1041317/details
https://brokercheck.finra.org/firm/summary/15480
https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/02/business/4-indicted-in-inquiries-involving-first-jersey.html
https://www.glassdoor.com/profile/j...l=/Reviews/DMG-Securities-Reviews-E313196.htm
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/dmg-securities-heard-of-them
Thank you for sharing all the red flags that you ignored. I would add googling the phone number which I did and it was used for IRS scams a few years back. On the other hand , I found that they are A+ with BBB though not BBB accedited under DMG Securites but when I check them, there is a history from 1986 of fraud. (James was aquitted but Mark is a relative of James)
At a minimum I would suggest that you contact the BBB and relate your story to them. I do remember a BBB scandal some years back where some really bad companies were able to pay them for a premium rating, this may be one of these fake ratings.
Here is some stuff I found on DMG Securities, there is definitely a family connection between these 2 businesses.
https://www.bbb.org/us/va/great-falls/profile/stock-brokers/dmg-securities-inc-0241-1041317/details
https://brokercheck.finra.org/firm/summary/15480
https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/02/business/4-indicted-in-inquiries-involving-first-jersey.html
https://www.glassdoor.com/profile/j...l=/Reviews/DMG-Securities-Reviews-E313196.htm
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/dmg-securities-heard-of-them
harley
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I don't think the Mark Guntle from DMG Securities has anything to do with the pseudo-Mark Guntle from [mod edit - removed link, appears it was a scam], other than having his identity stolen. When I spoke to the legit Guntle today, it was very definitely not the same person's voice. And I had to go through receptionists and other people to get to him, as opposed to calling DMGwealthadvisors, where "Mark Guntle" answered the phone every time (another red flag). I appreciate the information you posted, but I don't want to imply that there's anything wrong with DMG Securities. I also don't know if they're honest or not, but I'm pretty sure they don't have anything to do with the scam I fell for.
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Sunset
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Harley.... So Glad you got your $$$ back, that was an amazing story. 
Golden sunsets
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NJHowie; if I might ask where did you find this deal in the first place?
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