Financial Advice Columnist falls for $50K scam

[jazz4cash]

She can edit out the specific details, but I'd sure like to see proof of that $50,000 withdrawal. I saw one commentator mention that if this story is true, then her career giving financial advice is probably over. And if it's not true (which I think is the case) then her career as a financial columnist is also likely over.

I am expecting more followup and possibly an investigation. .

 

[ERD50]

A good rule to follow is that you should be the one initiating any contact. So if someone calls me to discuss a problem with my credit card, I hang up and call the number printed on the back of the card or go online to see. If they send me an email with a link to click to straighten out my billing problem, I delete the email and log on to the bank's website in my normal fashion. If my local bank purportedly calls me, I'll just walk on over and talk to them face to face.

And if the FBI is ever going to arrest me, I'm pretty sure they'll just show up and do it, not call me first. I'm also pretty sure that they do not ever need my assistance.

100%.

I get frustrated by how often I see posts to NextDoor or similar sites "BEWARE! I got a text/email from (some Mega-Corp) and it was a scam!!!!.

The issue isn't an email/text from that specific Mega-Corp to be aware of, ignore ANY unsolicited email/text.

As Gumby says, if you didn't initiate it, it's probably a scam. And if it is legit, make the contact yourself through a known phone #, or web site - not anything in the email/text.

The other one is "look for misspelled words". Oh, please.... one of these days, the scammers will manage to get everything spelled right. Just don't respond to an unsolicited email/text. It's that simple. Really.

-ERD50

 

[jazz4cash]

100%.

The other one is "look for misspelled words". Oh, please.... one of these days, the scammers will manage to get everything spelled right. Just don't respond to an unsolicited email/text. It's that simple. Really.

-ERD50

I agree and IME scammers have already really cleaned up their grammer, spelling, weird phrasing and other modalities (remember that one?) that used to be dead giveaways.

 

[jollystomper]

Perhaps I wasn't clear. The commonality, and the thing I find interesting is how people can be manipulated. Brown manipulates people with an army of actors and hidden cameras and the scammers manipulate people on the phone. Both get people to behave in ways we have a hard time understanding. I find the application of that skill fascinating.

A slight tangent but aligning with this - I am continually amazed at the success of "catfishing" scenarios. That is another example of manipulation. To "fall in love" with someone to the point of sending them money or goods, multiple times, without ever having met them in person... *especially* if they think it is a celebrity... I find it fascinating.

 

[MissMolly]

A clip on CNN where she is being interviewed: https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2024/02/19/financial-columnist-charlotte-cowles-scam-victim-intv-cnntm-cprog-vpx.cnn

 

[iloveyoga]

I don't answer calls from people I don't know. Or text or email either and I block anything that I can, that is from an unknown source. So far I have not missed out on anything. I have convinced DH to do the same.

 

[jazz4cash]

Amazingly similar scam account but I am feeling more sympathy for the victim since she is not a ‘financial advice’ columnist. Maybe this validates Ms Cowles’ story or maybe it indicates plagiarism.

https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/anaconda-woman-shares-story-to-help-others-after-scammers-wipe-out-savings

 

[brett]

I don't answer calls from people I don't know. Or text or email either and I block anything that I can, that is from an unknown source. So far I have not missed out on anything. I have convinced DH to do the same.

We both do exactly the same. Never answer an unknown or blocked phone number.

If it is important the caller will leave a message.

Nor do we open any of those attachments that friends send along with their emails, or emails from people/sites that we are not familiar with.

Being a financial advisor does not imply that one has basic common sense or a healthy degree of skeptisism.

 

[EastWest Gal]

With an attempt at light humor, I think all of us (except jazz4cash) who have commented, have been "scammed." I read the 2 original linked articles, and now question whether it was just made up. Author is a financial columnist, so maybe she wrote this article to warn others, but the story is pure fiction. I couldn't read that last Washington Post article as it's behind paywall. So, as they say, "I call BS."

The WaPo article was just tips on how to tell the call is a scam. Nothing new.

 

[jazz4cash]

That seems too easy to check (police reports etc.) that another journalist would call her out?

I was thinking her editor should vouch for her and I assume (yeah, I know) they vetted the story. Should be easy to confirm many details of her story. It seems she’s getting generally roasted all around but getting a lot of support also. I read she deleted her twitter account. We’ll be hearing more about this. Overall it will cause people to be more wary, I guess.

 

[GenXguy]

I saw this story streaming on ABC News this morning - they were speaking with her.

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Living/video/financial-columnist-speaks-after-losing-50k-scam-107359624

They say younger people are bigger suckers for these scams.

 

[GenXguy]

I don't answer calls from people I don't know. Or text or email either and I block anything that I can, that is from an unknown source.

We both do exactly the same.

Both phone numbers and email addresses can be spoofed so you think it's from a legitimate person or place you trust when it's actually a scammer. So, you will still be scammed if you aren't on your toes.

