She only received about $3,300 back from the bank after she was scammed

A WOMAN has been refused help after she was scammed out of her life’s savings by a phantom hacker.

The Wells Fargo customer transferred nearly $19,000 out of her account after she received a seemingly normal request from what appeared to be her bank.

Melanie Sponselee speaking to NBC affiliate KUSA about how she was scammedCredit: 9 News

Wells Fargo told Sponselee that wire transfers are nearly impossible to reverse (stock image)Credit: Getty

Scammers sent convincing texts to Sponselee’s phoneCredit: 9 News

Colorado resident Melanie Sponselee struggled to get the actual bank to help her refund her money – even though she reported the scam within the 72-hour deadline.

Sponselee had been a Wells Fargo customer for over 28 years. She had savings, personal checking, and business accounts with the bank.

Everything changed with an early morning text message in July.

“Which I’ve received before, I’ve gotten these before, saying there’s been suspicious activity,” Sponselee told Denver’s NBC affiliate KUSA.

“‘There was a charge, did you initiate that charge?’ And I said ‘no.’

“And I’ve received those from Wells Fargo before. I was like, ok, it’s another one of those.”

After the text, Sponselee received a call that she thought seemed standard.

On the phone call, scammers pretending to be associated with Wells Fargo told Sponselee that her accounts had been accessed and they were compromised.

The fake bank representatives told her she needed to close her accounts and open new ones with their help – and they seemed so professional they even played hold music that was similar to Wells Fargo’s wait music.

“I was like – they’re on it. Cool, they’re on it,” Sponselee said.

“The man I was speaking with was super professional. I did not doubt it was Wells Fargo.”

Following the scammers’ instructions, she transferred almost $19,000 out of her three different accounts into what she was told were new and safe accounts.

Then, the call disconnected – and Sponselee realized she was being scammed.

The FBI refers to these scams as “phantom hackers,” when scammers pose as banks or other institutions and trick their victims into sending them money.

“In the case of imposter scams, a scammer may impersonate a company representative or a government official and ask the customer to complete a series of steps to authorize an online wire transfer,” a Wells Fargo spokesperson told The U.S. Sun.

Once she realized what was happening, Sponselee was quick to report the crime.

Brian Blauser, an FBI Special Agent in Denver specializing in Complex Financial Crimes, told KUSA if someone is being scammed, it’s essential to report the crime within the first 72 hours.

“If we get it within 72 hours, there is a high chance that we can affect the potential freezing of those funds or the bank freezing of the funds,” Blauser said.

“If we receive the information within 72 hours of the actual wire taking place, we do have a high rate of success.

“Certainly not 100% by any means. I think right now our statistical reporting is around 70% of recovery rate.

“That means 30% of the time we aren’t able to do anything with it because the bad guy, the scammers, have moved the funds quickly or they moved it overseas where we have less ability to do such.”

Sponselee immediately went to Wells Fargo with her complaint – but it wasn’t enough.

“No matter how quickly a customer attempts to recover the funds, or how quickly their bank sends a recall request on their behalf to the receiving bank, once a wire transfer is sent, there is no guarantee funds will be returned,” Wells Fargo said.

‘TAKE IT SERIOUSLY’

The bank told her she was responsible for the wire transfers because it was an immediate, irreversible payment.

“My expectations would have been, when I asked for help, to immediately help me. Immediately. Take it seriously,” she said.

“And also, that they would protect me, that they would back me up. They would fix it.”

The bank told her they could only get back about $3,300 from the fraudulent transfers.

“They did nothing. Nothing. I’m just out $16,000,” Sponselee said.

Sponselee is now issuing a warning to other bank customers to be extra careful when it comes to their money.

“Frauds are getting deeper and deeper and more complex,” she said.

“Consumers are going to continue to lose confidence in being protected from this kind of stuff.”

Wells Fargo told The U.S. Sun that wire transfers are irreversible and that they did everything possible to help Sponselee.

“We strive to do all that we can to support scam victims,” a Wells Fargo spokesperson told The U.S. Sun.

“When a customer reports they’ve fallen victim, we conduct a comprehensive investigation before sharing our findings with our customer.

“We remain focused on raising awareness of scams through various resources and ongoing education efforts, to help prevent these heartbreaking incidents.”

The bank advises customers never to share one-time passcodes, their passwords, or PIN numbers.