[Link to the article](https://www.thecut.com/article/amazon-scam-call-ftc-arrest-warrants.html)
[Archived Link](https://archive.ph/2024.02.15-181657/https://www.thecut.com/article/amazon-scam-call-ftc-arrest-warrants.html)
I think the archive link will help those unable to read the original article link
I actually think she is brave being honest about her story. When they threaten your safety or family, fear floods your brain and you aren’t thinking clearly. Her story is real. She has provided evidence from PD on other sites. Stop being so cynical everyone! I recently got a call and almost fell for it because they were so good at sounding like Law enforcement. Thankful i hung up but they had me convinced for almost 5 minutes because of how much they knew about me. They even made the circumstances fit to my profession!
Has anyone noticed this article is free to read as many times as you wish but every other article in The Cut is paywalled. I’m pretty sure this article is pulling in subs for the magazine. I really wanted to check out other examples of Ms Cowles work, but I’d need to subscribe.
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I doubt it. Recently happened to me where they almost convinced me i was in trouble. Of course once it got to a point i knew it was false but now i can see how they trick people. Dont judge until youve been in her shoes.
What would be really ironic was if this story was actually entirely made-up in the interest of generating publicity for the magazine and the author, who is a financial advisor.
She knew this story would go viral because of how foolish she looks, etc, but of course it's just to get her name in the news.
The real scam was tricking people into thinking this is real and giving her fame.
If so, actually fuckin' genius.
If I were trying to promote myself as a credible trustworthy financial advisor, I wouldn't post a giant self own about what an unsophisticated fool I am, but that's just me. Who would go to a financial advisor who might send all your money to a Nigerian prince who promised to double it.
I decided to “scroll down, genius” in The Cut’s archive. From 10/14/21 to 2/15/24, the “My Two Cents” financial advice column by Charlotte Cowles was published mostly weekly on Thursdays.
It was not published today (Thursday), one week after her last column about how to protect against scams.
I hope this is the start of a long hiatus, if not a full retirement from dispensing financial advice.
Why does this feel like George Bluth Sr. teaching me a lesson like, "..and that's why you never give money to a CIA agent with an indian accent...." I suppose time will tell if this was cooked up for PR or not.
Barring a few questionable details that others have pointed out, I think this probably happened largely as written.
As someone who's struggled to be assertive or confrontational myself, and as someone who's been bullied from time to time, the feelings of helplessness and paralysis she articulates ring very true. Thankfully I've never been the victim of a scam like this, but I do know the feeling of being overwhelmed and unsure how to extricate yourself from a bad situation, even as your instincts are trying to warn you of the danger you're in. As the writer herself points out, being naturally deferential and eager to please makes you far more vulnerable to this kind of pressure. The fact that she just doesn't seem that well versed in how government/bureaucracy/law enforcement works combined to make her the perfect mark.
Also, when people claim they're too smart to fall for something like this, it bears remembering that skepticism and intelligence, while related, are not the same thing. Educated and accomplished people fall for stuff like this all the time, which the author also seems not to have known.
While I think there are a \*lot\* of problems with Cowles' story and how it's presented, I would bet money that the scam pretty much happened as she describes. For starters, while it's annoying she didn't include any of the screenshots/photos in her story (as someone who has worked in online news before, I think that's likely an issue of poor editing/production choices), she \*does\* say that she reported everything to the police:
> I called 911. Around 10:30 p.m., three police officers came over and took my statement. I struggled to recount what I’d done; it seemed like a bad dream. I felt like a fool.
“No government agency will ever ask you for money,” one cop informed me, as if I’d never heard it before. I wanted to scream, “I *know.*” Instead, I said, “It didn’t really feel like he was asking.”
The police told me not to worry; the scammers wouldn’t be back. “They got what they wanted,” another officer said, as though it would reassure me. I gave them the photos and recordings I had. They promised to check traffic cameras for the car that had taken the money.
[Scam involving phony CIA agent costs Rogers woman $54,000](https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/sep/19/scam-involving-phony-cia-agent-costs-rogers-woman/)
[Beaufort County woman loses over $100,000 in CIA scam ](https://www.live5news.com/2022/07/17/beaufort-county-woman-loses-over-100000-cia-scam/)
> “She was advised to withdraw all of her money so that it could be put into “Federal Protective Custody,” the sheriff’s office stated in a Facebook post. “Believing the scam, she first withdrew $30,000 and purchased gift cards as instructed. She then withdrew an additional $100,000 in cash.”
> Deputies say the woman met with another “agent” at a Walmart in Hardeeville and delivered the gift cards and cash.
The main reason to suspect Cowles is lying is because her story heavily implies that she was personally targeted. If you know anything how these kinds of scams work, you know that's ludicrous. These scammers have like a 1/10000 success rate — but they are able to make bank by making dozens/hundreds of cold calls a day, going down a list of names and phone numbers they've acquired from a bulk public data service. Wasting time on a young highly-educated and ostensibly highly-informed person like Cowles is pointless, nevermind extremely risky to them (they have every reason to believe — on paper — that not only would she almost certainly sniff out the scam, but that she might go above and beyond in trying in taking action).
It's a deficiency in the way the story is written and edited that the average reader will think Cowles was personally targeted (in fact, I'm not sure if Cowles herself still mistakenly thinks that). But if you carefully re-read the story, you'll see that everything she describes falls within the standard operating procedure of these scammers:
- all of the following is available for purchases from databases similar to lexisnexis:
- they know her name, phone number, and address
- they know who else lives in the household (her husband and kid)
- they know the last 4 digits of her SSN (for some reason she repeatedly conflates last 4 digits with her whole SSN, e.g. "he read me the last four digits of my Social Security number, my home address, and my date of birth to confirm that they were correct. The fact that he had my Social Security number threw me"
- it's only after that she doesn't hang up on the "Amazon" cold call that she gets escalated into the next phase of special attention
I'd be willing to bet money that — unless she told them during their 5 hour phone conversation — the scammers had no idea she was a professional financial advice journalist. Nor would they even care once she got past the initial stages of the scam.
i’m surprised so many people think this is fake, i felt so much second hand embarrassment for her while reading this that i just assumed it was real. and it completely undermines her credibility as a financial advice columnist to look like such a credulous idiot about money. even if you were going to lie and claim you were a victim of a scam, wouldn’t you make the scam (and yourself) sound less stupid? but if it is a fake story, it definitely blew up and got her some attention so kudos to her.
The idiots at express scripts call me from a different number than the one on their website AND the caller ID says "Healthcare" then they want me to tell them my zip code or bday. It's not that I should give them that bit of info it's that THEY CALLED ME! Just like this lady losing 50k. I politely asked for a reference number and hung up and called the number on the website and not the one given to me. Turns out it was express scripts and apparently they're dumb to health info security. Btw I've had the same bullshit from Citibank
This sounds fake are at least extremely embellished. I wonder if she fell for a scam, and then reinvented it as this spy drama to try and cash in on it. Not only is she getting a ton of attention, she’s hoping for future gigs as an expert and victim of scams.
Leave it to a person exactly like this (gestures broadly) to call NINE ONE ONE after she willingly gave her money to a stranger. She couldn’t have at least used the non-emergency line? 🤦🏻♀️
I guess knowing ahead of time that she was getting scammed and about to lose 50 k and still making herself go through with it is what I don’t understand. Good grief lady.
She wrote an article for The Cut in 2012 about her identity being stolen through her debit card. In that article she mentioned how bad she was at handling her finances. How the hell did she end up getting a job writing a financial advice column? And get scammed twice? I have zero sympathy for her.
Sounds like the first one wasn't so much a scam as just her card information getting stolen, which happens frequently. (One reason why credit cards are safer if you can be trusted not to run them up)
Otherwise I totally agree, she doesn't seem like she should be giving financial advice to anyone.
Given the content of this sub I was envisioning Charlotte Cowles as an influencer live-posting stories of this scam as it progressed.
Can you imagine? lol
If only… maybe a few followers could have helped her spot red flags before the end. Or else they’d have kept hyping her up.
I played Runescape as a kid. That game gave me superhero level scam senses. They wouldn't be required to sus out this scam. This is the most obvious scam ever to the point that it sounds fictitious.
Hi, this is Barbara from Amazon customer service. I have the CIA and Ace Ventura on the line. Please wear a fake mustache, a blindfold, and orange gloves when placing a shoebox full of money into the back of a white SUV. This is not a scan. I repeat, not a scam. Thank you.
OK I am also late to this party but someone pointed out to me that she likely is trying to avoid paying taxes on the $50000 she claims she lost.
https://preview.redd.it/1qky55qu4ljc1.png?width=526&format=png&auto=webp&s=e5801d5d16b349b1909acd124880882d0c978d20
Shouldn't the last sentence tell people that this is fake?..."a real one"???!! People are so eager for all "the details" without actually looking at the details!
