A resident of Glendale in her 30s, Ms. Park, recently received a shock after checking a bank account she rarely used. She found over $3,000 had been withdrawn from her account, which she had only deposited a certain amount into and seldom accessed. First, small, unidentifiable withdrawals of $5 or $10 were made, followed by large transactions amounting to $1,000 at places like Apple stores. Distressed, she called her bank to report these unauthorized transactions. She assumed the bank would reimburse her for the unauthorized spending, but they told her she needed to provide evidence herself.

Recently, there has been an alarming rise in bank account hacking incidents, particularly affecting the Korean community, with a growing need for caution. Victims report unauthorized payments and withdrawals from their bank and credit card accounts after their emails or financial information were hacked.

Mr. Byun, a business owner from Maryland, is another victim of such financial hacking. “Since the beginning of this year, I’ve been struggling with repeated cases of account and credit card hacks,” he said. He opened a business account at a new bank this year, but by July, he discovered that between March and June, a total of $30,000 had been transferred to an unknown account in 30 separate transactions.

Mr. Byun reported the incidents directly to his bank, where an investigation revealed that the hacker had set up unauthorized automatic transfers to a cryptocurrency account on Kraken Exchange. “It was clearly a fraudulent transaction with no legitimate authorization, but the bank claimed it wasn’t their responsibility because the fraud report was filed late,” he said in frustration. “I also reported it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the police, but so far, I haven’t received any compensation or resolution. I feel terrible, thinking that it might be my fault for not checking my account more closely.”

Ms. Park from Glendale also criticized the lack of responsibility from financial institutions. When her bank demanded evidence, she contacted Apple, where the largest unauthorized transactions were made, and obtained transaction records after much back-and-forth. The information she received included a photo of an unfamiliar driver’s license under her name, indicating that a fake ID had been used to make the transactions. After submitting this proof to the bank, she finally received compensation.

“Getting the transaction details from Apple and submitting them to the bank to request compensation was far from easy,” she said. “I wonder if a senior with limited English skills would have been able to secure a refund in the same situation. Is it right to expect customers to gather evidence themselves to resolve fraud cases?”

In another case, a Korean man in his 50s from Irvine was scammed after receiving a call claiming to be from the Fraud Department of Bank of America. After being told his account had been compromised, he was instructed to download a new app called “Apple Cash,” after which he lost $15,000. When he contacted both Bank of America and Apple customer service, they informed him that compensation was unlikely.

According to the FTC, scams impersonating government or financial institutions are the most frequently reported across the U.S., including Southern California.

Reported by Hwang Eui-kyung

<Hwang, Eui-kyung>