California Woman Wires Her $720K Life Savings to a Scammer. She is Now Suing Chase Bank

An 80-year-old woman is suing Chase Bank after she fell for a crypto investment scam known as "pig butchering" that took over $720,000 of her life savings, and left her "struggling to pay her bills."

Chase bank (stock photo)Photo byMike Mozart; CC BY 2.0 DEED

A Taiwanese immigrant and senior citizen with a disabled adult son had no idea she was being scammed, but this is how many "pig butchering" scams go.

A scammer gains the trust of an unsuspecting person and convinces them to send money or invest money in a scheme, and it ends with the victim losing all of their money.

This is what happened to one California woman who is now desperately suing Chase bank after losing over $720K to a scammer.

Los Angeles Woman Trusts Scammer and Loses Life Savings

KCAL-TV News reported that 80-year-old Alice Lin in Los Angeles thought that a man she met on WeChat would help her make money with cryptocurrency investing in a trading app. She didn't know the man and met him when he messaged her for the first time.

He gained her trust through an online friendship that started on WeChat.

He then convinced her to download a "trading app" and he convinced her to send her money, but she didn't realize it was not a real investing app.

She said:

“Then I was thinking, I can help my son, who is on disability. So, I thought, that would be good. That I can, you know, make a little bit of money.” -Alice Lin, Chase bank customer

Alice Lin, 80Photo byKCAL-TV News

Then over several weeks, he convinced her to wire over $720,000 to him. She went to her local Chase bank branches to wire "hundreds of thousands of dollars" over several days in August, and the total amount came to $721,500.

After he received the money, all communication from the scammer stopped.

It was a scam, and the returns on her money were too good to be true.

She said:

“He gave me the instructions and where to send the money to. So for me to go to the bank, to wire the money, and at that time, I totally trust him, so I just follow him.” -Alice Lin, Chase bank customer

CBS 4 News Miami reported that Lin was extremely depressed after she lost $720K, to the point that she felt suicidal.

With very little left in her bank account, she is now "trying to find comfort in the simple things in life," because the pig butchering scam stole her life savings.

Alice Lin is Suing Chase Bank After Losing $720K in Scam

Now, she holds Chase Bank at fault for allowing her to send her money to a scammer.

"Only if they had done a little something to protect elders like me from being scammed, I wouldn't be where I am now an 80-year-old widow left to pick up the pieces of my life." -Alice Lin, Chase bank customer

On Monday, 26 February 2024 Lin's attorney Anne Marie Murphy filed a complaint in the Los Angeles Superior Court, citing "red flags that Chase bank knew Ms. Lin was being scammed or definitely should have known."

Sources

Lopez, Lolita. "Grandmother loses life savings and sues bank." NBC 4 News. Updated 26 February 2024.

Sabir, Nadirah. "Woman, 80, loses $720,000 in savings due to crypto scam 'at my age, I do not have a second chance'." CBS 4 Miami. 6 March 2024.

Apple iTunes Phishing Scam Email about App Purchases Made by a Minor

Apple iTunes gift card

Email from Apple iTunes about App Purchases Made by a Minor:

Dear iTunes account owner,

Apple is committed to providing parents and kids with a great experience on the App Store. We review all app content before allowing it on our store, provide a wide range of age-appropriate content, and include parental controls in iOS to make it easy for parents to restrict or disable access to content.

We’ve heard from some customers that it was too easy for their kids to make in-app purchases. As a result, we’ve improved controls for parents so they can better manage their children’s purchases, or restrict them entirely. Additionally, we are offering refunds in certain cases.

Our records show that you made some in-app purchases, and if any of these were unauthorized purchases by a minor, you might be eligible for a refund from Apple.

Please follow the steps below to submit a refund request:

• Find your in-app purchase records. Check your email for iTunes receipts or use a computer to sign in to your iTunes account and view your Purchase History.

• Use this link to submit your refund request to Apple.

• Provide the requested information and enter “Refund for In-App Purchases made by a minor” in the Details section.

Apple will review your request and contact you via email about your refund status. All refundrequests must be submitted no later than April 15, 2015.

If you have any questions or need further assistance with your refund request, please contact Apple.

To learn more about parental controls in iOS, please see this article.

Thank you.

App​le Note from Blog Post Author: Never click on any links contained within an email. Legitimate companies will not encourage you to visit their website with a link via an email. Links in the above email message have been removed for your safety. This email from Apple in regards to purchases through iTunes looks very suspicious as being a phishing scam email. Do not enter your credentials into any website claiming to be from Apple. Image credit: Flickr Creative Commons; by mightykenny --------------------------------------------------------------------- App Store Email Scam #2 Subject line: RE; [ Confirmation Purchase ] [ App Store ] : Your payment has been submitted and being process [ Thank You ] Monday, October 29, 2018. Dear ! Customer,    Thank you for your shopping on iTunes App Store! Merchant Name: iTunes Store! Amount: $12.99 More details about your transaction are included as attached file PDF in this mail. Thank you for using our service.  Thanks, Apple. Support screenshot below: Editor's note: Never click on or open any attachments on scam emails, even if they appear to be harmless.