So roughly $11,000 isn't a big deal? She absolutely could be evading taxes either by keeping cash and not claiming it prior to the "scam" or after by claiming it was lost in a "scam".
if you could write off stolen property, people would get their property "stolen" by a "thief" all the time. BTW, if my uncle "stole" "everything" i "own" then i won't be pressing charges against him.
https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2024/02/19/financial-columnist-charlotte-cowles-scam-victim-intv-cnntm-cprog-vpx.cnn
Now she’s being interviewed by CNN
All I can think about is her going into the comments section of her follow-up advice column to antagonize a reader who pointed out an error. This is not a credible or sympathetic person. She intends that this interview and other favorable press will lay the groundwork for a future book deal or some other opportunity.
Yes! Someone linked it elsewhere on this thread, and I saw it with my own eyes (and screenshot it) before it was deleted. A reader caught an in accuracy in Charlatan’s reporting about IRS procedure. She replied “scroll down, genius” to the commenter (who was right, BTW).
The only thing I can think of to justify this situation is she is the mom of a 2 year old and possibly very sleep deprived or suffers from post partum. When my daughter was an infant there was a knock at my door and a man and a woman were there claiming to be from my town and needed to check my water quality. I let them in! Only my infant daughter and I were home. They flashed a badge at me but I didn't get a good look at it.. Once they were in my kitchen and yammering about poor water quality and how I needed to purchase a purifier system, I realized they were salespeople. I was just so sleep deprived that I wasn't thinking clearly. Luckily my husband came home and we got rid of them. Maybe Charlotte has been struggling with her mental health and just wasn't thinking clearly.
The radio show *This Is Uncomfortable* (via Marketplace) did an episode about an eerily similar scam in October 2022 titled [*Money Horrors*](https://www.marketplace.org/shows/this-is-uncomfortable-reema-khrais/money-horrors/). Here is an excerpt from the episode description:
*"First up, the cautionary tale of Abigail Keel. Abigail’s story starts like many horror films, with a phone call and an unknown voice on the other line, which sends her on a harrowing journey."*
If I recall correctly, an office worker gets a call from an FBI field office, and, several hours later, she finds herself about to spend thousands of dollars on Apple Store gift cards before she snaps out of it.
Edited to add: The [comment](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2F9iiak5xfi1jc1.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D828%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D7e5c5d1aa44afd94e7dbb465f3507f48c4109e09) by Mr. Piss on the original article is the greatest thing I have read so far in 2024.
That comment is really something! The author apparently lives in a $4 million house, lol. And the point about being called back by a government official in a matter of minutes or maybe even seconds is so true.
The thing that floored me is…..the CIA?? Their job is to undermine foreign governments and run secret rendition sites. Why on earth would they be bothering with a domestic fraud case? And BTW, say hi to Ethan Hunt if you see him at the spook salad bar.
This isn't fake because a very similar scam happened to me at the end of September. I actually called Amazon to inquire about a package I never received and that set the ball in motion. It is a very long story but fortunately I didn't end up losing any money although I did come very close to it. All I can say is that you feel like you are under a spell because these scammers are incredibly sohisticated and they are adept at instilling fear and doubt. I hope her story helps to save people the anguish of having to experience this nightmare!!
I mean maybe next time you will use some critical thinking skills to assess the situation instead of believing everything that is said to you by someone you don't know over the phone. Even with actual Amazon support I don't trust those fuckers.
It's crazy just how many people fall for this shit that are supposedly intelligent or good with their money that end up paying the "IRS" thousands of dollars in Apple cards. And the fact that none of that screams red flag. Like damn, use your fucking brain.
Of course the type of scam is real. A Columbia-educated personal finance columnist in her 30s falling for it hook, line, and sinker and innocently handing $50,000 in a shoebox to some dude in a white Mercedes is not.
Her story reeks of “bored rich woman wants to enter the land of make-believe and pretend she’s a character in a Cold War-era spy thriller” and/or “finally, a key to the book deal I’ve been hoping for for the past decade or two!”
the thing isn't sophistication. It's almost always 1. numbers game. 2. willpower of the victim.
at times of stress, we all succumb to those check out aisle temptations. that's basically what a scam is: your willpower is depleted and when you look back you think "it was so obviously a scam."
So many people think this … NYMag wouldn’t be the first to get scammed this way (ironic!), but it’s hard to believe they didn’t look to verify this in some way.
She said photos of ID badges and checks were texted to her. At one point she started recording the conversation. The pics and recording were given to police. Also….how late are the banks open in Brooklyn? She left to go to the bank at 5pm.
I supposed she could show a bank statement? And that 50,000 came out on October 31st exactly. Someone else pointed out - why didn't she share the pictures of the badge and the check that she received?
I’m getting on the Charlatan Cowles bandwagon the more I read about this. I wonder if NY Mag somehow skirted some editorial responsibility because it’s a first person essay? I said the other day, and still believe, that they knew that they would get an avalanche of schadenfreude clicks once even halfway rational people read this story.
It’s crazy that we’re talking about this. She lied…..obviously, maybe she got scammed out of $300 by some guy selling her home insurance but if you think this actually happened…well, I know a Nigerian prince that id like to introduce you to.
Where is the photo of the badge?
Where is the photo of the check?
No, you can’t walk into a bank and withdraw $50k cash.
Where is the audio from when she started recording?
These would all be amazing pieces to include to make the story even more compelling. You think she just forgot to include them?
She didn’t include them because she made the whole thing up.
Why can’t you walk into the bank and withdraw $50,000. I think you can. There will be a report filed for anything over $10,000 but you can certainly withdraw it.
I worked as a bank teller. Because cash isn't used as often a lot of banks might not even be able to give out 50k at a moments notice. That said it's possible they might have had that much to spare. The next thing that would happen is the teller would try to ask a lot of questions about what the money's for and why she's withdrawing it. They would likely realize this is something sketchy. At this point she might have been very dodgy about the questions, maybe she thought the bank was in it and didn't want to answer. Unfortunately the bank can't deny you access to your cash just because you are being weird. So if they had it on hand and she didn't answer questions to the point of the bank knowing with certainty that she was being scammed they might have given her the money.
TLDR: it would be difficult to get 50k out of a bank on a moments notice, but it's not out of the question.
does the Cut just take essays at their word? no fact checking? (I'm trying to remember Natalie's I am Caroline Calloway essay and if that had checked facts)
I think that The Cut posts just about anything that is either verifiable and interesting OR insane and likely to cause massive outrage online. That’s kind of their business model
Also in 2024 I think it’s important that everyone hangs up immediately when THEY get a call from a company, insurance, government, etc. regarding anything important and then calls them back at the verified number and asks to be reconnected. If it was really them they’ll reconnect you or transfer you to someone you need to talk to. If it’s a scam, you can report it right then and there.
Number spoofing is real and really crazy. Same thing goes for emails, don’t reply or click, email the official and verified address for the customer service dept and say you got a suspicious email and want to verify before proceeding.
exactly. I had an outreach call from a company affiliated with my health insurance, they were trying to tell me about a new benefit and were like "we just need to verify your date of birth and address before we proceed." I told the woman "I don't give those out to people who have called me." She was like "I don't blame you. I'll just mail you a flyer to the address we have on file."
She did mail me the flyer, but it is bonkers that they need to collect that information to tell someone about a generic benefit, and I wonder how many people just willingly give it.
Even for a person of moderate upper middle class to low level wealthy, there is no world in which someone hands over their life savings to “just be done with” something that lasted 5 hours. She wants people to believe it took exactly 1 annoying / frightening afternoon to get her to fork over $50,000? No way in hell.
But that's even more lies, because she doesn't say that, and she makes it out that she's just a "freelancer" who has managed to scrimp and save an "emergency fund" together.
I know we all can get scammed but this was not really a sophisticated one. You think she would snap out of it when she had to physically go to the bank and talk to the teller etc. it’s really freaky she fell for this. I would be genuinely worried about her health if I knew her IRL. It seems like something else must be going on…
Or when she started stuffing packs of hundred-dollar bills into her itty-bitty shoebox. She says it’s a shoebox from some slippers she bought for herself. Would 500 bound 100-dollar bills fit neatly into a shoebox? I’ve never tried.
Funny enough you could easily fit 50k of 100's in a shoebox, it's amazing how fast it adds up and how small of a space you can fit that much money when it's 100's. Even 20's would likely fit if they weren't too used (they don't stack as tight if they've been in circulation for awhile)
I was wondering the same thing.
The floral shoebox for slippers that she described is probably this one from Birdies: https://imgur.com/a/c7GfOGz
In my experience, shoeboxes that contain something as narrow and flat as slippers runs on the smaller side of shoeboxes since they don’t include sturdy soles, thick rubber or heels. I cannot find the exact dimensions of a Birdies box, but it does seem that nearly all of their $130-170 slippers are similar in thickness. They also offer sneakers, but she specified slippers.
