Andy Cohen Shares Experience with Credit Card Scam on Today Show
Who knew that even famous people could fall for scams? Especially, since they typically pay people good money to keep up with their money matters. Recently, Andy Cohen fell victim to a very elaborate credit card scam. The host shared his story on The Today Show about how his bank account was hacked through an imposter scam.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, imposter scams happen when a scammer impersonates someone else, like a government or bank employee, to steal a victim’s money or personal information. Impersonator fraud has been the most reported scam for years, according to the FTC. Additionally, they said more than 600,000 cases were reported in the U.S. in 2023. These cases amounted to more than $2 billion lost.
Andy Cohen shares impersonator scam experience.
Cohen explained on The Today Show that the scam started right after he lost his debit card. The next day, he got an email that seemed to be from his bank’s fraud alert. Clicking the link in the email gave scammers access to his account. They then asked him to sign into his Apple ID, which raised suspicions for him.
The following day, he received a text and a call, both seemingly from his bank, inquiring about card usage. After denying any involvement, he was sent “codes” that turned out to be wire transfers from his account. Following their instructions, he unknowingly activated caller forwarding on his phone, allowing calls to be redirected to the scammers.
Realizing the issue, Cohen visited his bank. He found that a significant amount of money had been wired out of his account. He did not disclose the specific amount lost on the show.
Famous people fall victim to scams, too.
Back in 2020, Barbara Corcoran, founder of real estate brokerage firm Corcoran Group and judge on ABC’s Shark Tank, almost fell victim to an email scam that would have cost her $400,000.
CNBC reported that scammers tricked Corcoran’s bookkeeper by pretending to be her assistant in an email, claiming approval for an invoice related to a fake investment property in Europe. However, Corcoran’s assistant hadn’t actually sent the email, and the mentioned property didn’t exist.
Corcoran discovered the scam when her assistant received an email from the bookkeeper about a wire transfer. The scammers had created a fake email for the assistant by changing one letter in her name. Corcoran and her team realized the deception when the bookkeeper used the real email address to include the assistant in the conversation.
Although the scammers had already taken money from Corcoran’s account, her New York bank froze the funds before reaching them in China, allowing her to recover all the money.
Take a look at the FTC’s tips on how to avoid scammers, from romance scams and business impersonators to government impersonators here.
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