Woman Warns of Scam Involving Call From Your Bank About 'Fraudulent' Activity in Viral Video

A woman on TikTok has shared an emotional video warning viewers of a scam that drained her bank accounts.

Courtney, a creator in Toronto, Canada with the handle @.closetcrusader, said that she was the victim of fraud, and that, "All of my money was just stolen."

The video was viewed 5.2 million times on the platform within a week of posting.

"Be so careful when people call you," Courtney said.

"Please just be careful."

'Fraudulent charges'

According to Courtney, the saga began when she got a call from someone claiming they were from the fraud department of her credit card.

"He asked me if I did [the purchase], and I said no," Courtney said, "And then he said, 'OK, I'm going to cancel your card right away.' Like, 'I'm going to help you out. Don't worry about it'."

Courtney said the scammer already had access to her transactions and he went through the latest items.

"I didn't give him any passwords," she said.

"He already had stuff. He just asked me for, like, normal verification questions, and he was somehow able to access my account."

She added that the scammer, "Wiped my checking and my savings clean."

Multiple TikTok commentators pointed out that if someone claiming to be from a bank calls you about fraud, it's a good idea to hang up and call the bank back directly.

Still, as one user noted: "Even if she made a mistake, y'all this woman just lost all her money."

Follow-Ups

In a follow-up video, Courtney said that the day had been, "An absolute whirlwind", as she spoke to her bank branch, filed police reports and more.

"It's still ongoing, there's still a lot, and now we wait and we wait for the police to do their thing," she said.

Money Back

There was good news in the end: In a recent video, Courtney said the money had been replaced in her account.

"All of my money is back and I feel like I can breathe again," she said.

"I spoke with BMO Fraud, and they confirmed that my case was resolved and all of the money—every penny—was back in my account.

"So I ran to my branch, and they verified the exact same thing. So I am so grateful."

Courtney added that her viral video made a difference.

"Thank you to you guys, five million of you saw my story and talked about it, and shared it, and provided advice, and I know that not only did that help me, but that's going to help other people that are in this situation, or will be in this situation unfortunately.

"So thank you so much for helping people be made aware and be vigilant and be careful."

Newsweek reached out to Courtney on Feb. 6 requesting further comment.