Editor's Note: In April, Baranczyk told Denver7 the $10,000 charge was being credited back on her AAA credit card. Baranczyk said representatives from U.S. Bank opened an investigation after receiving correspondence from Denver7.
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A Loveland woman is fighting to get back thousands of dollars after falling for a phone scam. She says her pleas have fallen on deaf ears, so she's turning to Contact Denver7.
"It's frightening when you can't get them to believe you," said Nancy Baranczyk. "It's like nobody's listening."
As of Monday, Baranczyk is still on the hook for $10,000. She says it all started with an unexpected phone call back in December.
"This guy said his name was Peter... and he works for the fraud department at Bank of America," she recalled. "[He said] they noticed that somebody tried to charge $7,000 to Vrbo on our credit card. He knew everything about me. I gave no information."
The caller told her in order to get the charges removed, she'd need to share the two codes sent to her phone. Unbeknownst to her, those codes gave the caller access to her account.
Baranczyk gave the codes and thought the problem was resolved until she called Bank of America to verify the incident. A representative for Bank of America told her no charges for Vrbo had been documented. Instead, a $10,000 charge for Airbnb had been placed on her account.
"I knew right then and there that something bad happened," Baranczyk said.
The fraudulent charges had been placed on her AAA credit card. Baranczyk disputed the claim and was told the fraudulent charges would be credited back to her account. Over the past month when the card's issuer changed from Bank of America to U.S. Bank, the Loveland woman was told the charges were once again her responsibility.
"We're living paycheck to paycheck... like most people, we're retired," she said through tears. "I wouldn't spend $10,000 on a rental. We need a new roof this year and that's $25,000."
The Better Business Bureau told Denver7 Baranczyk isn't the only victim of this type of scam.
"If they have access to you and they ask you, 'Hey, send me that code over just so that I can verify that it's you,' They're actually trying to get into your account on the other end," said Keylen Villagrana of the BBB.
"If I owed that $10,000, I would pay it," Baranczyk said. "That's why I guess I'm telling people to be careful."
Late Monday evening, a spokesperson for Bank of America told us they're looking into the matter. Denver7 will update this story when more information becomes available.
Editor's note: Denver7 seeks out audience tips and feedback to help people in need, resolve problems and hold the powerful accountable. If you know of a community need our call center could address, or have a story idea for our investigative team to pursue, please email us at contact7@thedenverchannel.com or call (720) 462-7777. Find more Contact Denver7 stories here.
