I fell for an online scam that is withdrawing from my bank account

jantango

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A few days ago, a Facebook post by the clothing store Zara caught my attention. I ignored it the first time I saw it, but when it appeared again on my tablet, I decided to take them up on their offer for a "mystery box of clothes" at a very low price. As soon as I checked my bank account, I could tell that I gave my bank information to a scammer in "Nicosia, Cyprus." The emails continue from the scammer. And so do the withdrawals -- so far there are four totaling just over 40,000 pesos. Glad it's not on my US account. I was suspicious when I received the first email.

Warning to anyone else who comes across this offer on Facebook that the stores in Buenos Aires may not even know about.
 
Here is the detail that will clear my account on Monday:

14/04COMPRA PYD*hike4haven.co - Nicosia $ -20.794,62
14/04RG 4815/20- PYD*hike4haven.co - Nicosia $ -6.230,84
14/04COMPRA PYD*hike4haven.co - Nicosia $ -10.726,10
14/04RG 4815/20- PYD*hike4haven.co - Nicosia $ -3.212,44
 
ZARA has a Facebook page with a thousands of followers.

However this scam on FB has none. There is no link to this page, but it appears as authentic.

Zara - Argentina​

0 likes0 followers

Zara de Ropa on FB has the text I read a few days ago. This is not legitimate.

Ladies, pay attention! Zara is liquidating everything that was left from last year: clothes, shoes and accessories that were kept in Argentina's deposits
🇦🇷
And the best part: they are sending boxes with first-class pilcha to those who do a mini test
🙌
🛍️
Tap the button that says "Apply" below, I did the test and if you stay, in 5 days you have the box at the door of your house
😍
Take advantage of it because these things fly!
😉
 
I shared the situation with a friend who told me to TEMPORARY BLOCK use of my debit card to prevent the withdrawal transactions. It was a simple process online that I had never used and didn't know existed.
 
I am so sorry about that. It is horrible and we have to be very careful. I saw several of those fake announcements on Facebook, yesterday I saw a similar post ("publicidad") claiming to be Farmacity assigning Dior stuff to people at very low prices and if you read carefully, you realize that it is a scam. By the same token, there are plenty of fake web pages everywhere in the world we all need to be aware of. Sometime ago I got scammed like a fool in the US trying to contact Best buy Geek Squad technicians through the website and I hadn't realized that nowadays anybody can create a fake web page and send you directly to the scammers. As a result, these fake technicians started calling me from different numbers, gained control of my brand new computer, got hold of my Window passwords, used my credit cards to order stuff from Amazon, Best Buy, etc. etc. until I became totally paranoid. I was even getting fake calls from Amazon. When I finally went in person to Best Buy, I met another lady who told me she had been scammed the same way as me.
 
Here is the detail that will clear my account on Monday:

14/04COMPRA PYD*hike4haven.co - Nicosia $ -20.794,62
14/04RG 4815/20- PYD*hike4haven.co - Nicosia $ -6.230,84
14/04COMPRA PYD*hike4haven.co - Nicosia $ -10.726,10
14/04RG 4815/20- PYD*hike4haven.co - Nicosia $ -3.212,44
You can report these as fraudulent transactions to your bank and you should receive a refund as they can reverse the transaction
 
I was thrilled when I found enough cash in my wallet to pay for my organic food order tomorrow. If my order is delivered early, I will be able to get to the bank and see what they can do about the transactions if they were processed.

Thanks for the comments. I have managed to avoid scams before, but this one got me.
 
Now I remember my state of mind when encountering the Facebook scam.
The first time I thought, "this is too good to be true."
The second time I thought, "today is my birthday, why not?"
I buy all my clothing second-hand.
 

Banco Ciudad | Contact phone and customer service​

Debit Card Cancellation or Complaint: 0800-222-0400, option 1 (available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year)
 
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