Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - Nicole Catches A Scammer On-Air!

Episode Date: July 30, 2023

Originally aired 8.26.21 A ~SCAMMER~ came for Nicole Lapin! To him, we say: Yeahhhh right. Not in this house! Listen to Nicole call him up and call him out!

One of the most stressful periods of my life was when I was in credit card debt. I got to a point where I just knew that I had to get it under control for my financial future and also for my mental health. We've all hit a point where we've realized it was time to make some serious money moves. So take control of your finances by using a Chime checking account with features like no maintenance fees, fee-free overdraft up to $200, or getting paid up to two days early with direct deposit. Learn more at Chime.com slash MNN. When you check out Chime, you'll see that you can overdraft up to $200 with no fees. If you're an OG listener, you know about my infamous $35 overdraft fee that

I got from buying a $7 latte and how I am still very fired up about it. If I had Chime back then, that wouldn't even be a story. Make your fall finances a little greener by working toward your financial goals with Chime. Open your account in just two minutes at Chime.com slash MNN. That's Chime.com slash MNN. Chime. Feels like progress. Banking services and debit card provided by the Bancorp Bank N.A. or Stride Bank N.A. Members FDIC. SpotMe eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Boosts are available to eligible Chime members enrolled in SpotMe and are subject to monthly limits. Terms and conditions apply. Go to Chime.com slash disclosures for details.

Hey guys, are you ready for some money rehab? Wall Street has been completely upended by an unlikely player game stop and should i have a 401k because you don't do it no i know you think the whole world revolves around you and your money well it doesn't charge for wasting our time i will take a check you recognize her from anchoring on CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg. The only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. Nicole Lappin. Oh my God, I have a doozy for you today. A scammer came after your hostess with the mostest,

Nicole Lappin. It is true. It all started a few weeks ago when I got an email and I'll open it up for you right now. The email came with the name shipment confirmed and the subject line was shipment receipt from Walmart. It was sent to my personal email address where most of my order confirmations go. And guys, I cannot tell you how legit this email looked. In the body of the email, it was an order number, the date, and the message says, Dear Nicole, thank you for your order. We thought you'd like to know that your order has been processed. We'll notify you of the tracking number once the shipment is dispatched. If you did not place this order, please contact us at 806-412-0330 and report this to our fraud protection team. Below that, there was a photo of a $700

gaming laptop that I had allegedly purchased. There was information on the shipping speed. There was an estimated delivery date. It showed a delivery address in Cincinnati, Ohio, which is where I do not live. And then at the bottom of the email, it said, thank you for choosing Walmart in some shade of blue that I've seen in Walmart's logo. Then there was a little disclaimer that said this email was sent from a notification only address that cannot accept incoming emails. Please do not reply to this email, which is a totally normal message, right? I've seen that disclaimer before from those no reply email addresses. At the very bottom of the email, there was the Walmart logo with a freaking copyright notice. It looked like an email from Walmart.

I knew there was something fishy because I didn't buy a gaming computer. Nicole Lappin does not play games. But my first thought was maybe there had been a mistake or my email was used to place someone else's order. So honestly, I started to panic a little bit. I could feel my heart racing more. And before I freaked out and called my credit card company and reported fraud and all that, I investigated the email a little bit further. There was one giveaway. The sender's name popped up as shipment confirmed, but the actual email address was, well, I won't give out the email address here,

but it was basically Eric and then a last name at gmail.com. Hello, that is a huge red flag. Companies send shipping confirmations from email addresses with their domain in it, like shipping at walmart.com or whatever it is. A big company like Walmart would never send a shipping confirmation from a personal Gmail account. The only conclusion, Mr. Eric was trying to scam me. So I stopped freaking out and I called him up instead so I could call him out. I recorded the conversation for you guys, obviously, and I can't play it for you on the podcast, unfortunately. It's apparently illegal. So that was a no-go. I like to obey the law, unlike some people here. So instead, we decided to take the opportunity to put a little show on for you.

We're calling this Money Rehab Masterpiece Theater. If you liked Downton Abbey or your parents ever made you watch PBS, you might feel right at home right now. What you'll be hearing next is the recording I took of my side of the conversation. It's the actual audio from me calling this schmo. But because we can't use the scammer's audio, our producer Mike is reenacting what the scammer said back to me. If you want to hear the real voice of the scammer, I will be posting the video on my Instagram. But without further ado, let the show begin. without further ado, let the show begin. And now we proudly welcome you to the inaugural performance of the Money Rehab Masterpiece Theater.

