| Here’s wishing you prosperous New Year and a sincere hope that your holidays are being spent surrounded by friends and family.
My end-of-2024 was not without a harrowing reminder of the pitfalls and dangers we face as our world becomes more dependent on technology, the cyber world, and how closely everything and everyone is connected to everything and everyone - wanted or not.
The following is more or less a warning and a “DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU” guide to the banking industry, fraud, big tech, and the fact we all have to be observant and aware.
I got a phone call from my bank: TD BANK (the “TD” stands for “Toronto Dominion” because it is based in the Canadian Province of Ontario, home to the city of Toronto). I have banked with TD for some 25 years, so a certain amount of ‘trust’ and ‘familiarity’ is accepted and unquestioned (my mistake - I can hear your admonishment: “Uh oh Taylor… you have to be more tuned into the world in which we live!”).
The phone call was more-or-less routine: “Hello… this is the TD BANK Fraud Department. Did you make a payment of $25 in Tampa in the past few minutes? “No,” I said to the anonymous voice on the other end of the line. Then came the hook, or the ‘play’ or the ‘con’ - whatever you want to call it. I got a message on my phone: “This is a one-time passcode from TD BANK. DO NOT SHARE THIS. (“The code is…” and a six figure number was written) - then a text message: Enter the TD BANK 6-digit code here. Which I did. Which is not the first, or second, or 20th time this has happened. TD BANK is on top of these kinds of transactions, and since I travel the planet, I get these kinds of messages - making sure I am not the victim of fraud - on a regular basis. So, as per usual, I entered the code with the understanding that the $25 “charge” in Tampa, Florida, could be erased.
Nope.
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What had really taken place was a crime. Someone had learned the TD BANK protocols for contacting clients, accessing all their accounts and finances, allowing this criminal to steal whatever they wanted from my business and personal and savings accounts.
It took me a minute to realize what was happening. I was being robbed by someone well-versed in banking, fraud departments, and security protocols. This was being done in real time, right in front of my eyes.
I had logged on to my account using the TD BANK app on my iPhone, and watched as money was being drained in small amounts when I finally realized I was being duped. I then drove into a TD Bank facility in Manahawkin, New Jersey.
The staff there knew what was happening immediately and closed all my accounts so the damage was not critical or disastrous, but still required an entire day of closing accounts, opening new accounts, and contacting my wife and kids who were associated with the bank in any number of ways.
TD BANK has its own issues, having paid out close to $2B in money laundering and conspiracy violations.
Before you ask - or advise, or chide me for still being a TD BANK client - please know that was my initial thought: “I AM CHANGING BANKS! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!”
There are people who work at TD BANKs across the USA and Canada. They are not fraudsters - I know some of them and they help people secure loans for homes and cars and college. They help people who are in need. They are kind, decent and hard-working.
You can make the case they “should move to another bank! They are just as much a part of the problem as the people who funded the drug cartels!”
I don’t agree with that.
In addition, I do not want to start an argument about the banking system in the USA or internationally; I do not want to make a case for or against the people of Mexico, the immigration debacle at our borders, or how inherently evil Mexican cartels are - and that too goes for the millions of people committing fraud during the holidays.
I am saying to you, the person who reads my little newsletter every month (or who knows, maybe this is your first and last time!), that fraud is happening to everyone. And I want you to be aware that it can be as simple as a phone call from your bank - that comes across your caller I.D. the same way it always has, innocuous and “business-as-usual.”
Technology can be incredibly helpful (that it allowed me to see that I was a victim of theft as it was happening is a good example) and it can be harmful, deceitful, and dishonest as well.
There is a moral to the story. Please! HAVE A SAFE, HAPPY, PROSPEROUS 2025 - AND BE INFORMED, ATTENTIVE, AND MINDFUL!
Thanks for reading!
My book, IRREVERSIBLE by TAYLOR MASON has sold some 10,000 copies. If you like my newsletters you might enjoy my memoir.
I make personalized comedy/fun/all-ages videos for a small fee - info here.
I am part of a podcast that publishes weekly with a fellow Northwestern University grad Dave Kasey and ex-Groundlings/TV writer/advertising guru Don Woodard called STORIES UNLIMITED. Please download, give a listen and let us know what you think on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Podcasts Spotify Cameo Irreversible (my book) |
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