The U.S. Sun chatted exclusively with the retiree's attorney about how to avoid the same fate
A SENIOR from South Florida has fallen victim to online scammers,
seeing over $1 million drained from her Chase Bank account as she
willingly coughed up the cash due to their trickery.
Olga Ponorovsky, 80, saw the huge chunk of her savings disappear thanks to an all-too-common elderly scam, with the victim now suing her bank for allegedly failing to protect her.
It all started back in September 2023 when the senior, a retired
engineer, came across an online ad that she believed was promoting a
legitimate investment opportunity.
Fraudsters eventually convinced the 80-year-old to withdraw huge sums of money from her Chase bank accounts and invest it under the guise of promised investment returns that Ponorovsky never saw.
The retiree claims she made 30 transactions totaling over $1.3
million over the course of five months, including single withdrawals of
$80,000, $100,000, $149,000, and $210,000.
Ponorovsky said she made the transactions in person at the Chase branch in Hallandale, Florida
– part of the massive Miami metropolitan area – where the 80-year-old
had regularly banked for more than a decade and where staff were
allegedly familiar with her modest banking habits.
Devastated by her million-dollar loss, the elderly woman
filed a lawsuit against the financial giant.
She alleged that Chase failed to protect her from making suspicious,
high-risk transactions, and that the bank was at fault for allowing such
a well-known elder exploitation scam to go down.
Chase’s internal systems flagged several of Ponorovsky’s transactions
as suspicious but did not delay, stop, or question the hefty
withdrawals, according to the lawsuit.
The 80-year-old victim’s complaint also accused the banking giant of
failing to report the suspicious activity to Florida’s Central Abuse
Hotline, a move that is required under Florida’s Adult Protective
Services Act.
FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE
To delve deeper into the details of Ponorovsky’s case, The U.S. Sun spoke exclusively with her Morgan & Morgan attorney, Andrew Frisch, who has over two decades of legal experience.
Frisch critiqued Chase for allegedly allowing the elderly woman to become a scam victim,
sharing that although it was unclear why the financial institution did
not stop her suspicious withdrawals, it was clear that her residence in
Florida would play a big role in the case.
“Florida is among the states to have enacted specific statutory
protections against these types of financial scams, and banks have a
legal and ethical obligation to strictly adhere to these laws to prevent
the financial ruin of their senior customers,” Frisch and Konta Georges
& Buza P.C. attorney Robert W. Georges said in a statement.
Frisch told The U.S. Sun that, had Chase reported the 80-year-old’s
banking activity to Florida’s Central Abuse Hotline as mandated by law,
“It may have saved our client from becoming a victim of this financial
scam.”
Ponorovsky's attorney speaks out
The U.S. Sun spoke exclusively with Morgan & Morgan attorney
Andrew Frisch, who is representing scam victim Olga Ponorovsky in court.
How common are these types of elder exploitation scams?
“Elder exploitation scams are extremely common. So common, in
fact, that JPMorgan Chase and other banks have specific portions of
their websites and other educational materials devoted to informing the
public about them.”
What key advice would you give to elderly individuals and
their family members to prevent a similar situation from happening to
them?
“Make sure you educate yourself about common scams and, wherever
possible, have a trusted loved one monitoring the elderly person’s
accounts.
“You can do this as a joint account holder, with power of
attorney, or with more informal oversight. Often, loved ones are not
involved until it is too late and the money is already gone.
“Education and oversight are the two best tools to prevent it or
prevent it from getting worse, because fraud like this often occurs over
multiple transactions.“
Chase, on the other hand, said that scammers are the ones at fault.
“These scams are heartbreaking, and the blame for them lies directly
with the criminals who perpetrate these crimes,” a spokesperson told The
U.S. Sun in an emailed statement.
“At Chase, protecting our customers is a top priority and we are
committed to working closely with law enforcement to stop scams at the
source and bring these criminals to justice.”
The banking giant filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that
the retired engineer personally authorized the transactions and that
Chase had no involvement in the fraud.
As far as the likelihood that Ponorovsky will get her $1.3 million
back, her attorney pointed out that the landscape is quickly changing in
this area of law as states roll out legislation to protect the elderly
from these increasingly common scams.
“In states like Florida, the cases may stand a better chance than in the majority of states that lack such laws,” said Frisch.
SAVE THE SENIORS
As Ponorovsky fights to get her money back, the attorney offered a
word of advice to seniors and their family members to help prevent a
similar situation from happening to them.
He said that education and oversight are the two best tools to prevent scams or prevent them from escalating, as fraud often occurs over several transactions.
“Make sure you educate yourself about common scams and, wherever
possible, have a trusted loved one monitoring the elderly person’s
accounts,” said Frisch.
Expert Advice: How to protect yourself from fraud
Craig Costigan, the CEO of fraud experts NICE Actimize gave the
following tips to readers of The U.S. Sun on how to stay safe from
fraudsters.
- As the saying goes, trust but verify. Always question your text and
email communications. It may not be from who you think it is. Look for
giveaways that it is a scam email. If your bank contacts you about a
fraud via a text or email, call the number on the back of your credit or
debit card to contact the fraud department directly – much safer than
giving data to an impersonator.
- Protect your personal identifying information such as social security cards, your blank checks and other IDs.
- Always be vigilant. Even the safest and most careful among us have encountered fraudsters – we survived
because
we reported the activity immediately to our providers, changed our
passwords and checked our credit reports for unusual activity. - If you are not applying for credit, you might also consider placing a
freeze on your credit reports, such as Experian, TransUnion and
Equifax, so fraudsters can’t open accounts in your name. You can easily
unfreeze your credit when you want to open a new account.
There are several ways that Americans can do this, he said, including
as a joint account holder, with power of attorney, or with more
informal oversight.
“Often, loved ones are not involved until it is too late and the money is already gone,” warned the attorney.
The U.S. Sun has previously reported on other seniors financially
devastated by scams, including a retiree left in a “deep pit” after $280,000 in savings vanished due to a “protection” call.
Meanwhile, a 71-year-old woman saw $64,000 vanish after receiving home repair services from scheming roofers, and an elderly couple lost $45,000 in a quick click from a common sham.
A grandma, 74, also lost $180,000 after a gold coin fraud by scammers posing as fake federal agents.
But older Americans are not the only scam victims, as a young mom handed over $50,000 to a complete stranger after falling for a common lie.
Full Article & Source:
80-year-old retiree sees $1.3m vanish from Chase account after bank ‘failed to protect’ her from tempting online ad