Walmart, you're speaking with Mike. How may I help you? Hey, Mike, I received an email about a gaming computer that I didn't purchase. Yes. You know, I don't even have an email address that I have ever used for Walmart. No, I haven't purchased anything, but I can give you the order number. It says on the email. Uh, yeah. Just help me out with the order number. That will be okay. Okay, perfect. Um, it's 519-37479. 847-479. Okay.

Allow me a quick moment. Okay. So I can check here. It's an MSI GF63 computer, which is 8 gigabytes and 256 gigabyte gaming laptop, right? Sorry. Okay. So the amount that I can check here is for $739, right? Yeah, that's what it says on the email. All right. Just allow me a quick moment. Okay. So, can you please confirm it? Did you purchase anything for $739, like from the Walmart online service?

No, I didn't. You didn't? Okay. So, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to cancel this order? Yes. Okay. No need to worry. Okay, I'll cancel this for you. But the thing is, can you please confirm, like, is there anyone who can use your information

to place the order on Walmart's website? Because this is an online order. Right. Yeah, I'm not sure. website because this is an online order. Right. Yeah. And I'm not sure. I've never done it. So nobody would do it from my household. And the delivery address is not in the state I live in.

Okay. No need to worry. Can you please help me with your first and last name? I don't think you need that. I need that because I need to go ahead and need to verify before canceling it. And I need to verify that I am talking to the right person. Yeah, I mean, it says on the email that it's going to Rogers Street in Cincinnati. All right.

So are you in Cincinnati? I'm not. Okay. All right. Okay. Yeah. I can see the address. That is 4907 Rogers Street, Cincinnati, Ohio.

45202, right? Yeah. I don't live there. You don't live there. You don't live there, okay. Okay, so you can just let me know if you want me to cancel this. I'll go ahead and I'll just proceed it further. Okay. So do you want me to cancel it now?

Yes. Okay. Okay, for that, for that, you need to verify a couple things, like verify the name on which the order has been placed. Like I need to verify your first and last name. And what else? What other information do you need?

We need to check on that server so that we can cancel the payment as well. So you need to verify the last four digits of your card. Mm-hmm. And what else?

That's it. You just need my credit card number or? No, I don't need the credit card number or the debit card number, okay? In order to cancel the payment, what do you need to do? You need to go ahead and you need to log into your Walmart account and you need to cancel the order from your way because this order has been placed from your end and it's not confirmed yet. It will be confirmed in the next 24 hours so you can cancel it from your end. Okay. I'll let you know how you can cancel, okay? So just do one thing, miss. Can you please provide me your name, first of all?

Um, oh no, I was just wondering how I do it on the website. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. What do you want? How did you tell, you told me you were going to show me how to do it on the website? Sure, just do one thing. Just let me know, uh, which device you are using. Is it, uh it an iPhone? No, just a computer.

Okay, only a computer. I want you to download an application, okay? So that we can get and we can run a security scan. And we can also check how you can... Okay. What do I have to do? Okay. Okay do I have to do? Okay. Okay, download.

Download an application like... Open the browser. Okay. You must have a Google Chrome. Google Chrome and search there anydesk.com. Anydesk.com? Yes, anydesk.com. How do you spell that?

A-N-Y-D-E-D-E-S-K. Yes. A-N-Y-D-E-S. D-E-S-K. Okay. And then just download that on my computer so I can make sure that... Exactly. Exactly.

Exactly. Just download that on my computer so I can make sure that... Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Just download that. And I can help you and I can send you an email that will be easy to download this application. And easy to join the session. So do you want me to send that? Well, is this going to come from the Gmail account that I got the email confirmation from? Oh, that's so weird. So Walmart is using a Gmail account? Why do you think that is? When they use a Walmart account? Because, as you know, we are working from home due to this pandemic thing, you know?

So that's the reason that you are getting emails from the Gmail one. Oh, so people that are officially working at Walmart are using their own personal Gmails? We are using personal accounts as well. Basically, that's not a personal account. That's the one that's provided by Walmart to us. Oh, so who is Eric then? Eric is one of our billing department executives.

I see. So can I talk to him? Sure. Just allow me a quick moment. Let me check if he's free or not. Thank you for staying connected. Your call has been transferred to me. My name is Eric. I'm from the billing department of Walmart. How are you doing today? Hi, Eric. I think, was I just talking to you? Uh, no. Your call has been transferred to me from the concern department from Mike Wilson.

You were talking to Mike Wilson. How are you? Oh, you guys sound so similar. Your voices sound the same. Gotcha. So is this Mike T. Hollinger or Thollinger? How do you say your last name? My name is Eric. Got it. And the previous guy who last name? My name is Eric. Got it. And the previous guy who you're speaking with was Mike Wilson. Mike Wilson. Oh, okay.

