Woman Loses $10K After Scammers Pose as Her Bank. Now She Reveals How She Mistakenly Gave Them Full Access

A busy mom who was taken advantage of by scammers is sharing her story in hopes of protecting others.

Whitney Houchin, known as @whitneyhouchin90 on TikTok, asked people to spread the word after she was the target of a unique scam.

“This is devastating. I’ve been crying all morning and I’m really going to try not to,” she began, explaining that her day had started with some “unusual” calls from her bank around 9:00am.

“I’m replying because I don’t know what’s going on. It looks like someone may have gotten hold of my card details, which as we all know happens pretty regularly these days,” she explains.

Houchin emphasized that the number calling her was her bank, which matched the number she saved for the bank as their customer in her phone.

She was then asked to verify her security information, after which she was informed that someone had attempted to withdraw money from her account at an out-of-state ATM.

“I say I’m not [there]so go ahead and freeze my account,” she says. She is then told that the transfers also appear to be coming from her savings accounts.

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Stock image of money transfer sign. Image © Tillsonburg / Getty Images Andy Cohen warns of scams after ‘serious’ incident he faced: ‘I don’t want this to happen to anyone’

“[The operator] he tells me, ‘We’re going to send you three codes to freeze your accounts,’ instructing her to read the codes as soon as she receives them. The codes came through the same text chain as her previous messages from the bank, so he trusted them and shared the codes.

“This lady sounds like someone who would work for Discover. She is not from another country. She is very friendly and [sympathizing,] saying, ‘Yes, these con men, they just know how to get one over on you’. ”

Houchin fixes the problem and stops talking, going about his day until he receives an email from Discover an hour later.

“I get an email saying ‘Your bank transfer went through.’ And I said, there shouldn’t be a transfer. So I called my bank and … nobody from my bank called me that morning.”

While she admits she should have “looked into this more,” she said she’s been busy at work.

“Someone hacked my online banking and they were running everything from my online banking. And while they were doing that, they needed the codes that the online banking is asking for. They have me on the phone and they type them in so that all these transfers go through,” she explains, noting that they spoofed Discover’s call and text numbers.

“They took $10,000 out of my checking account, folks. That’s not my money, it’s my savings account that they took that money from. It was my kids’ savings accounts. I saved every penny my kids got from their grandparents, aunts , and uncles and put them in savings accounts to one day give to my children.”

Stock image of a person using an ATM card.

Chronis Jons / Getty Images

Houchin explains that Discover tried to do the recall, but at first informed her there was nothing she could do if it didn’t work.

“They can’t do anything and they’re not on the hook for that because they’re only on the hook for unauthorized transactions. Money transfer falls into another category.”

Houchin began notifying various institutions and agencies of what had happened, including calling SoFi, the bank to which the wires were sent.

More than a week passed, during which Houchin’s story continued to go viral, until Discover got back to her, which she explained in an update.

“I didn’t answer the first five times they called me. I called again, I got them. The executive office called me and they received my complaint that I submitted to the FDIC, FTC and CFPB. I took your advice. I went to as many place and I handed it in.”

She continues, “They also saw my TikTok. So they said they’re giving me my money back.”

Stock image of a person hiding money under a mattress. Getty Images

Houchin must have told the bank that she thought it was “crazy that someone could execute a wire so quickly.”

“I just feel like it’s something that should last longer. I don’t use wires regularly, so I felt like it was something that should be safer. That’s just my opinion.”

Houchin thanked TikTokers for “helping me keep my faith in humanity” and warned people to be careful with any interactions with financial institutions.

She concludes, “I’m not gullible. I tell my mom and grandma all the time to be careful about things. This was so convincing.”

“This was a life-changing experience. It was heartbreaking, but it had a happy ending.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education