Clay County Man Scammed out of $10,000

A Clay County man was scammed out of $10,000 last week through a text message that appeared to be from his bank.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday that they received a report from a man received a text and a phone call about fraudulent charges on his bank account.

“He said he got a text stating there were suspected fraudulent charges on his bank account,” stated the Sheriff’s Office announcement. “The message said to reply ‘no’ if he did not make the transaction. He did so. He then received a call from a phone number that was spoofed to look like it was from his bank.”

The caller told the man he had fraudulent charges, and to cancel the charges he had to put specific numbers into a money-transferring app called Zelle. After he had put in those numbers the scammer was able to take $10,000 out of his account.

The Sheriff’s office reminds you that if you receive a similar text or call, to contact your bank directly to confirm the information.

“Legitimate banks also will not ask you to enter information into a money-transfer app like CashApp, Zelle, Venmo or PayPal,” according to the Sheriff’s announcement.

KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story