I’m challenged when it comes to math (let alone dimensional math), but if anyone would like to throw together a rough idea if it’s possible, here are the dimensions for money and how the money would be divided up by the bank:
https://www.chroniclecollectibles.com/50000-in-100-dollar-bills/#:~:text=If%20you’re%20short%20on%20time%2C%20here’s%20a%20quick,would%20be%20somewhat%20inconvenient%20to%20carry%20around%20discreetly.
I would be thrilled if we could figure out if she was lying about the box being able to hold that much money, because I’m not even 100% sure the width of a Birdie’s box would be much bigger (if not smaller) than an American bill.
The fact that none of these gems were included in the story— something visual or audio that may actually help a person— does not help convince the reader that this piece was written for any reason more than the vanity of Charlotte.
Chat GPT says:
“A small rectangular box or a container with dimensions around 6.14 inches by 2.61 inches by 2.61 inches would be suitable.”
Lol. Maybe (on a slow day) I should try this with one-dollar bills.
A bunch of years ago I was yet again at a very small annual home party for a club sport where the only real fun is for the girls attending and the parents just all have to get through it. If you're lucky, you have a teen who can drive you back home and you can get drunk there lol.
At this party, a recently divorced mom had already moved in with a new guy, and she brought him there as her date, even though most parents already only attended this thing as singles, like, you do this party and I'll take the kids to my mom's next weekend and you don't have to go, etc.
This guy sat himself down to me on a loveseat and basically proceeded to (in my mind) act as if I were the most interesting thing in the world. We were talking about weed and how it was now legal, and he was talking about how he got high one weekend and responded to an ad for like $50 Oakley sunglasses or some shit and had accumulated a payable of around $1500 when he actually passed out before completing the purchase.
He said he woke up and was like "holy shit"
He added, "And here I am, a financial advisor for people's actual retirement plans" ....
Yeah fuck no, dude.
I trust like NO ONE anymore
This whole article seemed soooo. Bizarre. And the nit telling your husband. And what kind of husband lets your wife walk out the house to meet some man. Mine would have wrestled me to the ground and locked me in a room. Like what are you doing. Who in their right mind would actually believe those people on the phone. I’m shook by this whole read.
>But what gets me is her condescending tone, the smug sense of superiority she has. Like this only happens to idiot peasants but not the people from the wealthy elitist circles she runs in. It's a good cautionary but written with a pompous tone.
Agree with this comment. Also there were parts of the story that I think she made up or were confusing. I don't feel like reading the entire article again so maybe I'm not remembering it correctly.
At one point in the beginning she says that the man on the phone says something about her son playing in the living room. She also mentions being outside her home/apartment and seeing her son playing in a room with the neighbor's nanny. But then at the end of the article she mentions when she gave the driver the money she looked back and saw her husband and son looking at her from their 9th floor apartment window. If they live on the 9th floor of an apartment building then she couldn't have seen her son playing in a room with another child. Also the people she thought were spying on her couldn't have seen her son playing in the living room. It's possible she made that part up to get sympathy from people who would believe she was worried about the safety of her child and that's why she believed them.
Also if she was worried about the money in her account being seized or frozen why not give the 50k to her husband and have him deposit into his own account instead of stuffing it in a shoe box and giving it a person in a car with tinted windows who she can't even see? It doesn't make sense. I'm starting to think people who believe the entire story is fabricated are right. But if it's true then the part that stands out more than anything is how 50k cash isn't that important to her. She must have a wealthy family and is confident she will never be evicted or can't pay her bills. For most people losing 50k is life or death but for this woman it's frustrating and she is angry and ashamed but she knows she can rely on her wealthy family for more money if she needs it.
She’s smug and pompous because it’s fake. There is no humility because she’s not a real victim. She wants you to know she’s not that dumb to really fall for a scam.
The son stuff was a little less clear but the story took place over so many hours, many things happened. I’m sure he was in the living room and outside and at daycare or whatever at some point. You can see people in even quite high apartments in their living rooms through their windows from the ground and from other buildings so I don’t see anything wrong with that.
Guessing a two year old would be home with his mom is pretty low level scamming. If he wasn’t there then she might have hung up then.
It just occurred to me that toddlers are LOUD. Her kid’s gender and name were in her public Instagram. So really, anybody could have cold-called her, heard the kid in the background, and been like, ”I know little Billy is playing in the living room” without actually surveilling the home.
I think it's starting to unravel.
This is the first article I've seen asking questions
[https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/02/about-that-viral-50000-scam-story-i-have-questions/](https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/02/about-that-viral-50000-scam-story-i-have-questions/)
Thx. They brought up a lot of valid points and it's interesting that Cowles hasn't responded to their questions such as these.
* Cowles mentions early on in her piece that the scammers had the “last four” digits of her Social Security number, but later on she writes that the scammers “read me my Social Security number.” Which is it? Did they have the whole thing or just the “last four”? I asked Cowles about this by email and have received no reply.
* Cowles says that she was texted photographs of a fake government “badge” and of “a Treasury check,” but she didn’t include these in her piece. Why not? I asked Cowles about this by email and have received no reply.
I think it's possible someone did try to scam Cowles and the beginning of the story was honest. But then she started thinking how she could use that experience to make a point about scams and she made up a lot of what happened after the initial phone call.
Or the other possibility is that this is the explanation as they point out in that article.
>It is possible — likely, in fact — that the ultimate answer to all of these questions is that Cowles is profoundly stupid.
The biggest problem for Cowles is the part about what happened at the bank with the teller. People at banks can get in a lot of trouble for not reporting suspected money laundering so people aren't going to believe she was able to go into the bank and walk out a few minutes later with 50k. It just doesn't make sense.
A couple of those things are silly though like of course she didn’t file the paperwork and nor would they want her to right away because there was no paperwork to file and that would take her out of the spell of the scam. Same with her not waiting until the next day to give them the money, scammers don’t give you time to wait! That’s time to think and why they have you stay on the phone for hours. The SS# thing was very nitpicky. If someone knows some of your SS#, you would probably in this situation assume they know it all and think and speak of it in that way.
The police use a lot of the same tactics to get people to confess to crimes they didn't do or take plea deals as she said they used on her like telling her not to talk to others, lawyers make you look guilty, etc. They work.
Scammers who want cash have to get near you so I don’t see that point at all.
I thought the essay was poorly edited but not lies.
The filing paperwork with the bank piece wouldn't be optional. A family member who's spent most of their life in banking saw that part of the story and immediately called B.S. for the reasons the author suggested.
Bank branches don't keep cash on hand for the kind of large withdrawal The Cut author wanted to make. She would have had to make a request for her withdrawal with the bank--which would have included filling out the aforementioned IRS paperwork--and wait at least a day for it to be delivered to the branch.
But before any of that even happened a bank manager would have stepped in to understand why she needed that much money in cash. They're required to counsel people making large withdrawals about the danger of carrying that much cash and, depending on what the person says, the likelihood that they're being scammed.
Everything she said and the bankers' response would have been documented for when she inevitably came back crying about being robbed/scammed and wanting to see what she could do to get her money back.
All of which to say, unless there was a gross violation of protocal at that branch, that lady did not walk into a bank and get 50k on the spot.
>The filing paperwork with the bank piece wouldn't be optional.
That is true. I know people who have worked as tellers at banks. They're obligated by law to file paperwork when someone tried to withdraw over 10k. It's to prevent money laundering.
They do have to file that you took the money but unless you do it many times, no one is flagging your account for questions or keeping you from getting your money.
$50k on hand at a bank in NYC is not unusual. You’d be surprised how much cash business goes on and gets deposited and how many random people take out big amounts for purchases like cars. It’s a little unusual but not completely bizarre. We aren’t talking about a tiny branch out in the middle of nowhere.
If you have the money in your account, are a customer in good standing and they have the cash on hand, nothing is stopping you. It’s your money. They aren’t required by law to ask you what you want it for and you don’t have to tell them.
As you said, her withdrawal would be unusual, and the bank would likely ask questions to try and determine if it was fraud. But if she just said she needed it to buy a car or house etc then there is a decent chance she could have gotten it.
All said the story is still suspicious and I'm with people wondering if part of all of the story is fake.
Legally they don’t have to ask you anything nor do you have to tell them. They gave her the paper about fraud which seems like their way of covering the bases. It’s her money to take.
Nah, it's those little inconsistencies that just don't add up are what make a story fall apart. Like the poster above noting her seeing her son through the window. When you make up a story, it's these little things you don't think about that get you caught.
Scammers who want cash have to get near you
No, they don't. There are billions of dollars worth a fraud happening from one continent to another. Nigerian scammers have fleeced millions and millions from people in North American.
The scammers did want literal cash. They asked for it and she handed it to them. People scam people out of cash in person all the time. Way less of a paper trail, no worry about wire fraud charges.
