An Escondido retiree says he lost $177,000 to an international investment scam over six months, leaving him in debt and looking for work during the years he expected to spend retired.
The 77-year-old man, identified only as Tom, told NBC7 Responds that the investment opportunity seemed legitimate at first because he had already done real business online with people in other countries.
He kept sending money as the pressure grew. By the time he realized the investment was a scam, the savings he had built over decades were gone.
Now he is asking why the transfers were able to keep moving after his normal banking pattern changed from a few thousand dollars a month to tens of thousands.
The Transfers No Longer Looked Like His Usual Banking
Tom told NBC7 his regular monthly activity had usually been around $2,000 to $3,000 before the scam. During the six months he was sending money, the amounts jumped to $30,000, $40,000, and $60,000.
Looking back, he said he sees warning signs he missed at the time. The scam kept him paying because walking away felt like accepting that the money already sent was gone.
“If you pulled out now, you’d lose all that you have invested. So the pressure was on to see this through,” Tom told NBC7.
A Teller Raised The Scam Question Early
Tom said a Chase teller did ask early on whether he might be sending money to a scam.
He dismissed the concern because he believed the payments were tied to a real business investment. Chase declined to discuss Tom’s specific case with NBC7, but said in a statement that branch staff are trained to detect and assist customers who may be getting scammed.
The bank also told the station that customers have a right to access their money. That becomes a hard line in scams where the account holder is the one walking into a branch, authorizing a wire, or insisting the transfer is legitimate.
His Partner Hit A Longer Stop At A Credit Union
Tom said his partner had a different experience when she tried to send money through San Diego County Credit Union so they could keep funding the investment.
He told NBC7 that a branch manager brought her into an office and questioned her for about 20 minutes. Nathan Schmidt of San Diego County Credit Union told the station that customers can feel frustrated by that kind of questioning, but the credit union prioritizes fraud prevention.
Schmidt said the institution uses tools including a two-page questionnaire to identify possible scams before money is sent.
“What people don’t realize is once the wire is gone, they have sent that money, and it’s very difficult to get it back,” Schmidt told NBC7.
The Fake Profits Kept The Scam Alive
The Federal Trade Commission warned in April that investment scammers often reach people through social media, WhatsApp, online ads, friends, or love interests offering help with stocks, forex, or cryptocurrency.
The agency said victims may be shown fake account balances or fake proof that money is growing. Reported investment-scam losses topped $7.9 billion in 2025, with a median individual loss of more than $10,000, according to the FTC.
Before sending more money to an online investment platform, the FTC advises searching the company, promoter, and key names with terms such as “review,” “scam,” or “complaint.” Investors can also use Investor.gov to check whether a person or firm recommending investments is licensed or registered.
Some Banks Are Testing Tools That Look Beyond Stolen Logins
NBC7 reported that some financial institutions are turning to behavioral biometrics and artificial intelligence to flag suspicious activity.
Sharel Barshishat of BioCatch told the station that the company’s technology analyzes more than 3,000 behavioral indicators during online banking sessions to help determine whether a customer may be under scammer control.
Those systems are meant to catch more than a stolen password. In scam cases, the real customer may be logged in and sending the transfer, but a criminal is guiding the decision from outside the bank.
California law requires financial institutions to notify Adult Protective Services when they suspect a scammer is exploiting a senior citizen account holder, NBC7 reported. Proposals to require banks to take additional steps have not become law, leaving individual institutions to set many of their own fraud-prevention policies.
Before Another Wire Goes Out, Bring Someone Else Into The Room
Anyone being pushed to keep adding money to an online investment should pause the next transfer long enough to show the paperwork to someone outside the deal. That can be a bank manager, licensed financial adviser, attorney, adult child, trusted relative, or law enforcement officer.
The useful documents are the ones scammers usually do not want reviewed: wire instructions, wallet addresses, screenshots of the platform balance, names of promoters, emails, texts, WhatsApp messages, withdrawal demands, and any claims about taxes or fees needed before money can be released.
If money has already been sent, the bank should be contacted immediately and asked whether a wire recall, fraud report, or account hold is still possible. Reports can also be filed with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov.
Tom told NBC7 the loss erased the retirement he expected to have. “I’ve got to find work now to compensate,” he said. “I mean, there is no more retirement.”