Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan has warned the public about scammers after it was revealed that a financial advice columnist for New York Magazine gave $50,000 to a mysterious man claiming to be an investigator for the government agency. warned.
“Being a victim of fraud is devastating,” Khan wrote on X.
“No one at the FTC will give you your badge number, ask you to verify your Social Security number, ask how much money you have in your bank account, transfer you to a CIA agent, or send you a text message out of the blue. ”
Khan said Americans lost $2.7 billion last year to voice phishing, or voice phishing, in which scammers impersonate government officials over the phone.
Her Thursday post about X was posted hours after Charlotte Cowles Her disturbing story published in The Cuta digital fashion news site operated under the umbrella of New York Magazine.
This first-person account, with the headline, “The day I put $50,000 in a shoebox and gave it to a stranger: I never thought I’d fall for a scam,” explains how Cowles revealed that he was drawn in by a person who made the following claims: He was an “FTC agent” and “gave me his badge number.”
“FTC investigators” also claimed to have Cowles’ Social Security number, home address, and date of birth.
The man also claimed that Ms Cowles had 22 bank accounts, nine cars and four properties registered in her name.
Cowles was told by the man that she was wanted in two states in connection with the disappearance of a woman who had rented a car in Cowles’ name.
Worried that he was a victim of identity theft, the columnist withdrew $50,000 in cash from a bank and handed it to a courier in a white Mercedes near his Brooklyn apartment.
Cowles wrote that she was told she would have to close her old Social Security number and pay cash to the government in order to receive a new one.
She was told that once the transfer was complete, a check would be sent under her new Social Security number and her identity would be restored.
The Post has reached out to Cowles for comment.
Khan posted a link to an FTC proposal that would impose penalties on people who impersonate government or business officials.
