Police: Lake Zurich woman lost more than $3,000 to phone scam

A Lake Zurich woman lost more than $3,000 Saturday to a phone scammer, police said Monday.

The man, who has not been apprehended, called the woman and claimed to be a Bank of America representative. The man told the woman her account with Zelle, a digital payments app, had been compromised, police said.

The man told the woman to rectify the situation by using Zelle to send money in three separate financial transactions totaling $3,436.76 to create a new account, police said.

The woman called police around 3 p.m. Saturday to report she had been the victim of fraud. The woman was unable to recover any of the money, said Lake Zurich Police Deputy Chief David Anderson.

According to the FBI's latest internet Crime Report, 800,944 victims of internet scams lost $10.3 billion in 2022, a 49% increase from 2021.

Experts on scam prevention urge people to be suspicious of messages from people claiming to be bank employees and to use only phone numbers they know are legitimate to communicate with their banks.