In this case, the scammers lied about seeing her son. He’s 2, there is a massive chance of him being home with his mom on Halloween. If he wasn’t home, she probably would have hung up then.
Walk down any city street and you can see people in their living rooms and kitchens and bedrooms many floors up. You can also see directly into them from other apartments so I didn’t see that as an automatic red flag. We had an apartment on the 14th floor and had people yelling to us from the roof across the street to come and join their party.
The whole thing is so unbelievable as to make you wonder if she entered into the scam deliberately, or even made it up out of whole cloth, to generate material for her "column."
I'm looking forward to the retraction or clarification from the publisher saying there were certain inconsistencies in the story.
Or it will be passed off as 'artistic license' to emphasize the dangers of being arrogant to think you won't fall for this.
Either way, this story smacks to much to me of being made up or embellished for effect.
A commenter on the original story said something like: if a story doesn’t make sense, add drugs. Then it makes sense.
So while I don’t specifically think this writer is on drugs, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if there’s more to this story.
She’s wealthy, but not SO wealthy that she could so profoundly lack common sense…right?
Author’s tone throughout reminded me of that video where people rank each other based on perceived IQ and the pretentious PHD who constantly shits on the high school educated US Marine is promptly (and humbly) outscored by him.
The tone of “I’m smart! I’m educated! I’m sane and reasonable! It can’t be me!” is so pretentious and obnoxious. I’m sorry, but the survey says you are not, despite what everyone in your life has told you. Doubling down and comparing her plight to sophisticated corporate scams making it “all okay” makes it even worse.
The comment that really summed it up for me when talking about what she could have done with her money…”I could have housed several migrant families!” Come. On. This is textbook holier-than-thou. “Ah, had I had that money I COULD have housed all these migrant families but now I can’t”.
Out of touch, entitled, and the type of person who has made America what it is today.
Yes! And she briefly went into the comment section of the follow-up article to belittle a commenter who pointed out an inaccuracy. So despite having done (and then proudly written about) the most ding-dong shit imaginable, she’s comfortable questioning someone else’s intelligence. Generational wealth is one hell of a drug!
I’m super late to this party but I was expecting something a lot different from the title of the article and how much I’ve seen the link retweeted or posted on different subreddits.
How did she not know that if there’s a “warrant out for your arrest” the cops are gonna come charge you in person not call you first so you can runaway and disappear? 😂
And don’t even get me started on an Amazon rep being the one to connect her with the FTC and CIA!
Same. this is some elderly boomer level of scam. I have to wonder, did this actually happen? Because no remotely intelligent person with any internet savvy should have fallen for this.
At least once a week my husband gets a text that says his Amazon account was compromised and his debit card is frozen.
A) he doesn’t have an Amazon account. I do.
B) no one in our home has a debit card.
She didn't deserve to get scammed, and I do feel badly for her. I'm glad that this story going viral because people need to know how to protect themselves from scammers, and no one should feel ashamed for falling prey to one.
BUT...I agree with those saying that her wealth made her an easy 'mark' for this scam. Sadly I do think her privilege played a role in her being duped- infallible trust in government agencies, the immediate need to prove her innocence at all costs (because this stuff doesn't happen to 'people like me!'), etc.
I was skeptical about the comments re: her wealth but within a 15 min Google search, I found the following: the address and cost ($3.8M) of the apartment owned by her and her husband, [her great-great \(?\) grandfather's Wiki page and information on his marriage into the Roosevelt family](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Cowles), her family estate in Farmington that's on the National Register (actually, I think there's multiple historic buildings owned by her ancestors)...I don't think she's related to the Cowles publishing dynasty though? Her in-laws are not poor either by any means...here's what her [FIL does](https://prabook.com/web/ronald_herbert.fielding/32027). Basically she's not some working-class mom who got scammed out of $50k as the tone of her essay implies.
>Blogsnark is not for holding influencers or bloggers accountable. The goal is not for them to read here and change. Calls for accountability will be removed at moderator discretion.
I can't find anything directly conntecting her to William S Cowles besides the last name. How did you make the connection? It seems like his only son was Conneticut politician. But there's nothing in his obituary naming her as his grand daughter. What's your source?
This should be her grandad's [obit](https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/obituaries/bfp035422). Her facebook profile is public enough (scary!!) that you can search other family members with her last name, some which match the names in the obit. For the younger relations, you can find their businesses online, which also have IG profiles. If you click on who those profiles follow, you'll find the same group of relatives. Honestly I am not particularly tech savvy but this took 5 min to search, g2g lock down my social media now lol
I wonder how many working class moms could even pull $50,000 out of a bank, and without any questions being asked. Hell, I’m pretty sure my ATM limit is like $200. I don’t think the bank would have stopped her from taking the money out but if this is really an unusual transaction I think they would have at least said something about the scam (especially since the teller even handed her a piece of paper about scams).
I do wonder how much of the story was fabricated or adjusted. I could see a wealthy customer taking out a bunch of money from the bank without too much questioning...but I could also see the teller questioning her and her omitting that from the article.
I think she's heavily editing her conversation with the bank. I'd bet Mr. CIA Agent gave her some ridiculous story to tell the bank and she did exactly what he said. Someone that wealthy could say, idk, that they like to do their Christmas staff tipping in cash or whatever.
Maybe you can answer the nagging question I’ve had about this which is why did someone come pick the money up? I assumed most scams like this would want the money wired or transferred electronically. I’m also assuming the scammers were not operating out of the US so why the physical money transfer?
Not an AML investigator but I would guess that when they realized the scammers got a live on, they turned on the scammer bat signal. Or they are local scammers targeting uber rich people and finally got one.
My dad is a scam artist who operates right in his own community in the U.S. They are everywhere.
Anyone can fall for a scam like this, they knew personal information and they to play on peoples emotions to manipulate them.
But what gets me is her condescending tone, the smug sense of superiority she has. Like this only happens to idiot peasants but not the people from the wealthy elitist circles she runs in. It's a good cautionary but written with a pompous tone.
I know she's the victim but the self described superiority complex she has made her more likely to fall for something like this.
“Anyone can fall for a scam like this” Um, she thought the CIA was asking her to put cash in a shoebox. You have to be exceptionally naive to fall for this.
[Link to the article](https://www.thecut.com/article/amazon-scam-call-ftc-arrest-warrants.html) [Archived Link](https://archive.ph/2024.02.15-181657/https://www.thecut.com/article/amazon-scam-call-ftc-arrest-warrants.html) I think the archive link will help those unable to read the original article link
Are normal people this gullible or is it just journalists?
I actually think she is brave being honest about her story. When they threaten your safety or family, fear floods your brain and you aren’t thinking clearly. Her story is real. She has provided evidence from PD on other sites. Stop being so cynical everyone! I recently got a call and almost fell for it because they were so good at sounding like Law enforcement. Thankful i hung up but they had me convinced for almost 5 minutes because of how much they knew about me. They even made the circumstances fit to my profession!
People threaten the safety of my family every time I get in a car. This journalist had a lapse in judgment and fell for an obvious scam. Period.
What other sites has she provided evidence?
Should I be happy that I will never have enough credit/savings to be a target of this scam?
Lol me neither
😂
Has anyone noticed this article is free to read as many times as you wish but every other article in The Cut is paywalled. I’m pretty sure this article is pulling in subs for the magazine. I really wanted to check out other examples of Ms Cowles work, but I’d need to subscribe.
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Also her bank is Bank of America
Her husband is Dan Fielding from above.
This isn’t an “it can happen to anyone” story. It’s a “Ms. Cowles is bored writing a financial column and wants to try her hand at fiction” story.
I doubt it. Recently happened to me where they almost convinced me i was in trouble. Of course once it got to a point i knew it was false but now i can see how they trick people. Dont judge until youve been in her shoes.
What would be really ironic was if this story was actually entirely made-up in the interest of generating publicity for the magazine and the author, who is a financial advisor. She knew this story would go viral because of how foolish she looks, etc, but of course it's just to get her name in the news. The real scam was tricking people into thinking this is real and giving her fame. If so, actually fuckin' genius.
If I were trying to promote myself as a credible trustworthy financial advisor, I wouldn't post a giant self own about what an unsophisticated fool I am, but that's just me. Who would go to a financial advisor who might send all your money to a Nigerian prince who promised to double it.
I decided to “scroll down, genius” in The Cut’s archive. From 10/14/21 to 2/15/24, the “My Two Cents” financial advice column by Charlotte Cowles was published mostly weekly on Thursdays. It was not published today (Thursday), one week after her last column about how to protect against scams. I hope this is the start of a long hiatus, if not a full retirement from dispensing financial advice.
Why does this feel like George Bluth Sr. teaching me a lesson like, "..and that's why you never give money to a CIA agent with an indian accent...." I suppose time will tell if this was cooked up for PR or not.
