Naples man avoids Wells Fargo-inspired scam

NAPLES, Fla. — An East Naples man said he was almost the victim of a scam.

The scammer sent a text message to Tom Mahoney, claiming to be from the bank, Wells Fargo.

“I looked at it and I was going to delete because I don’t have an account at Wells Fargo,” Mahoney said.

But Mahoney’s curiosity got the better of him so he used a different phone line to return the call. What Mahoney heard on the other line was a computerized voice telling him to complete verification and enter his social security number.

“Well, there was no way that I was going to do this,” Mahoney said. “No way whatsoever.”

Mahoney then contacted the local Wells Fargo and was told not to enter his information.

But he felt he needed to do more.

“How many other people are going to get this scam?” said Mahoney. ” I knew I had to call someone – so I called WINK.”

WINK News contacted local fraud units with the Lee and Collier County sheriff’s offices. While Collier didn’t have any reports of this scam, Lee County did. Experts there say several people have come forward about it in the past few weeks. Like Mahoney, they knew it was a scam because they didn’t have a bank account with Wells Fargo.

Mahoney has contacted the Collier County Sheriff’s Office to report the incident. Deputies advise others to call them before making payments or giving out any personal information to unknown callers.