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Gladys Baxley, 81, said one phone call completely upended her life resulting in the loss of her lifesavings.
WASHINGTON — Life is all about lessons learned. But Gladys Baxley, 81, learned one of the toughest.
The grandmother, mother and business owner said one phone call completely upended her life.
“I got a call one day from a man who [said he was] from the Social Security Administration,” Gladys Baxley said.
The man on the other end of the phone call told Gladys Baxley her social security number was being used by fraudsters. Things moved quickly from there. Gladys axley said the caller told her she needed to secure her social security number and financial resources. Concerned, Gladys Baxley asked the male caller to prove he was a representative from the Social Security agency. Moments later, she received an email.
“I was getting these little thoughts that well, maybe, this isn't legitimate,” said Gladys Baxley as she sat in the living room of her Northeast, Washington home. “I do blame myself for allowing myself to be victimized."
The email she received included a "certificate" from, “The U.S. Supreme Court for the case of drug trafficking and money laundering,” according to the document reviewed by WUSA 9. The certificate stated, "The Supreme Court House appeals Gladys Baxley to safeguard all the assets in the time frame given by the in-charge officer before the existing security number is suspended."
A few issues with the "certificate" provided to Gladys Baxley were quickly noticed upon inspection. First, there is no such thing as the "Supreme Court House." Second, there were more than 40 grammatical mistakes with the document. Third, and more importantly, the U.S. Supreme Court does not address personal issues with an individual's social security number; the Social Security Administration is the only agency that handles that.
“It looked legitimate to me,” said Gladys Baxley when asked if she noticed anything suspicious about the documents.
After receiving the doctored documents, the scammer sent Gladys Baxley multiple text instructions to move all her money from her two personal accounts with Eagle Bank into just one account. Receipts show she made two transfers and even mailed cash to the scammer using different names and addresses.
For instance, there was a transfer for $36,000 to Yongri Trading Inc and a second transfer of $58,000 to Shengya WS Inc. Gladys Baxley was even told to send $15,000 in cash. Gladys Baxley sent the money wrapped in newspaper, placed it in a box, and ship it off to the scammers by UPS.
Before going to the bank, the scammer text Baxley a set of instructions to, “prepare you for questions/answers you gonna [face] in the bank today.” Gladys Baxley didn’t even tell her son, Benjamin, who is a signatory on her bank accounts, everything that was going on. Yet, after a brief conversation with his mom over the phone, it didn't take him long to figure out what happened to his mom.
“I said, mom…you were duped, you were scammed," Benjamin Baxley said.
Gladys Baxley represents what is a growing trend.
The FBI said scams targeting individuals aged 60 and older caused more than $3.4 billion in losses last year, which represents an 11% increase from 2022.
“I just thought, how could I have been so stupid, because I'm well educated, but I'm also a vulnerable person,” Gladys Baxley said.
AARP's Fraud Watch Network said if a government agency like the IRS, Treasury Department or Social Security Administration needs to contact you, they will do so by mail. They will not contact you by phone, email or text.
“In addition to that, they're not going to ask for unusual payment methods such as gift cards and wire transfers,” said Mark Fetterhoff, senior adviser for the AARP Fraud Watch Network. “Avoiding unsolicited contacts, whether they're coming through your email, text messages, over the phone is a really important way of protecting your money.”
Gladys Baxley wishes she would have listened to her gut when she first noticed the red flags.
“I'm kicking myself to this day that I, I didn't just hang up,” she said.
Her sons, however, say Eagle Bank bares some responsibility. They said Eagle Bank failed to do enough to question those transactions, mainly because their mom has never previously made money transfers for such large amounts. And according to police reports, the money was sent to businesses that are not legitimate entities.
"We have robust preventative and detective protocols in place to help mitigate the risk of fraud, particularly elder abuse fraud,” said Karen Buck, EVP and chief administrative officer of Eagle Bank, in a statement to WUSA9. “Although, it is Eagle Bank policy to not comment on the specifics of any of our customer's financial transactions, following a thorough internal investigation, we determined our team members followed all correct protocols. Every effort is being undertaken to work with Ms. Baxley to recover money from the fraudster."
Gladys Baxley’s sons have a different view.
“I think banks should have to be a firewall in some sense to help protect vulnerable seniors because the scams are just getting worse,” said Casey Baxley.
While Eagle Bank said it is working to recover whatever they can of Gladys Baxley's money, she is now left with one choice. Gladys Baxley has very little of her lifesavings left and does not have enough to remain in her home of 30 years. So, she will now have to move.
But if there’s one lesson Gladys Baxley has learned in all of this, it's to, “call my son,” before making any financial decisions.
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