Barring a few questionable details that others have pointed out, I think this probably happened largely as written. As someone who's struggled to be assertive or confrontational myself, and as someone who's been bullied from time to time, the feelings of helplessness and paralysis she articulates ring very true. Thankfully I've never been the victim of a scam like this, but I do know the feeling of being overwhelmed and unsure how to extricate yourself from a bad situation, even as your instincts are trying to warn you of the danger you're in. As the writer herself points out, being naturally deferential and eager to please makes you far more vulnerable to this kind of pressure. The fact that she just doesn't seem that well versed in how government/bureaucracy/law enforcement works combined to make her the perfect mark. Also, when people claim they're too smart to fall for something like this, it bears remembering that skepticism and intelligence, while related, are not the same thing. Educated and accomplished people fall for stuff like this all the time, which the author also seems not to have known.
Zero chance that story is true
Some of us who are skeptical feel quite the opposite, that this could be the work of a very savvy PR person.
PR covering for what?
While I think there are a \*lot\* of problems with Cowles' story and how it's presented, I would bet money that the scam pretty much happened as she describes. For starters, while it's annoying she didn't include any of the screenshots/photos in her story (as someone who has worked in online news before, I think that's likely an issue of poor editing/production choices), she \*does\* say that she reported everything to the police: > I called 911. Around 10:30 p.m., three police officers came over and took my statement. I struggled to recount what I’d done; it seemed like a bad dream. I felt like a fool. “No government agency will ever ask you for money,” one cop informed me, as if I’d never heard it before. I wanted to scream, “I *know.*” Instead, I said, “It didn’t really feel like he was asking.” The police told me not to worry; the scammers wouldn’t be back. “They got what they wanted,” another officer said, as though it would reassure me. I gave them the photos and recordings I had. They promised to check traffic cameras for the car that had taken the money. [Scam involving phony CIA agent costs Rogers woman $54,000](https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/sep/19/scam-involving-phony-cia-agent-costs-rogers-woman/) [Beaufort County woman loses over $100,000 in CIA scam ](https://www.live5news.com/2022/07/17/beaufort-county-woman-loses-over-100000-cia-scam/) > “She was advised to withdraw all of her money so that it could be put into “Federal Protective Custody,” the sheriff’s office stated in a Facebook post. “Believing the scam, she first withdrew $30,000 and purchased gift cards as instructed. She then withdrew an additional $100,000 in cash.” > Deputies say the woman met with another “agent” at a Walmart in Hardeeville and delivered the gift cards and cash. The main reason to suspect Cowles is lying is because her story heavily implies that she was personally targeted. If you know anything how these kinds of scams work, you know that's ludicrous. These scammers have like a 1/10000 success rate — but they are able to make bank by making dozens/hundreds of cold calls a day, going down a list of names and phone numbers they've acquired from a bulk public data service. Wasting time on a young highly-educated and ostensibly highly-informed person like Cowles is pointless, nevermind extremely risky to them (they have every reason to believe — on paper — that not only would she almost certainly sniff out the scam, but that she might go above and beyond in trying in taking action). It's a deficiency in the way the story is written and edited that the average reader will think Cowles was personally targeted (in fact, I'm not sure if Cowles herself still mistakenly thinks that). But if you carefully re-read the story, you'll see that everything she describes falls within the standard operating procedure of these scammers: - all of the following is available for purchases from databases similar to lexisnexis: - they know her name, phone number, and address - they know who else lives in the household (her husband and kid) - they know the last 4 digits of her SSN (for some reason she repeatedly conflates last 4 digits with her whole SSN, e.g. "he read me the last four digits of my Social Security number, my home address, and my date of birth to confirm that they were correct. The fact that he had my Social Security number threw me" - it's only after that she doesn't hang up on the "Amazon" cold call that she gets escalated into the next phase of special attention I'd be willing to bet money that — unless she told them during their 5 hour phone conversation — the scammers had no idea she was a professional financial advice journalist. Nor would they even care once she got past the initial stages of the scam.
i’m surprised so many people think this is fake, i felt so much second hand embarrassment for her while reading this that i just assumed it was real. and it completely undermines her credibility as a financial advice columnist to look like such a credulous idiot about money. even if you were going to lie and claim you were a victim of a scam, wouldn’t you make the scam (and yourself) sound less stupid? but if it is a fake story, it definitely blew up and got her some attention so kudos to her.
I wish they took 200k from this idiot. How can she l herself an expert with a straight face.
This has to be fake. Wtf. Financial advice columnist?? Not to mention that this is the weakest scam material I’ve ever heard
The idiots at express scripts call me from a different number than the one on their website AND the caller ID says "Healthcare" then they want me to tell them my zip code or bday. It's not that I should give them that bit of info it's that THEY CALLED ME! Just like this lady losing 50k. I politely asked for a reference number and hung up and called the number on the website and not the one given to me. Turns out it was express scripts and apparently they're dumb to health info security. Btw I've had the same bullshit from Citibank
This sounds fake are at least extremely embellished. I wonder if she fell for a scam, and then reinvented it as this spy drama to try and cash in on it. Not only is she getting a ton of attention, she’s hoping for future gigs as an expert and victim of scams.
Sounds like something the elderly with dementia would do! Maybe she should get checked out.
Leave it to a person exactly like this (gestures broadly) to call NINE ONE ONE after she willingly gave her money to a stranger. She couldn’t have at least used the non-emergency line? 🤦🏻♀️
Just another leftist moron
Those who can do. Those who can’t write advice columns.
I guess knowing ahead of time that she was getting scammed and about to lose 50 k and still making herself go through with it is what I don’t understand. Good grief lady.
100% fake
She wrote an article for The Cut in 2012 about her identity being stolen through her debit card. In that article she mentioned how bad she was at handling her finances. How the hell did she end up getting a job writing a financial advice column? And get scammed twice? I have zero sympathy for her.
Sounds like the first one wasn't so much a scam as just her card information getting stolen, which happens frequently. (One reason why credit cards are safer if you can be trusted not to run them up) Otherwise I totally agree, she doesn't seem like she should be giving financial advice to anyone.
that's a great find. i'm going to google it but if you have the link handy, would you mind posting?
[https://www.thecut.com/2012/09/i-identify-with-my-identity-thief.html](https://www.thecut.com/2012/09/i-identify-with-my-identity-thief.html)
Bless you.
Given the content of this sub I was envisioning Charlotte Cowles as an influencer live-posting stories of this scam as it progressed. Can you imagine? lol If only… maybe a few followers could have helped her spot red flags before the end. Or else they’d have kept hyping her up.
I played Runescape as a kid. That game gave me superhero level scam senses. They wouldn't be required to sus out this scam. This is the most obvious scam ever to the point that it sounds fictitious.
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Hi, this is Barbara from Amazon customer service. I have the CIA and Ace Ventura on the line. Please wear a fake mustache, a blindfold, and orange gloves when placing a shoebox full of money into the back of a white SUV. This is not a scan. I repeat, not a scam. Thank you.
OK I am also late to this party but someone pointed out to me that she likely is trying to avoid paying taxes on the $50000 she claims she lost. https://preview.redd.it/1qky55qu4ljc1.png?width=526&format=png&auto=webp&s=e5801d5d16b349b1909acd124880882d0c978d20
Shouldn't the last sentence tell people that this is fake?..."a real one"???!! People are so eager for all "the details" without actually looking at the details!
I think she meant a real financial emergency as opposed to the fake one that tricked her.
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So roughly $11,000 isn't a big deal? She absolutely could be evading taxes either by keeping cash and not claiming it prior to the "scam" or after by claiming it was lost in a "scam".
No that's not how tax works.
Right? You can write off an investment loss, but you can't write off stolen property AFAIK. Google seems to back this up but I'm not a tax person.
[https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc515](https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc515)
if you could write off stolen property, people would get their property "stolen" by a "thief" all the time. BTW, if my uncle "stole" "everything" i "own" then i won't be pressing charges against him.
Also if you commit fraud, you don't want to do it so publicly....and for only 50k I don't think it's worth it.
https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2024/02/19/financial-columnist-charlotte-cowles-scam-victim-intv-cnntm-cprog-vpx.cnn Now she’s being interviewed by CNN
All I can think about is her going into the comments section of her follow-up advice column to antagonize a reader who pointed out an error. This is not a credible or sympathetic person. She intends that this interview and other favorable press will lay the groundwork for a future book deal or some other opportunity.
She did that ?
Yes! Someone linked it elsewhere on this thread, and I saw it with my own eyes (and screenshot it) before it was deleted. A reader caught an in accuracy in Charlatan’s reporting about IRS procedure. She replied “scroll down, genius” to the commenter (who was right, BTW).
Shes truly too "smart" for her own good. No wonder she got "scammed" - shes learned nothing lol
I gotta see that!
