Retiree’s $740k life savings vanishes after call from ‘the feds’ – he went down a ‘rabbit hole’ and lost everything

A RETIREE said he lost $740,000 after he was unable to access one of his accounts.

Barry Heitin, 76, explained that he went down a “rabbit hole” after a call he thought he had placed with a fraud prevention department.

Getty

Getty

Heitin explained how he was swept up in an elaborate scam that had convinced him that his money was unsafe in his bank accounts and retirement funds, according to The New York Times .

The retired lawyer said he was unable to log into his 401 (k) retirement account in September.

He explained that a few days later the screen on the website advised him to call the fraud department through the number provided on the site.

Heitin said his scam ordeal started with this phone call as the criminals on the other end had pretended to be federal agents attempting to save his cash.

The first scammer introduced himself as fraud investigator Charles Hunt and claimed people were attempting to access Heitin’s accounts.

A second fraudster, who introduced himself as Hayden Smith, said he worked at the bank where Heitin had his checking account

Smith said two transactions of $10,000 had been made from his funds to purchase apparent indecent imagery through a Chinese site.

Heitin said these callers had convinced him that he could be part of an investigation with the government on this.

A third scammer, who said his name was Finn Whitrock with the Internal Revenue Service, said Heitin could protect his funds by transferring them into an apparent federal locker.

“They kept telling me, ‘This is a big case and we are going to stop a whole ring of people,’” Heitin said.

“It was like a rabbit hole.

“I was going down the hole with them.”

Heitin then spent most days transferring funds from his bank accounts and retirement fund to these criminals.

“I then gave them access to my computer, and they started me in a series of withdrawals from my banks accounts,” he said.

Phone scam statistics

Americans are bombarded with three billion spam phone calls a month. What are the figures regarding the number of victims and the amount of money lost to fraudsters

• In 2022, Americans lost some $39.5 billion to phone scams, with 68.4 million US citizens affected, according to TechReport.
• The average phone scam victim lost $567.41 each in 2021, a major rise on the 2021 figure of $182 per victim, according to Hiya.
• The majority of scams happen over the phone, with fraudsters twice as likely to call compared to text in 2021, as reports the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
• In 2021, the US saw a 56% increase in spam phone calls with 60% of those being robocalls.
• US residents experienced an average of 18 spam phone calls per month, although some experts believe the true figure may be as high as 31 per month.
• Many phone calls from reputable businesses may be marked wrongly as spam, but 38% of companies have no idea whether they’re being marked as “potential fraud” or not, according to Hiya.
• Never hand over any personal or financial information if you suspect a phone call is a scam. For instance, your bank will never ask you for such details in full over the phone.
• To cut down on spam phone calls and scams, sign up for the Do Not Call Registry. Telemarketers, by law, will need to check that list before they call you up.
• Downloading third-party apps such as Hiya, Nomorobo, or Truecaller can help filter out annoying spam calls.
• Try not to share your phone number unless you have to, especially online or with sketchy sources.

Heitin added that the scammers had told him to ignore any red flags and not tell his three adult children about what he was doing.

He was stopped by his retirement adviser when he attempted to withdraw from his I.R.A. but Heitin said the fraudsters had several excuses ready, like he wanted to buy a surprise property for his children in Canada .

When this did not work, Heitin transferred his money to another I.R.A. which he drained in two weeks.

His lawyer, Robert Rabinowitz, slammed this new financial provider for allowing the funds to be drained like this.

“This type of activity is a classic sign of potential money-laundering activity and should have raised red flags,” Rabinowitz said.

It was like a rabbit hole. I was going down the hole with them.”

Barry Heitin scam victim

GOLD DIGGERS

The ordeal did not end there as Heitin said these scammers then told him to send money to a gold dealer in New York to purchase goods, he told The New York Times.

He recalled the dealer saying he was “concerned” as he had dealt with another customer who was scammed in a similar way but Heitin continued to purchase around $416,000 worth of gold.

Heitin added that a car then drove to his apartment and he placed the gold into a brown paper bag in the back seat of the vehicle.

The scam ended in November when he was called by a detective in New Jersey who said she found his details on a paper receipt for gold in a car.

After he was put into contact with two F.B.I agents he was told he was one of seven victims of an elaborate scam based in India.

“I almost had a let down, or a sense of relief,” he said when he realized he had been scammed.

“I felt good and bad at the same time. It is hard to explain.”

TAX DRAMAS

His ordeal did not end there as Heitin added that he owes nearly $285,000 in taxes.

Withdrawals on traditional I.R.As are always taxed, and his fees have added up from his mass removals of cash.