Popular media personality Andy Cohen had been duped once before. The Real Housewives franchise producer spilled the beans during a recent sit-down with a podcast host. The 55-year-old celebrity spoke about how he was scammed through a phone call during a session at the Breaking the Rules Podcast.
Andy narrated the ordeal in detail, stating that the scam had begun with him receiving a fraud alert email on his phone. Innocently, he signed into his bank account through the email as the email requested.
But he became a little suspicious after the email requested his Apple ID and password. Immediately, he sensed that he could be dealing with scammers and subsequently halted the process.
But as it turned out, he was already too late. His login to his bank app already gave the scammer what they needed to access his bank account.
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Cohen thought the encounter was over until he received a call a few minutes later. The caller claimed they were from his bank and wanted to assist him in resolving a security breach on his bank account.
The caller claimed to have noticed fraudulent charges from his account and was calling to ensure his account was safe. Cohen added that he wasn’t suspicious of the call. Instead, he appreciated the gesture as he had just lost his bank card.
Another reason he didn’t suspect the call was because his Caller ID showed that the call came from his bank. Plus, the caller had accurate information about his bank transactions.
Cohen narrated that the caller, who was a female, began mentioning his recent bank charges in the usual banking style. She asked him to confirm if all the charges were actual purchases he initiated.
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According to Cohen, the call lasted for more than an hour. The woman kept mentioning charge after charge and scrutinizing them painstakingly. In the end, he was full of thanks for her thoroughness and uncommon concern.
The call took a different turn when the scammer asked him to input certain numbers into his phone. Cohen said that once he did as she asked, a pop-up emerged on his phone notifying him that he had activated call and message forwarding.
Cohen didn’t suspect anything at this point. Instead, he innocently took a screenshot of the pop-up to help him explain to the bank what had transpired.
Shortly after, the caller disclosed that a criminal was attempting to make a purchase with his card at a Walmart in Minneapolis. She then asked him if he wanted to prosecute the charge.
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Afterward, she hung up, promising to get back to him in half an hour. It was during that period she stole his money through wire transfers to their own bank accounts.
His bank had noticed the questionable transactions and immediately tried to reach Cohen. But the calls were instead directed to the scammers who confirmed the transfers to the bank.
The story is a reminder to bank users to be wary of pop-ups that claim to be from their banks. Thankfully, Cohen announced that he and the bank are close to recovering his money.
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