Banks Knew of Geek Squad Scam but Didn't Warn Victims, Says Negligence Lawsuit
A fraudulent Best Buy Geek Squad email enabled defendants to defraud Florida husband and wife plaintiffs of $69,335, said their racketeering and fraud complaint (docket 1:23-cv-23756) Monday in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Miami. The lawsuit names Zhenzhen Lin, “unknown conspirators,” Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Best Buy.
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Plaintiff Lisette Yaques and Jose Victorero, residents of Miami-Dade County, Florida, allege Zhenzhen Lin and unknown conspirators -- Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act defendants -- conspired in a scheme to defraud them by taking advantage of a “breach of duty” by Best Buy’s Geek Squad technical support arm, said the complaint, referencing a 2022 scam in which cybercriminals posed as the Geek Squad in an effort to get customers to hand over financial information.
Lin and the co-conspirators used plaintiffs’ information to send false emails saying Best Buy was automatically renewing customers’ yearly subscription to the Geek Squad for $696; the emails included a phone number to call if the customers wanted to cancel the renewal. Yaques called the number in the fake email expecting to speak with someone at the Geek Squad so she could “correct what appeared to be an error," the complaint said.
Instead of someone at Geek Squad, Yaques spoke to the RICO defendants, who had inserted their phone number instead of a Best Buy number in the spam email, the complaint said. The RICO defendants gave her specific instructions, which allowed them to remotely access her computer when Yaques believed she was canceling a subscription made to Geek Squad in error.
The RICO defendants persuaded her to allow them to access her bank account online, telling her a mistake had been made and that she was over-refunded by $69,300, it said. They took advantage of her "panic” at the news and “inflicted fear and psychological trauma” on Yaques, telling her she “would be arrested” if she didn’t return the money immediately to Geek Squad, it said. She then authorized JPMorgan Chase to send the nearly $70,000 to a Bank of America account belonging to RICO defendants, it said.
JPMorgan Chase “was in a position to know about such scams” but didn’t warn Yaques she could be the victim of one, said the complaint, saying the bank “negligently” wired $69,300 to Bank of America at the plaintiff’s request. About three hours later, when her husband, realizing his wife had been scammed, went to Chase to explain that his account had been compromised, the bank “failed to act reasonably,” the complaint said. Chase also canceled all of plaintiffs’ accounts “after this incident where they negligently sent a wire to a scam artist and then negligently failed to follow the protocols banks have when such a scam occurs,” it said. Best Buy, meanwhile, had a duty to protect the private, personally identifiable information of plaintiffs, who were their customers, and they breached that duty when they allowed the RICO defendants to access plaintiffs’ information, said the complaint.
Bank of America “turned a blind eye” when the “suspicious” RICO defendants used their bank account to “defraud citizens of the United States,” including the plaintiffs, the complaint said. Plaintiffs haven't been reimbursed for the fraud, it said. Bank of America, Best Buy and Chase didn't comment.
Plaintiffs assert claims of fraud, civil conspiracy and violation of the anti-racketeering law against the RICO defendants; they charge JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Best Buy with negligence. Plaintiffs seek actual damages of $69,335, plus legal fees and costs.