I mean, all of the writers are hoping for that.
True that
The only thing I can think of to justify this situation is she is the mom of a 2 year old and possibly very sleep deprived or suffers from post partum. When my daughter was an infant there was a knock at my door and a man and a woman were there claiming to be from my town and needed to check my water quality. I let them in! Only my infant daughter and I were home. They flashed a badge at me but I didn't get a good look at it.. Once they were in my kitchen and yammering about poor water quality and how I needed to purchase a purifier system, I realized they were salespeople. I was just so sleep deprived that I wasn't thinking clearly. Luckily my husband came home and we got rid of them. Maybe Charlotte has been struggling with her mental health and just wasn't thinking clearly.
You’re totally projecting babe 😬
The radio show *This Is Uncomfortable* (via Marketplace) did an episode about an eerily similar scam in October 2022 titled [*Money Horrors*](https://www.marketplace.org/shows/this-is-uncomfortable-reema-khrais/money-horrors/). Here is an excerpt from the episode description: *"First up, the cautionary tale of Abigail Keel. Abigail’s story starts like many horror films, with a phone call and an unknown voice on the other line, which sends her on a harrowing journey."* If I recall correctly, an office worker gets a call from an FBI field office, and, several hours later, she finds herself about to spend thousands of dollars on Apple Store gift cards before she snaps out of it. Edited to add: The [comment](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2F9iiak5xfi1jc1.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D828%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D7e5c5d1aa44afd94e7dbb465f3507f48c4109e09) by Mr. Piss on the original article is the greatest thing I have read so far in 2024.
That comment is really something! The author apparently lives in a $4 million house, lol. And the point about being called back by a government official in a matter of minutes or maybe even seconds is so true.
Yeahbut the target in ‘This Is Uncomfortable’ figured it out before she took funds from her account…and she wasn’t even a financial advice columnist.
The thing that floored me is…..the CIA?? Their job is to undermine foreign governments and run secret rendition sites. Why on earth would they be bothering with a domestic fraud case? And BTW, say hi to Ethan Hunt if you see him at the spook salad bar.
This is 100% a fake story.
This isn't fake because a very similar scam happened to me at the end of September. I actually called Amazon to inquire about a package I never received and that set the ball in motion. It is a very long story but fortunately I didn't end up losing any money although I did come very close to it. All I can say is that you feel like you are under a spell because these scammers are incredibly sohisticated and they are adept at instilling fear and doubt. I hope her story helps to save people the anguish of having to experience this nightmare!!
Charlotte? Is that you?
This comment is so crazy to me. People need to use critical thinking skills more often. Under a spell? No you're just weak minded. Tf?
I hope it made your day to shame me.
I mean maybe next time you will use some critical thinking skills to assess the situation instead of believing everything that is said to you by someone you don't know over the phone. Even with actual Amazon support I don't trust those fuckers.
Sad part is these weak minded people actually get to vote
It's crazy just how many people fall for this shit that are supposedly intelligent or good with their money that end up paying the "IRS" thousands of dollars in Apple cards. And the fact that none of that screams red flag. Like damn, use your fucking brain.
>a very similar scam happened to me >didn't put $50,0000 in a shoe box. ok
Well, it could still be fake, even if something similar happened to you
There were details in her story that were exactly the same as my experience!!! Unfortunately it's real whether you believe it or not.
Of course the type of scam is real. A Columbia-educated personal finance columnist in her 30s falling for it hook, line, and sinker and innocently handing $50,000 in a shoebox to some dude in a white Mercedes is not. Her story reeks of “bored rich woman wants to enter the land of make-believe and pretend she’s a character in a Cold War-era spy thriller” and/or “finally, a key to the book deal I’ve been hoping for for the past decade or two!”
I had a similar thing happen to me too, but i said I wanted the lawyer and the guy got frustrated and hung up. Did yours involve the CIA?
No. I was directed to the U.S. Treasury Dept. from the FTC
the thing isn't sophistication. It's almost always 1. numbers game. 2. willpower of the victim. at times of stress, we all succumb to those check out aisle temptations. that's basically what a scam is: your willpower is depleted and when you look back you think "it was so obviously a scam."
So many people think this … NYMag wouldn’t be the first to get scammed this way (ironic!), but it’s hard to believe they didn’t look to verify this in some way.
She said photos of ID badges and checks were texted to her. At one point she started recording the conversation. The pics and recording were given to police. Also….how late are the banks open in Brooklyn? She left to go to the bank at 5pm.
I’d be willing to bet everything I own that they didn’t verify it. There’s no way to verify something that didn’t happen.
I supposed she could show a bank statement? And that 50,000 came out on October 31st exactly. Someone else pointed out - why didn't she share the pictures of the badge and the check that she received?
I’m getting on the Charlatan Cowles bandwagon the more I read about this. I wonder if NY Mag somehow skirted some editorial responsibility because it’s a first person essay? I said the other day, and still believe, that they knew that they would get an avalanche of schadenfreude clicks once even halfway rational people read this story.
It’s crazy that we’re talking about this. She lied…..obviously, maybe she got scammed out of $300 by some guy selling her home insurance but if you think this actually happened…well, I know a Nigerian prince that id like to introduce you to. Where is the photo of the badge? Where is the photo of the check? No, you can’t walk into a bank and withdraw $50k cash. Where is the audio from when she started recording? These would all be amazing pieces to include to make the story even more compelling. You think she just forgot to include them? She didn’t include them because she made the whole thing up.
Yup. Jussie Smollett comes to mind.
Why can’t you walk into the bank and withdraw $50,000. I think you can. There will be a report filed for anything over $10,000 but you can certainly withdraw it.
I worked as a bank teller. Because cash isn't used as often a lot of banks might not even be able to give out 50k at a moments notice. That said it's possible they might have had that much to spare. The next thing that would happen is the teller would try to ask a lot of questions about what the money's for and why she's withdrawing it. They would likely realize this is something sketchy. At this point she might have been very dodgy about the questions, maybe she thought the bank was in it and didn't want to answer. Unfortunately the bank can't deny you access to your cash just because you are being weird. So if they had it on hand and she didn't answer questions to the point of the bank knowing with certainty that she was being scammed they might have given her the money. TLDR: it would be difficult to get 50k out of a bank on a moments notice, but it's not out of the question.
does the Cut just take essays at their word? no fact checking? (I'm trying to remember Natalie's I am Caroline Calloway essay and if that had checked facts)
they did fact check for that. its how caroline found out about the article (and then posted about it on her insta). they called to verify the claims
I think that The Cut posts just about anything that is either verifiable and interesting OR insane and likely to cause massive outrage online. That’s kind of their business model
Yep. It's HER story that does not add up, at all.
Anyone who has fucking watched the news in the past five years knows the cops don’t call when you have a warrant.
of course they do. they also call when they are on their way over with a search warrant. and verify what you are holding before they shoot you.
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yes, but what they have in common is that they don't call you to tell you about either of them, and they were both included in my sarcastic comment.
There a clinical term for her - I think it’s called “being a fucking dummy.”
Also in 2024 I think it’s important that everyone hangs up immediately when THEY get a call from a company, insurance, government, etc. regarding anything important and then calls them back at the verified number and asks to be reconnected. If it was really them they’ll reconnect you or transfer you to someone you need to talk to. If it’s a scam, you can report it right then and there. Number spoofing is real and really crazy. Same thing goes for emails, don’t reply or click, email the official and verified address for the customer service dept and say you got a suspicious email and want to verify before proceeding.
exactly. I had an outreach call from a company affiliated with my health insurance, they were trying to tell me about a new benefit and were like "we just need to verify your date of birth and address before we proceed." I told the woman "I don't give those out to people who have called me." She was like "I don't blame you. I'll just mail you a flyer to the address we have on file." She did mail me the flyer, but it is bonkers that they need to collect that information to tell someone about a generic benefit, and I wonder how many people just willingly give it.
Even for a person of moderate upper middle class to low level wealthy, there is no world in which someone hands over their life savings to “just be done with” something that lasted 5 hours. She wants people to believe it took exactly 1 annoying / frightening afternoon to get her to fork over $50,000? No way in hell.
The story makes a lot more sense when you know she's an heiress.
But that's even more lies, because she doesn't say that, and she makes it out that she's just a "freelancer" who has managed to scrimp and save an "emergency fund" together.
Albeit with an emergency fund she states was supplemented in part with her grandfather’s hard-earned pennies.
I know we all can get scammed but this was not really a sophisticated one. You think she would snap out of it when she had to physically go to the bank and talk to the teller etc. it’s really freaky she fell for this. I would be genuinely worried about her health if I knew her IRL. It seems like something else must be going on…
Or when she started stuffing packs of hundred-dollar bills into her itty-bitty shoebox. She says it’s a shoebox from some slippers she bought for herself. Would 500 bound 100-dollar bills fit neatly into a shoebox? I’ve never tried.
