Alice Lin, an 80-year-old woman from California, lost her entire life savings of $720,000 to an online scammer who befriended her on the social media app WeChat. Lin was a victim of a “pig butchering” scam, where fraudsters build trust with their victims over time before manipulating them into making investments that turn out to be fake.
“We talked about everything including business, religion, and he kept saying we had a lot of things in common. He was trying to gain my trust,” Lin told The U.S. Sun. “This was his tactic, trying to gain my empathy.”
Over a period of three weeks, Lin made seven wire transfers to the scammer, totalling $720,000. She went to her local Chase branch in Pasadena to make the transfers. Lin didn’t realize she was being scammed until the fraudster convinced her to ask her sister for more money, promising an even higher return on her investment.
“I first realized when almost all my money was gone and the scammer was still trying to get me to borrow money from my sister,” Lin said.
Lin is now suing JP Morgan Chase, alleging that the bank failed to recognize the red flags that indicated she was a victim of elder fraud. Lin’s lawyer, Anne Marie Murphy, points out that the bank should have been alerted to the unusual activity in Lin’s account and the fact that her daughter, who was listed as a trusted contact, was not notified of the transactions.
“The bank had a longtime relationship with Alice and as we have alleged the bank would have seen this as completely out of character for the types of transactions she had previously engaged in,” Murphy said. “Chase should have known that this was atypical behavior and part of a scam.”
A Chase spokesman said the bank could not comment on specific litigation, but urged consumers to be wary of online requests for money.
“We urge all consumers to ignore phone or internet requests for money or access to their computer or bank accounts,” the spokesman said. “Legitimate organizations or companies won’t make these requests, but scammers would.”
Lin’s case will now proceed to trial. In the meantime, she has testified before the California Assembly’s Banking and Finance Committee in support of Senate Bill 278, which would require financial institutions to delay transactions of more than $5,000 by at least three days if they suspect an elderly person is the victim of fraud.
“I think this bill would be good for elders in California and if I can help save at least one person then I will feel good for helping others,” Lin said.
