- A Florida woman, Calliste Nicole McCall, is charged with defrauding a Provo resident.
- McCall allegedly deceived the victim into transferring $27,122 to a Chase account.
- Police linked McCall to the account using her Social Security and phone numbers.
PROVO — A Florida woman accused of defrauding a Provo woman of more than $27,000 by claiming she was trying to keep her bank account safe has been charged.
Calliste Nicole McCall, 38, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was charged Friday in Utah's 4th District Court with theft by deception and five counts of communications fraud, both second-degree felonies.
Starting in November, a Provo woman received a call from a man who claimed to be a "Wells Fargo fraud investigator, inquiring whether she had made automatic payment requests for $3,000 and $25,000, respectively," according to charging documents.
When the woman said she had not made those payment requests, the man transferred her to a woman who claimed she was a "Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation investigator, who convinced the victim to withdraw her money from her Wells Fargo account and put it into an FDIC investigator's account at Chase Bank for temporary safekeeping before it would be returned to her in a new, safer Wells Fargo account," the charges state.
The victim then withdrew more than $27,000 and "went to a Chase ATM, linked an account via Apple Pay and deposited $27,122 into the Chase account," the charges state.
The victim then received two emails allegedly confirming the new account.
"However, (she) was unable to access the account," according to the charges. When she tried to get help accessing the account, she was transferred to a third person who "put her on hold and the call eventually disconnected."
The victim reported what had happened to Provo police, who filed a subpoena for the Chase Bank account and learned it belonged to McCall, the charges state.
"Officers confirmed that the Social Security number and telephone numbers associated with the account belonged to McCall. When officers called McCall, she confirmed her name, stated her Chase account was closed and refused to provide additional information," the charges state.
A second subpoena was obtained by police, who verified the victim's money was deposited into McCall's account, according to the charges.
As of Monday, police say none of the victim's money had been recovered.