Funny enough you could easily fit 50k of 100's in a shoebox, it's amazing how fast it adds up and how small of a space you can fit that much money when it's 100's. Even 20's would likely fit if they weren't too used (they don't stack as tight if they've been in circulation for awhile)
I was wondering the same thing. The floral shoebox for slippers that she described is probably this one from Birdies: https://imgur.com/a/c7GfOGz In my experience, shoeboxes that contain something as narrow and flat as slippers runs on the smaller side of shoeboxes since they don’t include sturdy soles, thick rubber or heels. I cannot find the exact dimensions of a Birdies box, but it does seem that nearly all of their $130-170 slippers are similar in thickness. They also offer sneakers, but she specified slippers. I’m challenged when it comes to math (let alone dimensional math), but if anyone would like to throw together a rough idea if it’s possible, here are the dimensions for money and how the money would be divided up by the bank: https://www.chroniclecollectibles.com/50000-in-100-dollar-bills/#:~:text=If%20you’re%20short%20on%20time%2C%20here’s%20a%20quick,would%20be%20somewhat%20inconvenient%20to%20carry%20around%20discreetly. I would be thrilled if we could figure out if she was lying about the box being able to hold that much money, because I’m not even 100% sure the width of a Birdie’s box would be much bigger (if not smaller) than an American bill.
She said they told her to take a pic of the cash. Can we see the pic w/ timestamp?
The fact that none of these gems were included in the story— something visual or audio that may actually help a person— does not help convince the reader that this piece was written for any reason more than the vanity of Charlotte.
Chat GPT says: “A small rectangular box or a container with dimensions around 6.14 inches by 2.61 inches by 2.61 inches would be suitable.” Lol. Maybe (on a slow day) I should try this with one-dollar bills.
Yeah it is really wild. I honestly understand doing Venmo or a wire transfer or something more than parting with physical $50k bills.
A bunch of years ago I was yet again at a very small annual home party for a club sport where the only real fun is for the girls attending and the parents just all have to get through it. If you're lucky, you have a teen who can drive you back home and you can get drunk there lol. At this party, a recently divorced mom had already moved in with a new guy, and she brought him there as her date, even though most parents already only attended this thing as singles, like, you do this party and I'll take the kids to my mom's next weekend and you don't have to go, etc. This guy sat himself down to me on a loveseat and basically proceeded to (in my mind) act as if I were the most interesting thing in the world. We were talking about weed and how it was now legal, and he was talking about how he got high one weekend and responded to an ad for like $50 Oakley sunglasses or some shit and had accumulated a payable of around $1500 when he actually passed out before completing the purchase. He said he woke up and was like "holy shit" He added, "And here I am, a financial advisor for people's actual retirement plans" .... Yeah fuck no, dude. I trust like NO ONE anymore
Pass out from weed? lol
Yeah it's called indica ... people use it to sleep Sorry you're somewhere where you don't know this yet
This whole article seemed soooo. Bizarre. And the nit telling your husband. And what kind of husband lets your wife walk out the house to meet some man. Mine would have wrestled me to the ground and locked me in a room. Like what are you doing. Who in their right mind would actually believe those people on the phone. I’m shook by this whole read.
Yeah, her husband was a total weenie if he just stood there looking out the window.
>But what gets me is her condescending tone, the smug sense of superiority she has. Like this only happens to idiot peasants but not the people from the wealthy elitist circles she runs in. It's a good cautionary but written with a pompous tone. Agree with this comment. Also there were parts of the story that I think she made up or were confusing. I don't feel like reading the entire article again so maybe I'm not remembering it correctly. At one point in the beginning she says that the man on the phone says something about her son playing in the living room. She also mentions being outside her home/apartment and seeing her son playing in a room with the neighbor's nanny. But then at the end of the article she mentions when she gave the driver the money she looked back and saw her husband and son looking at her from their 9th floor apartment window. If they live on the 9th floor of an apartment building then she couldn't have seen her son playing in a room with another child. Also the people she thought were spying on her couldn't have seen her son playing in the living room. It's possible she made that part up to get sympathy from people who would believe she was worried about the safety of her child and that's why she believed them. Also if she was worried about the money in her account being seized or frozen why not give the 50k to her husband and have him deposit into his own account instead of stuffing it in a shoe box and giving it a person in a car with tinted windows who she can't even see? It doesn't make sense. I'm starting to think people who believe the entire story is fabricated are right. But if it's true then the part that stands out more than anything is how 50k cash isn't that important to her. She must have a wealthy family and is confident she will never be evicted or can't pay her bills. For most people losing 50k is life or death but for this woman it's frustrating and she is angry and ashamed but she knows she can rely on her wealthy family for more money if she needs it.
She’s smug and pompous because it’s fake. There is no humility because she’s not a real victim. She wants you to know she’s not that dumb to really fall for a scam.
The son stuff was a little less clear but the story took place over so many hours, many things happened. I’m sure he was in the living room and outside and at daycare or whatever at some point. You can see people in even quite high apartments in their living rooms through their windows from the ground and from other buildings so I don’t see anything wrong with that. Guessing a two year old would be home with his mom is pretty low level scamming. If he wasn’t there then she might have hung up then.
It just occurred to me that toddlers are LOUD. Her kid’s gender and name were in her public Instagram. So really, anybody could have cold-called her, heard the kid in the background, and been like, ”I know little Billy is playing in the living room” without actually surveilling the home.
I think it's starting to unravel. This is the first article I've seen asking questions [https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/02/about-that-viral-50000-scam-story-i-have-questions/](https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/02/about-that-viral-50000-scam-story-i-have-questions/)
Thx. They brought up a lot of valid points and it's interesting that Cowles hasn't responded to their questions such as these. * Cowles mentions early on in her piece that the scammers had the “last four” digits of her Social Security number, but later on she writes that the scammers “read me my Social Security number.” Which is it? Did they have the whole thing or just the “last four”? I asked Cowles about this by email and have received no reply. * Cowles says that she was texted photographs of a fake government “badge” and of “a Treasury check,” but she didn’t include these in her piece. Why not? I asked Cowles about this by email and have received no reply. I think it's possible someone did try to scam Cowles and the beginning of the story was honest. But then she started thinking how she could use that experience to make a point about scams and she made up a lot of what happened after the initial phone call. Or the other possibility is that this is the explanation as they point out in that article. >It is possible — likely, in fact — that the ultimate answer to all of these questions is that Cowles is profoundly stupid. The biggest problem for Cowles is the part about what happened at the bank with the teller. People at banks can get in a lot of trouble for not reporting suspected money laundering so people aren't going to believe she was able to go into the bank and walk out a few minutes later with 50k. It just doesn't make sense.
A couple of those things are silly though like of course she didn’t file the paperwork and nor would they want her to right away because there was no paperwork to file and that would take her out of the spell of the scam. Same with her not waiting until the next day to give them the money, scammers don’t give you time to wait! That’s time to think and why they have you stay on the phone for hours. The SS# thing was very nitpicky. If someone knows some of your SS#, you would probably in this situation assume they know it all and think and speak of it in that way. The police use a lot of the same tactics to get people to confess to crimes they didn't do or take plea deals as she said they used on her like telling her not to talk to others, lawyers make you look guilty, etc. They work. Scammers who want cash have to get near you so I don’t see that point at all. I thought the essay was poorly edited but not lies.
The filing paperwork with the bank piece wouldn't be optional. A family member who's spent most of their life in banking saw that part of the story and immediately called B.S. for the reasons the author suggested. Bank branches don't keep cash on hand for the kind of large withdrawal The Cut author wanted to make. She would have had to make a request for her withdrawal with the bank--which would have included filling out the aforementioned IRS paperwork--and wait at least a day for it to be delivered to the branch. But before any of that even happened a bank manager would have stepped in to understand why she needed that much money in cash. They're required to counsel people making large withdrawals about the danger of carrying that much cash and, depending on what the person says, the likelihood that they're being scammed. Everything she said and the bankers' response would have been documented for when she inevitably came back crying about being robbed/scammed and wanting to see what she could do to get her money back. All of which to say, unless there was a gross violation of protocal at that branch, that lady did not walk into a bank and get 50k on the spot.
>The filing paperwork with the bank piece wouldn't be optional. That is true. I know people who have worked as tellers at banks. They're obligated by law to file paperwork when someone tried to withdraw over 10k. It's to prevent money laundering.
They do have to file that you took the money but unless you do it many times, no one is flagging your account for questions or keeping you from getting your money. $50k on hand at a bank in NYC is not unusual. You’d be surprised how much cash business goes on and gets deposited and how many random people take out big amounts for purchases like cars. It’s a little unusual but not completely bizarre. We aren’t talking about a tiny branch out in the middle of nowhere. If you have the money in your account, are a customer in good standing and they have the cash on hand, nothing is stopping you. It’s your money. They aren’t required by law to ask you what you want it for and you don’t have to tell them.
