FTC warns of scammers after NY Mag finance columnist lost $50K in ‘vishing’ hoax

Business

By Ariel Zilber

Federal Trade Commissioner Chair Lina Khan warned the public about scammers after a New York Magazine financial advice columnist revealed she handed over $50,000 to a mystery man who claimed to be an agency investigator.

“Being the victim of a scam can be devastating” Khan posted on X.

“Nobody from the FTC will ever give you a badge number, ask you to confirm your Social Security number, ask how much money you have in your bank account, transfer you to a CIA agent, or send you texts out of the blue.”

Khan said Americans lost $2.7 billion last year because of vishing, or voice phishing — where scammers impersonate government agents over the phone.

Her Thursday post on X came hours after Charlotte Cowles published her troubling tale on The Cut, the digital fashion news site that operated under the umbrella of New York Magazine.

The first-person account — headlined “The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger: I never thought I was the kind of person to fall for a scam” — revealed how Cowles was taken in by someone claiming to be “an investigator with the FTC” who “gave me his badge number.”

The “FTC investigator” also purported to know Cowles’ Social Security number, home address and date of birth.

The man also claimed that Cowles had 22 bank accounts, nine vehicles and four properties registered to her name.

Cowles was told by the man that she was wanted for arrest in two states in connection with the disappearance of a woman who rented one of the vehicles under Cowles’ name.

The columnist, who was fearful she was the victim of identity theft, withdrew $50,000 in cash from the bank and handed it to a courier who showed up in a white Mercedes near her Brooklyn apartment.

Cowles wrote that she was told she needed to close down her old Social Security number and pay the cash to the government so that she could receive a new one.

Once she made the handoff, she would be sent a check under the new Social Security number and thus have her identity restored, she was told.

The Post has sought comment from Cowles.

Khan posted a link to an FTC proposal which would levy penalties against those who pose as government or business officials.