An 82-year-old Concord, Massachusetts woman named Virginia nearly handed scammers her retirement savings after asking Siri to call American Express and getting connected to a fraudulent number instead.
Virginia asked her iPhone’s voice assistant to place the call rather than dialing the number printed on her card. Siri connected her to a bogus line. The conversation then shifted to her Bank of America account, where someone claiming to be a bank security expert told her she was due a $1,000 credit.
That $1,000 figure then began growing zeros in front of her, ballooning to $100,000. When the caller said he couldn’t fix the error and told her she’d need to go to Bank of America to return the money, Virginia realized something was wrong. She hung up and froze her account before sending a cent.
“I never expected that a number that Siri provided would lead to trouble. I try to inform people now that calling a number can also put your finances in jeopardy. I am 82 years old and could have lost my entire retirement in one fell swoop,” Virginia wrote.
The Better Business Bureau has previously flagged this exact vulnerability: fake customer service numbers surfacing through voice searches, including cases specifically involving Siri and other voice assistants. Apple pulls business listing information from services like Maps, and it’s unclear how a fraudulent number became tied to Virginia’s request. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
What made the scam effective is that Virginia placed the call herself. She wasn’t answering a stranger’s cold call — she asked her own phone to dial a company she already trusted, which lowered her guard before anyone even spoke.
Two Scams Stitched Together
The scheme appears to combine a fake support line with a classic overpayment con: a scammer claims money was mistakenly sent to a victim, then pressures them to “return” the excess before they can check what actually happened. Bank of America has warned it will never ask customers to transfer money because of detected fraud, and warns against any instruction to move funds, buy gift cards, or purchase cryptocurrency to “fix” an account problem.
What To Do Instead
- Always use the number printed on your physical card or found in your bank’s official app — never one supplied by a voice assistant, search engine, or ad.
- Hang up if a simple customer service call turns into instructions involving a different bank account.
- Never read a one-time verification code to someone who called you.
- Refuse any request to install remote-access software during a support call.
- Turn on transaction alerts so you’re notified immediately of withdrawals, transfers, or login attempts.
- If you gave up credentials, freeze the account, change passwords from a trusted device, and consider a credit freeze with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
Anyone who believes they’ve been scammed should contact their bank directly using a verified number and can file a report with the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Bad Siri or Maps listings can be reported to Apple through the Maps app’s reporting tool.
Virginia’s instinct to question a $1,000 credit suddenly turning into $100,000 is what saved her retirement. Her case is a reminder that convenience features built into everyday devices can be turned into an entry point for fraud — and that verifying a phone number before dialing matters just as much as guarding a password.