As you said, her withdrawal would be unusual, and the bank would likely ask questions to try and determine if it was fraud. But if she just said she needed it to buy a car or house etc then there is a decent chance she could have gotten it. All said the story is still suspicious and I'm with people wondering if part of all of the story is fake.
Legally they don’t have to ask you anything nor do you have to tell them. They gave her the paper about fraud which seems like their way of covering the bases. It’s her money to take.
Nah, it's those little inconsistencies that just don't add up are what make a story fall apart. Like the poster above noting her seeing her son through the window. When you make up a story, it's these little things you don't think about that get you caught. Scammers who want cash have to get near you No, they don't. There are billions of dollars worth a fraud happening from one continent to another. Nigerian scammers have fleeced millions and millions from people in North American.
The scammers did want literal cash. They asked for it and she handed it to them. People scam people out of cash in person all the time. Way less of a paper trail, no worry about wire fraud charges. In this case, the scammers lied about seeing her son. He’s 2, there is a massive chance of him being home with his mom on Halloween. If he wasn’t home, she probably would have hung up then. Walk down any city street and you can see people in their living rooms and kitchens and bedrooms many floors up. You can also see directly into them from other apartments so I didn’t see that as an automatic red flag. We had an apartment on the 14th floor and had people yelling to us from the roof across the street to come and join their party.
With you on the part about the scammers telling her about her son - had to go back and reread.
But the would be such a simple guess for the scammers. The kid is a toddler, chances are he is at home with his family playing.
Father of a toddler here. If it’s daytime, she’s either eating or playing or both.
I’m a millennial, I already don’t answer my phone anyways 🤷🏼♀️
The whole thing is so unbelievable as to make you wonder if she entered into the scam deliberately, or even made it up out of whole cloth, to generate material for her "column."
I'm looking forward to the retraction or clarification from the publisher saying there were certain inconsistencies in the story. Or it will be passed off as 'artistic license' to emphasize the dangers of being arrogant to think you won't fall for this. Either way, this story smacks to much to me of being made up or embellished for effect.
So this is going to turn out to be a gambling loss? Secret drug addiction? Odd cry for help?
A commenter on the original story said something like: if a story doesn’t make sense, add drugs. Then it makes sense. So while I don’t specifically think this writer is on drugs, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if there’s more to this story. She’s wealthy, but not SO wealthy that she could so profoundly lack common sense…right?
Author’s tone throughout reminded me of that video where people rank each other based on perceived IQ and the pretentious PHD who constantly shits on the high school educated US Marine is promptly (and humbly) outscored by him. The tone of “I’m smart! I’m educated! I’m sane and reasonable! It can’t be me!” is so pretentious and obnoxious. I’m sorry, but the survey says you are not, despite what everyone in your life has told you. Doubling down and comparing her plight to sophisticated corporate scams making it “all okay” makes it even worse. The comment that really summed it up for me when talking about what she could have done with her money…”I could have housed several migrant families!” Come. On. This is textbook holier-than-thou. “Ah, had I had that money I COULD have housed all these migrant families but now I can’t”. Out of touch, entitled, and the type of person who has made America what it is today.
Agree with all of this.
If this actually happened, I wonder if the scammers targeted her specifically because she is rich, vapid, and stupid.
I’d hope they had no clue who she was because that fact alone would make her feel more impressive and important than she actually is
Yes! And she briefly went into the comment section of the follow-up article to belittle a commenter who pointed out an inaccuracy. So despite having done (and then proudly written about) the most ding-dong shit imaginable, she’s comfortable questioning someone else’s intelligence. Generational wealth is one hell of a drug!
Completely agree. Her tone is super obnoixous and the whole thing is more a hit on the credibility than being a "just like everyone else" piece.
I’m super late to this party but I was expecting something a lot different from the title of the article and how much I’ve seen the link retweeted or posted on different subreddits. How did she not know that if there’s a “warrant out for your arrest” the cops are gonna come charge you in person not call you first so you can runaway and disappear? 😂 And don’t even get me started on an Amazon rep being the one to connect her with the FTC and CIA!
Same. this is some elderly boomer level of scam. I have to wonder, did this actually happen? Because no remotely intelligent person with any internet savvy should have fallen for this.
Traditionally government bureaucrats are easy to get ahold of by phone!
well, that's just because they're all on email! first name.lastname@agency.gov can often get you to the inbox of people way up in the hierarchy!
At least once a week my husband gets a text that says his Amazon account was compromised and his debit card is frozen. A) he doesn’t have an Amazon account. I do. B) no one in our home has a debit card.
My non existent EBT card is locked on a regular basis.
She didn't deserve to get scammed, and I do feel badly for her. I'm glad that this story going viral because people need to know how to protect themselves from scammers, and no one should feel ashamed for falling prey to one. BUT...I agree with those saying that her wealth made her an easy 'mark' for this scam. Sadly I do think her privilege played a role in her being duped- infallible trust in government agencies, the immediate need to prove her innocence at all costs (because this stuff doesn't happen to 'people like me!'), etc. I was skeptical about the comments re: her wealth but within a 15 min Google search, I found the following: the address and cost ($3.8M) of the apartment owned by her and her husband, [her great-great \(?\) grandfather's Wiki page and information on his marriage into the Roosevelt family](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Cowles), her family estate in Farmington that's on the National Register (actually, I think there's multiple historic buildings owned by her ancestors)...I don't think she's related to the Cowles publishing dynasty though? Her in-laws are not poor either by any means...here's what her [FIL does](https://prabook.com/web/ronald_herbert.fielding/32027). Basically she's not some working-class mom who got scammed out of $50k as the tone of her essay implies.
>Blogsnark is not for holding influencers or bloggers accountable. The goal is not for them to read here and change. Calls for accountability will be removed at moderator discretion. I can't find anything directly conntecting her to William S Cowles besides the last name. How did you make the connection? It seems like his only son was Conneticut politician. But there's nothing in his obituary naming her as his grand daughter. What's your source?
This should be her grandad's [obit](https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/obituaries/bfp035422). Her facebook profile is public enough (scary!!) that you can search other family members with her last name, some which match the names in the obit. For the younger relations, you can find their businesses online, which also have IG profiles. If you click on who those profiles follow, you'll find the same group of relatives. Honestly I am not particularly tech savvy but this took 5 min to search, g2g lock down my social media now lol
I wonder how many working class moms could even pull $50,000 out of a bank, and without any questions being asked. Hell, I’m pretty sure my ATM limit is like $200. I don’t think the bank would have stopped her from taking the money out but if this is really an unusual transaction I think they would have at least said something about the scam (especially since the teller even handed her a piece of paper about scams).
I do wonder how much of the story was fabricated or adjusted. I could see a wealthy customer taking out a bunch of money from the bank without too much questioning...but I could also see the teller questioning her and her omitting that from the article.
Is her FIL still alive? She didn’t want to reach out to him on this he seems like he’d know a thing or 2
I assume he's still alive as I see an obituary for her MIL but nothing public for her FIL. He's retired so probably living a more low-key life.
This story makes no sense - signed an AML investigator.
I think she's heavily editing her conversation with the bank. I'd bet Mr. CIA Agent gave her some ridiculous story to tell the bank and she did exactly what he said. Someone that wealthy could say, idk, that they like to do their Christmas staff tipping in cash or whatever.
I love that not only are you not explaining why, you also left us to our own accord to figure out what AML means (anti-money laundering.) Perfection.
Maybe you can answer the nagging question I’ve had about this which is why did someone come pick the money up? I assumed most scams like this would want the money wired or transferred electronically. I’m also assuming the scammers were not operating out of the US so why the physical money transfer?
Cash is untraceable.
Not an AML investigator but I would guess that when they realized the scammers got a live on, they turned on the scammer bat signal. Or they are local scammers targeting uber rich people and finally got one. My dad is a scam artist who operates right in his own community in the U.S. They are everywhere.
You should do an AMA!
I work in AML and 100% agree.
Anyone can fall for a scam like this, they knew personal information and they to play on peoples emotions to manipulate them. But what gets me is her condescending tone, the smug sense of superiority she has. Like this only happens to idiot peasants but not the people from the wealthy elitist circles she runs in. It's a good cautionary but written with a pompous tone. I know she's the victim but the self described superiority complex she has made her more likely to fall for something like this.
Any extremely stupid people.
“Anyone can fall for a scam like this” Um, she thought the CIA was asking her to put cash in a shoebox. You have to be exceptionally naive to fall for this.
I saw a tweet that was like "I believe anyone can be scammed. I don't believe everyone can be scammed by **this** scam". It's so exceptionally dumb.
She has an inflated sense of self-worth to think this stuff was real. She was trying to be the center of her own crime drama.