Oakland woman lost $12,145 after scammers posed as Charles Schwab security
An Oakland woman lost over $12,000 after scammers impersonating Charles Schwab security tricked her into providing a verification code. Charles Schwab denied her appeal for reimbursement, citing her role in authorizing the transfer.
Why it matters
This incident underscores the growing sophistication of financial fraud and the limitations of bank security guarantees in cases involving social engineering.
Jazz Powell-Loggins usually does not answer calls from numbers she does not recognise. But on July 13, she decided to pick up one such call. The person on the other end claimed to be from Charles Schwab security and told her that someone was trying to sell money from her account.Powell-Loggins said the caller was speaking loudly and repeatedly told her that he was trying to help her. “And it was panic, panic immediately,” she told ABC7. She said she struggled to understand what was happening as the caller kept getting louder.About two minutes into the call, Powell-Loggins interrupted the conversation because she had to answer a call from her doctor. Soon after, an alert appeared on her phone saying that a wire transfer had been completed.
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