So you're sending me an email from Walmart, from your Gmail account? Yeah. About official Walmart business. Is that standard practice? Hello? Hello? Are you still there? Hold on to your wallets, boys and girls. Money Rehab will be right back. One of the most stressful periods of my life was when I was in credit card debt. I got to a point where I just knew that I had to get it under control for my financial future

and also for my mental health. We've all hit a point where we've realized it was time to make some serious money moves. So take control of your finances by using a time checking account with features like no maintenance fees, fee-free overdraft up to $200, or getting paid up to two days early with direct deposit. Learn more at Chime.com slash MNN. When you check out Chime, you'll see that you can overdraft up to $200 with no fees. If you're an OG listener, you know about my infamous $35 overdraft fee that I got from buying a $7 latte and how I am still very fired up about it. If I had Chime back then, that wouldn't even be a story. Make your fall finances a little greener by working toward your financial goals with Chime. Open your account in just two minutes

at Chime.com slash MNN. That's Chime.com slash MNN. Chime feels like progress. Banking services and debit card provided by the Bancorp Bank N.A. or Stride Bank N.A. Members FDIC. Spot me eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Boosts are available to eligible Chime members enrolled in Spot Me and are subject to monthly limits. Terms and conditions apply. Go to Chime.com slash disclosures for details.

Now for some more money rehab. Isn't that in-freaking-sane? So for the folks at home, the website he asked me to go to was a site to download spyware onto my computer. I was reading about the program, and it basically gives someone remote access into your computer. If you work in an office, you might have a similar program on your laptop right now so that your company's IT department can access your computer remotely if you ever need some tech help. But this scammer was not doing this so that he could help me with my IT needs. No, no. With remote access to my computer, he could log into websites where I have my information saved, like my bank account, my email, my passwords, whatever he wanted. He could have free reign of my digital life.

Also, Mike wasn't exaggerating. When I asked to speak to the guy's colleague, it literally was the same guy who came back on the phone. He didn't even try to change his voice. But otherwise, didn't it kind of have you fooled? I mean, no, it doesn't make sense for Walmart employees to be using their personal Gmails to send out shipping confirmations, even if they are working remotely. But some of that other stuff was really convincing. For example, in the beginning of our conversation, when it sounded like I was being connected to an extension, that took some planning, folks, and probably some money. That wasn't some Nigerian print scam. This is a pretty elaborate situation they have going on. Scammers are getting savvier, and I want to help you protect yourself and not have the freak out

I did or even worse. Here are three things you can do to make sure you don't fall victim to a scam. Number one, if a company you know, like your bank, your university, whatever, if a company calls you and asks you for any of your personal information, even if you have an account with them, you need to verify that the person calling you is legit. An easy way to verify that you're being called by an actual representative of the company is to ask for their extension and tell them that you'd like to call them back on the number that's on the company website. I heard a story recently from a woman who got a call from who she thought was her bank. And while they were on the line, the scammers even texted her a verification code to confirm her identity. So she gave them her bank information

and they completely drained her accounts. If the representative that's calling you doesn't have an extension, you should still call the company's main line. Any representative working for the legit company should be able to help you with whatever it was you were calling about in the first place if the call was also legit. Number two, check the email address. This is what tipped me off to this scam. There could be a totally unsuspecting name associated with the email, like shipping confirmation. But check the actual email address itself. Are there typos? Is it from the company's domain? Or is it from Yahoo? If the email address is from a personal email server, move that email to the trash ASAP. Or even better, flag it as spam.

Number three, stay away from links. We've all been told not to open links from unknown numbers or emails. But what if the link looks like it's coming from a company or from someone you do know? Before you double click, take an extra step to verify the sender. If you got a link from a company, even if it's a big company like Walmart, give the company a call to verify whatever information they're sending you. If you're being told that you can just click on the link to claim a prize, any employee can tell you whether there's actually a promotion going on or if that prize is a computer virus.

For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. If you need to take a little break during your workday today, go to Money Rehab Show on Instagram and check out this video of this scam, the real scam in action. It may help you ask the right questions the next time a scammer comes after you, or it may just make you laugh because you can tell how I was really getting my Nancy Drew on. Either way, you should check it out on Instagram. I won't send you a link, just in case. Money Rehab is a production of iHeartMedia. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Our producers are Morgan Lavoie and Catherine Law. Money Rehab is edited and engineered by Brandon Dickert with help from Josh Fisher.

Executive producers are Mangesh Hatikader and Will Pearson. Huge thanks to the OG Money Rehab supervising producer, Michelle Lanz, for her pre-production and development work. Money Rehab supervising producer Michelle Lanz for her pre-production and development work. And as always, thanks to you for finally investing in yourself so that you can get it together and get it all.