 

[rayvt]

"Financial Columnist" Uh, yeah, right. Look at her background & education.

" I have a B.A. in English from Columbia."

"I've written about everything from personal finance to fashion, art, pop culture, politics, beauty, interior design, and male strippers."

Just the education and background you would want to take financial advice from.

 

[Nash]

Apparently, Columbia admits students with ZERO common sense.

 

[Gumby]

Just the education and background you would want to take financial advice from.

It is possible that she has read and studied extensively and really does know a thing or two about financial matters.

I mean, there is nothing about my educational credentials that should give people the idea that I know anything about finance. And I can tell you from experience that there are many with my exact background who are clueless about finances.

 

[frances]

Schwab spoofing too!

I received and email today from "Schwab" telling me my tax documents were ready I needed to login and tell them where to send the forms.

WEEELLLLL
first of all, the email I received the note on was NOT to the email that Schwab has for me
and
secondly I have already downloaded the forms.

Not today, scammers....

And yup, notified Schwab this is going on. Didn't save off the email though, so I can't send it to them. Oh well.

 

[brett]

You cannot fix the personal attribute that caused her to to swallow that obvious con.

 

[imnontrad]

Just because someone is a journalist who writes articles in the finance sector does not mean they are financially literate.

 

[Lewis Clark]

A slight tangent but aligning with this - I am continually amazed at the success of "catfishing" scenarios. That is another example of manipulation. To "fall in love" with someone to the point of sending them money or goods, multiple times, without ever having met them in person... *especially* if they think it is a celebrity... I find it fascinating.

I served on a jury a few years ago where the defendant was accused of catfishing for a same-sex teenage boy.

Lots of people feel like they are missing something in their lives. And they may be gullible when that missing thing seems to be offered.

 

[Aerides]

Just because someone is a journalist who writes articles in the finance sector does not mean they are financially literate.

When I worked in IT, every year we'd do internal "phishing scam" tests. Our InfoSec team would send out emails with links and such, and most of us knew to avoid them, report them, etc.

You would be surprise how many otherwise-smart IT pros fell for it, repeatedly. (we're talking DBA's, RA managers, high level engineers that worked in the guts of infrastructure).

just look how many folks get hacked at Def Con every year - the very folks who live and breathe this stuff get fooled.

 

[rayvt]

Both phone numbers and email addresses can be spoofed so you think it's from a legitimate person or place you trust when it's actually a scammer.

True that. I am always getting calls that show caller ID is a neighbor or is in the same prefix as my small town.
Every once in a while somebody from my town will call me and say "I got a missed call from this number." I just tell them, no not me it was a scammer faking the callerID.

Lately many calls show caller ID as "town, state", Like "Denver, CO" or "Bentonville, AR" Those are always scammers.

 

[Music Lover]

Just because someone is a journalist who writes articles in the finance sector does not mean they are financially literate.

The last several years have proven to me that most of the experts that we're supposed to trust either aren't really experts or they're deliberately lying.

 

[CaptTom]

Both phone numbers and email addresses can be spoofed so you think it's from a legitimate person or place you trust when it's actually a scammer. So, you will still be scammed if you aren't on your toes.

The number of spoofed calls I get is way down over the past year or so. I seem to recall a new law taking effect which required the carriers to support a new(ish) protocol which allows them to verify the calling number between different networks. There was a long grace period which allowed the carriers (especially those who supported scammers) to delay implementation, but I think that deadline finally passed. Anyway, I rarely see those any more.

 

[scrabbler1]

The number of spoofed calls I get is way down over the past year or so. I seem to recall a new law taking effect which required the carriers to support a new(ish) protocol which allows them to verify the calling number between different networks. There was a long grace period which allowed the carriers (especially those who supported scammers) to delay implementation, but I think that deadline finally passed. Anyway, I rarely see those any more.

I rarely get any more of those junk calls any more, thankfully. They have become so rare I am surprised when they do arrive, either on my land line or cell phone. Nomorobo blocks a few calls on the land line, it can't help me on my primitive cell phone (which can't block anything). I used to get lots of calls on the land line which used my area code and prefix, but it has been a few years since I got any of those. Most of the junk calls on the cell phone have dead air, or silence.

I guess that new law actually worked!

 

[GenXguy]

The number of spoofed calls I get is way down over the past year or so. I seem to recall a new law taking effect which required the carriers to support a new(ish) protocol which allows them to verify the calling number between different networks. There was a long grace period which allowed the carriers (especially those who supported scammers) to delay implementation, but I think that deadline finally passed. Anyway, I rarely see those any more.

It looks like I may have gotten a few over the last 6 months that show my area code in the caller ID. I can't be certain because I don't answer calls from unknown numbers, even if they are in my area code. But, as per a couple recent articles, people have gotten calls that showed they were coming from Amazon, so we know it still happens. We still can't assume those caller IDs are legitimate.

I guess that new law actually worked!

Well, "helped," anyway.