When a longtime customer rushed in to withdraw $25,000 in cash after a supposed PayPal alert, a vigilant Heartland Bank teller noticed red flags, asked additional questions and uncovered an active scam in progress. Thanks to her quick action and care, the customer was protected from losing $25,000 to fraud.

One morning John Doe was checking his email when he opened one stating he had made a purchase with PayPal for a new iPhone. Confused, John dialed the phone number provided in the email, thinking he was calling PayPal. The call was rerouted several times before John was able to talk with a person. The person John was speaking with claimed he could see the funds being taken out of John’s account in two separate transactions, totaling around $25,000. That was far more than the cost of an iPhone!

John confirmed to the “PayPal representative” the charges were not authorized and asked how he could stop these transactions. The “representative” was very helpful and even expressed empathy and concern for John. He explained that John needed to go to his nearest bank location and withdraw the funds to prevent the transactions from being processed.

Once John got to the branch, the caller instructed him to stay on the phone and not tell the bank what the real reason for the withdrawal was. Once he had the funds in hand, the “representative” would give him further instructions on what to do with the cash. Fearful of losing $25,000, John walked into his local branch, approached the teller line and requested to withdraw $25,000 in cash. Because it was such a large amount, the teller asked what the purpose was for the funds. John did not give an answer, which made her feel uncomfortable with the request. After reviewing the account, she observed this was an out of pattern request for John. Along with that, his unwillingness to share information was a major red flag. The teller shared her concerns with John and asked some more specific questions to try to get additional information from him.

Eventually, John opened up about the situation and that PayPal was still on the line in the car. The teller explained to John this is likely a scam and asked to speak with the person on the phone stating it was probably not actually PayPal. John agreed to let her and headed to his car to get his phone. When John returned, he handed the teller the phone and the person on the line claimed to be John’s friend. John was shaking his head no during this exchange. He didn’t know this person, he thought he was talking to PayPal, why were they saying this? John just didn’t want to lose any funds. Realizing they had been caught, the caller hung up, and John understood it was a scam. The teller reviewed John’s account activity and confirmed the large transactions did not happen; it was all part of the ruse. She reached out to Heartland Bank’s Financial Crimes Department for guidance on how to protect John moving forward.

The teller reassured John that he is not alone, and it is not uncommon for someone seeking to commit fraud to impersonate a company such as PayPal to gain information. There is no shame in experiencing fraud and Heartland Bank is here for you. The sooner we are made aware, the better we are able to protect you!

John was thankful that the teller asked further questions and saved him from losing $25,000!

Not customer’s real name, photo for illustration only.