Florida Woman Takes BofA to Court Over $1.5M in Losses from Complex Scam Involving Fraudulent Crypto Transfers
On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, Lynne M. Bucklin filed an amended complaint in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida against Bank of America. Bucklin alleges that she was the victim of an elaborate social engineering scam that resulted in over $1.5 million being fraudulently transferred from her accounts at the bank.
The 67-year-old Bucklin, who recently lost her husband and underwent heart surgery, claims she received unsolicited phone calls in February 2022 from an individual identifying himself as Bruce Williams. Williams falsely claimed to be an investigator with the Federal Trade Commission and convinced Bucklin that her personal and financial information had been compromised in a data breach. He then gained remote access to her computer and online banking without permission.
Williams allegedly monitored Bucklin’s accounts at Bank of America and manipulated statements to convince her that the accounts were no longer secure. He instructed Bucklin to make a series of wire transfers totaling around $1.3 million from her personal checking and savings account to another individual and to the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Bucklin complied, believing the funds were being temporarily converted into cryptocurrency for safekeeping by the FTC.
However, Bucklin claims Williams used her stolen personal information to fraudulently open an account on Binance in her name. When the “FTC” failed to return the cryptocurrency on the promised date, Bucklin realized it was a scam and reported it to the bank and authorities. Despite this, and the transactions being clearly inconsistent with Bucklin’s financial history and banking experience, Bank of America denied reimbursing her for most of the losses.
In her lawsuit, Bucklin alleges that Bank of America was negligent in failing to catch signs of fraud and stopping the transfers. She argues they did not properly vet the transactions or inquire into their unusual nature, like their increasing sizes and purposes related to cryptocurrency. Bucklin is suing for reimbursement under Florida consumer protection and commercial codes, as well as claims of negligence, breach of contract, and other torts.
The case provides an example of the dangers of social engineering scams targeting vulnerable individuals. It also shows the need for banks to have stronger authentication and monitoring practices to prevent such sophisticated frauds from being successful.
Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.
