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Vicki Ragle, a retired teacher from Colorado, and her daughter, Sarah, were scammed out of almost $200,000 while purchasing a townhouse.
During the closing on the property, one of the workers discovered that the funds had been sent to an account not affiliated with the title company.
Hackers had gained access to the email chain, and Ragle did not recognize the fraudulent emails.
She lost both the townhouse and her life savings, leaving her devastated.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI) identified this as a business email compromise, where scammers fake an email account from an interested party to change the bank account to one they can control.
The CBI captures or frees as much of the funds as possible to return them to the original victim.
A GoFundMe page was set up by one of Sarah’s coworkers to help the Ragles get back on their feet. As of Friday morning, the page had raised $66,800 of its targeted $200,000 goal.
In 2022, the FBI received 504 complaints of business compromise in Colorado, costing victims nearly $54 million.
The CBI advises not changing bank accounts from instructions over text or email unless it is confirmed over a phone call.
Ragle, however, remains hopeful that they will get through this difficult time, saying, “We’ll make it, we’ll get it figured out somehow.”
»Colorado Teacher and Daughter Lose Life Savings to Business Email Compromise Scam«
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