More Details On Western Springs $100K Theft

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL — A Western Springs resident who told police that nearly $100,000 was stolen from his bank account may have been the victim of a scam identified by the Federal Trade Commission.

Patch obtained the police report on the theft.

Shortly after 1:30 p.m. Nov. 15, $98,017 was fraudulently transferred out of the Citi Bank account held by a resident in the 4100 block of Wolf Road, according to the report. It was transferred to someone's JP Morgan Chase Bank account, police said. The 48-year-old resident said he did not authorize the transaction or recognize the recipient's name, police said.

Around the same time as the theft, the resident noticed that his AT&T cell phone service was down. He told police a second attempt to wire $39,000 to a suspect about 5 p.m. the same day was unsuccessful.

The resident said he contacted AT&T and re-established his phone service. He told police he filed an internal fraud report with Citibank, which advised him to complete an "affidavit of unauthorized wire transfer" form and follow up later.

According to the police report, the resident suspected his phone had been compromised because his service was down about the same time as the wire transfer.

If that is the case, the incident resembles what the FTC calls a "SIM swap scam." According to the FTC, a scammer calls a cell phone service provider and says a phone was lost or damaged and then asks to get a new SIM card. If the request is granted, then the scammer is connected to a victim's phone number on a new phone.

"Armed with your log-in credentials, the scammer could log in to your bank account and steal your money, or take over your email or social media accounts," the FTC says. "And they could change the passwords and lock you out of your accounts."

The FTC gives advice on how to prevent such scams and handle them when they occur.