HEBER CITY, Utah — A woman in Heber City was almost scammed when she got a call from what appeared to be her bank. It goes to show that these scams can happen to anyone — even a police chief’s wife.
“It just really sounded legit,” said Pamela Sever. “And I fell for it."
On March 11, Pamela got a call from the same number as the bank she has had an account with since she was a teenager. The person on the other end of the call told her there was fraudulent activity on her account.
She gave the person her account username and some details — not her passwords — but they knew other details about her and were able to poke around her account.
The call was on speakerphone.
"And then I got in and my husband was home, and I was telling him, 'Hey, somebody is trying to use our card and we're trying to get things solved and fixed,'” explained Pamela.
"I was listening to it for a minute, and almost buying into it myself,” said her husband, Heber Police Chief Parker Sever. “And then I remembered what I tell everybody: Hang up and call the bank."
The bank confirmed that there was no fraudulent activity and that they did not call Pamela.
“It was actually someone trying to scam us,” she said.
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The police chief and his wife were thankfully able to hang up before they lost any money.
"This money, once it’s gone out of your accounts, it’s very rare that law enforcement are able to recover it,” said Chief Sever.
The couple is sharing their story so hoping others who might be scammed know that it’s not their fault.
"It’s always the fault of the perpetrators and you shouldn’t feel embarrassed. You need to let people know,” explained Chief Sever.
“That was an eye-opener for us. I had no idea that I could fall for something like that,” added Pamela. “Apparently, it could happen to anybody."
