Shoutout to the small-town bank teller who saved me from a wire transfer scam last summer

I was at a local credit union in Des Moines trying to send $1,200 to someone I thought was my landlord. The teller asked me one simple question: "Have you ever met this person in real life?" That stopped me cold. She then showed me three red flags in the email I had missed (like the mismatched routing number). Has anyone else had a bank employee catch something before you made a big mistake?

3 comments

3 Comments

felixlee24d ago

My cousin got flagged at Wells Fargo in Omaha trying to wire $800 for a fake rental deposit. The teller asked if she had toured the apartment in person. She hadn't. The address turned out to be a vacant lot. That one question saved her from a real headache.

wesley_martin24d ago

Did the teller actually say that, or did your cousin just assume that's why they flagged it? Most banks have automated fraud alerts that pop up for wires to random third parties, not a specific question about touring a property. The real safety net is probably just the bank's system flagging the transaction, not some teller's deep knowledge of real estate scams.

the_laura24d ago

Why are we acting like this is some heroic act? The teller literally just did her job. Banks have basic fraud training for stuff like this, it's not like she cracked an international money laundering ring. The real question is why people keep falling for the same generic scam that's been going around for 15 years. A quick Google search of "rental deposit scam" would've saved that $1,200 faster than any teller question. Stop giving banks credit for doing the bare minimum.