'Feel really violated,' cries attorney who lost $2,500 after being asked for help – she was trying to do a good deed | 9AL0319 | 2024-05-11 19:08:01
AN attorney has lost $2,500 after teenagers asked her to donate to their sports team, but quickly realized it was a scam.
It was seemingly an innocent encounter, but things went sideways when one of them grabbed her phone out of her hand to access Venmo.
Gabriela Martin, a corporate attorney, said she was in the Financial District of New York City on Monday when she was approached by the teens.
"I don't have cash, but when they said Venmo, I said OK, maybe I'll give them a dollar, maybe I'll give them five dollars," Martin said, according to CBS News.
Martin recalled that when she opened the Venmo app, one of the teenagers took it out of her hand.
She immediately put her guard up.
"I knew something was wrong … I thought my phone was being stolen," she said.
As one teen was typing on her phone, the other was chatting to keep Martin occupied.
The second they handed her phone back and walked away, she looked down to see that they had transferred $2,500.
"It was like a life-altering experience, I think," Martin said.
The New York Police Department told the outlet that no arrests have been made and her case remains open.
<!-- End of Brightcove Player --> Venmo has already returned Martin's money after reporting the scam, according to the outlet.
The money-sending app asks that you contact it directly if you believe you were scammed.
A WARNING FOR OTHERS
The New York attorney has since posted her story to TikTok hoping to shed some light on the scam and warn others.
Her video has received almost 40,000 views.
"I feel really violated and dirty and on edge about this," she says in the video, according to CBS.
</div> </div> While not all the comments have been positive, Martin was able to reach other victims who allegedly had the same experience happen to them.
Martin said she now has a list of 10 victims in the Financial District alone.
The city is aware of the virtual pickpocketing scam, warning residents in April and telling them to hold on to their phones.
'MY HEART JUST SUNK'
Martin was not the first person to fall victim to a virtual pickpocketing scam.
Kara Vercimak, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, lost $1,100 after helping a young boy who claimed he needed to contact his mother.
The boy said he had to use her phone to text because his mother couldn't receive calls.
"He was very polite, very respectful, real just warm," Vercimak recalled to CBS affiliate WDJT.
The interaction ended, but an hour later, she received an email notifying her that a $1,100 CashApp payment she sent had been accepted.
"My heart just sunk and I was like ' $1,100 what?!'" she said.
Vercimak has since contacted CashApp and her bank and was able to get her money back.
More >> https://ift.tt/4VGFKyU Source: MAG NEWS
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