ORLANDO, Fla. – A $65,000 wire transfer to a mystery bank account left an admissions manager with Full Sail University staring at a zero balance with little proof he was the victim of a smartphone hacker.
Julius “DJ Caesar” told News 6 that Regions Bank twice denied his appeals to have the funds restored to his business account determining “the transactions were authorized using agreed upon security procedures.”
“I know somebody hacked my phone,” Julius said. “As to how, I don’t know.”
Bank records show the funds were transferred on Nov. 7, 2022 to a woman in another state.
Julius, who asked that we not use his full name, said his phone records show his smartphone was bypassed to a number with an 801 exchange.
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“I literally called from my business phone to my personal phone and saw that it went to a random number,” he said. “Nobody answered the call.”
On that same day, his email account was flooded with more than 300 messages confirming purchases he had never approved, some from China and Russia.
“They took advantage of my passwords, they accessed my emails,” he said. “Not having the money is one thing but not knowing how it happened is a whole different story.”
News 6 reviewed the phone and bank records and presented the information to back channels in the industry.
Regions’ corporate fraud team reversed the denial decision and returned more than $64,000 to Julius.
“It’s refreshing to know that somebody really cares and is willing to do something without asking for anything in return,” Julius told News 6. “Man to man, thank you.”
Hear more from network intrusion forensics analyst about protecting your information:
Fred Sanks, a network intrusion forensics analyst with the Orlando U.S. Secret Service, told News 6 malware dropped onto the phone via an email PDF may have been the weapon of choice in the hack.
“Every time you open something, everything you’re seeing is actually being interpreted by your phone,” Sanks said, “By opening it, you now have the code on your device.”
Special agent in charge Caroline O’Brien-Buster said public WiFi opens the door to consumer cell phones every day.
“Your phone is a computer,” she told News 6. “It has so many different ways to access.”
Nestor Mato, vice president of media and public relations with Regions Bank, told News 6 the law prohibits the bank from discussing specifics in the case.
“While we cannot comment on specific customer relationships due to federal and state privacy law restrictions, we can share that Regions works to prevent fraudulent wire transfers and thoroughly investigates fraud-related claims.
We have up-to-date information to help customers keep their accounts safe; see the latest in the Fraud Prevention section of our news website, regions.doingmoretoday.com. You can also learn more at www.regions.com/stopfraud
If you have a bank account issue, email makeendsmeet@wkmg.com
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