DUNWOODY, Ga. — Someone drained thousands of dollars from a local family’s bank account while they were on vacation, Channel 2 Action News has learned.
Channel 2′s consumer investigator Justin Gray has been tracking rising problems with bank fraud for months.
Gray talked to Jarrod Marinello, who said his entire bank account was wiped out in less than two hours.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Only three of the nine letters in Marinello’s last name are in the right place in a withdrawal slip signature, but the thief still made off with $23,000 in cash after stops at three Truist branches just a few miles apart.
“I started seeing $9,400 withdrawn and Dunwoody, $9,200, and then Sandy Springs,” Marinello said.
The Marinellos were on vacation last week on the west coast as it was happening.
“I went to go get some food, (and my) card got denied,” Marinello said.
When he looked at the account, he saw someone had made withdrawals at three different Truist locations a short distance apart and took out a new debit card.
Truist later said the person had a driver’s license with Marinello’s wife’s name on it.
“From 1:03 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., I’m wiped out and not one red flag, not one bank to the next to the next,” Marinello said.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Ala. woman who vanished after claiming to see toddler admits to making the whole thing up
- 83-year-old Marietta man, former pastor arrested in cold case murder of 8-year-old girl
- Suspected shoplifter pepper sprays employees at Atlanta Old Navy, police say
Back in March, Gray told you about the same thing that happened to 81-year-old Shirley Crain.
Truist pulled surveillance video showing the withdrawal was nowhere near Crain’s southwest Atlanta home but in North Carolina by a woman posing as Crain’s daughter.
“They took everything, everything,” Crain said.
A Truist spokesperson told Channel 2 Action News in a statement:
All financial institutions across the country are experiencing escalated fraud attacks from criminals. At truist, protecting our clients and their accounts continues to be a top priority, which is why we take any potential fraud concerns seriously.
“I thought there’d be protection, period. And there’s absolutely zero,” Marinello said.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Truist Bank has already returned all of Marinello’s money. But it is still not clear how someone had a fake I.D. in their name and why with all those big withdrawals, Truist Bank didn’t ever pause any of those transactions.
IN OTHER NEWS:
©2023 Cox Media Group
