(WSVN) - He was watching a movie on Amazon Prime. Suddenly, he thought he had a technical problem, and a QR code appeared. Next thing he knew, thousands of dollars had been stolen from his bank account. How? It’s time for Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
Being a police officer is dangerous. Being a motorman would seem to be even riskier, except to Rafael Cubela.
Rafael Cubela: “Oh, it’s a great feeling. You get on the motorcycle, and it’s like a stress reliever.”
But as anyone who has ever been in a car in South Florida knows, traffic can also be stressful, and one driver nearly killed Rafael while he was on patrol.
Rafael Cubela: “I got hit, and I’m very fortunate to be here. I was basically found dead on the road, because I was not breathing, I was blue to the lips. We had a doctor that jumped out of his vehicle and was able to help me out.”
Rafael has had several surgeries, and after a recent one, he was resting at home.
Rafael Cubela: “I usually turn on Amazon Prime Video, and I can watch a movie.”
That day, the screen went black, and then…
Rafael Cubela: “TV popped up a QR code, requested that I take my phone and take a picture of it and then they gave me a phone number to call, so I called.”
The rep, who said he was from Amazon, knew everything about Rafael, beginning with his birthday.
Rafael Cubela: “He knew my Social Security, the last four numbers, he knew the banks that I used, that were on my phone.”
By then it was probably too late.
The rep said he fixed the problem, and the movie reappeared. Rafael then noticed his phone was receiving notifications.
Rafael Cubela: “I opened up my application on my phone, and then all of a sudden, I observed a large amount from one of my accounts.”
The crook had hacked into Rafael’s TV, and when he scanned the QR code on the screen, that gave the scammer access to all the information on his phone, like his bank app.
Rafael Cubela: “They took $5,000 out of my account.”
Rafael immediately called the bank and went to the branch in person to let them know he had been scammed. He immediately felt they were not gonna help him get his money back.
Rafael Cubela: “They found that the money was already transferred. It cannot be retrieved. I was in shock.”
Shocked and fuming that the $5,000 he had worked so hard for was gone.
Rafael Cubela: “I don’t believe that’s right, because I caught it right away.”
Well, legally, does the bank have to return Rafael’s money if he notified them within minutes of the fraud?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “Probably. In 2021, a new view of the law covering this type of fraud said the customer is covered and should get their money back. But a court needs to finalize that opinion, which would force the bank to reimburse their customer who was ripped off. But sadly, it could take years for a court to confirm, and that won’t help Rafael today.”
We tried to get the money back from the bank. They wouldn’t return it.
They did provide tips on how to avoid scammers, but wouldn’t discuss why they refused to return Rafael’s money.
Rafael Cubela: “For them to say that they’re not going to be held responsible for this, to me, it’s sad.”
He sat down to watch TV. He followed the instructions on the screen, which most of us would do. The scummy scammers got another good person, but Rafael is not giving up.
Rafael Cubela: “I’m going to go file for a small claims court, but I’m going to have to wait, because I’m still recovering from the surgeries that I’ve had.”
Feel better, Rafael, and if he sues in small claims court, we’ll be there to let you know if he beats the bank.
And who would have thought scanning a QR code on your TV would doom you? Be careful of that. Heck, you are asked to scan QR codes all the time. They could be hacked.
Now, for some tips to protect yourself, given to us by Amazon, and advice from federal agencies, click on the links at the end of his Help Me Howard. It might save you thousands to read them.
Been scammed? Ready to take it to prime time? Contact us. You can bank on us to hack away at a solution.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
Avoiding scams and scammers:
FDIC.Gov
Consumerfinance.Gov
How to detect attempted Amazon scammers:
Amazon.com
Amazon goes after impersonators:
Aboutamazon.com
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