You would think Andy Cohen is one of the more educated members of society on fraud. Scamming is seemingly just part of being on Bravo, whether it means mental manipulation or committing an actual crime.
But it appears wallets are not safe just because Jen Shah is in the slammer. People all over the world are regularly victimized by underground outlaws who only have goals of grifting your cash. Unfortunately, Andy is now one of the victims and his bank account has taken a big hit. Friends – if your financial institution calls and says they’ve detected fraud, hang up and call them back using the 1-800 number on your card. You’re welcome.
The fraud of it all
When he’s not hosting Watch What Happens Live, he’s probably on the radio. If he’s not on the radio, he’s most likely taping his podcast. Andy is a very busy guy and might need some help in the accounting department.
On an episode of his Daddy Diaries podcast, Big Daddy shared how he was scammed out of “a lot of money” when his account was hit. “Someone called saying they were fraud alert from my bank,” he began. “I did lose a card, and I put in for it, and I got an email saying, ‘There might be fraud on your account. And I was like, ‘Oh, this is attached to the card I lost.’”
Without verifying the email was legit, Andy entered his bank info and the website asked for his Apple ID. That’s when he had an a-ha moment. “And I was like … ‘OK, this never happens.’ So I bailed,” he said. But because he “had already logged into my bank app. I think somehow my logging in through whatever this site was gave them access to my bank app.” That’s how you get scammed, folks.
Then he was contacted by the con artists pretending to be the “fraud alert team.” Andy was under the impression they were actual bank employees calling about what just happened on the account.
He set up call forwarding – for the scammers
“They were naming credits that I had made, charges, because they clearly had access to my account,” Andy continued. He also set up call forwarding directly to the scammers. Good grief.
“She was like, ‘I need you to enter into your phone these numbers. I went to the keypad, and I entered a bunch of numbers that she told me to enter. And what came onto my screen was this screen that basically said I had set up call forwarding and message forwarding on my phone,” he explained.
When he went to the bank the next day, Andy said “These people wired out of two accounts that I have a lot of money. Since I had set up call forwarding, the calls went to the scam artists, and they confirmed the wires.”
“What I should have done is say, ‘Can I call you back?’ Or ‘Can I go to the bank and handle this?’ Instead … I stayed on the line with this woman for an hour and 10 minutes.” Now Andy has some words of wisdom.
“Part of my advice for people is that if something is happening, just go to your bank branch. And when you get emails, look very closely at the email address. It might say your bank’s name, but click on the name, and then the email address will appear, and you’ll see that it’s some other random address.”
At this time, Andy is “in the process of trying to get my money back.”
TELL US – HAVE YOU EVER BEEN THE VICTIM OF BANK FRAUD?
