A CBS journalist who covers scams rushed to his bank to withdraw money after nearly falling for an imposter scam

A CBS journalist who covers scams rushed to his bank to withdraw money after nearly falling for an imposter scam Aditi Ganguly Wed, July 22, 2026 at 1:15 PM GMT+2 7 min read shutterstock. com & x/@CBSMATTGUTMAN Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below. In 2025, victims lost $3.

5 billion to imposter scams (1). Now, CBS News chief correspondent Matt Gutman nearly became a victim of one of those scams. "I just got SCAMMED," Matt Gutman posted in a video on X on July 10 (2).

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Despite thinking of himself as "savvy," Gutman said he nearly fell for the scam, getting as far as going to the local branch and starting the process of withdrawing funds before he thought twice. Here's what happened to Gutman, how he ultimately realized he was being scammed and some tips from experts on how to avoid these tricks when even the professionals are falling for them. This realization saved Gutman from a scam Gutman's first contact with the scammers was a call from someone with a name, badge ID and insider knowledge of his bank account.

"They said, 'We suspect that there is significant fraud activity at the bank branch where you bank,'" Gutman said on X. The caller told him there were fraudsters at the bank and he had to help catch them by going to his local branch and withdrawing funds in cash to prompt the scammers to act. He was also told he couldn't tell anyone at his bank, as they may be in on it.

Gutman was convinced by the caller's knowledge of his account, plus the fact that there had been recent fraudulent activity on his daughter's account. He visited the bank, went to the teller and started withdrawing his funds. Fortunately, one thought entered his mind that caused him to realize he'd been scammed and walk away.

He realized, "There is no way that this is possibly real. That anyone would use a regular civilian for a sting operation at a bank. " Thankfully, he had this thought before it was too late and was able to walk away with no harm done.

However, he said the scary thing was that he found out the scammers do this often and then rob the person who just withdrew the money. Story Continues Read More: Millionaires under 43 hold only 25% of their wealth in stocks. Here's where their money is actually going There is a perfect scam for everyone While Gutman was lucky he didn't lose any funds, he now believes anyone could fall for the tactics used by the scam callers.

"Beware. These people are out there and they are good," he said on X. The data backs this up.

Reported losses from imposter scams are three times greater than in 2020 and close to 1 in 3 reports of fraud made to the FTC involve this type of scam (1). Both new tactics and new technology are big reasons for the change. "Traditional phone scams typically involved contacting large numbers of individuals with generic narratives," Joshua Copeland (3), a professor teaching cybersecurity at Tulane University, told MoneyWise.

"Contemporary scams are increasingly personalized. " Copeland explained that in Gutman's case, "The caller demonstrated knowledge of account details and connected the narrative to legitimate suspicious activity. " These tactics made Gutman believe there was a credible threat, while warnings about insiders isolated him.

It was "a deliberately orchestrated social-engineering operation rather than a random call," Copeland said. He also warned that scammers get this information from social media, public records and data breaches, then use caller-ID spoofing to bolster credibility. Ricardo Amper, founder of Incode Technologies, an identity protection platform, agrees (4).

"Between data breaches and what people share publicly on social media, information like where you bank is often just sitting out there," Amper told MoneyWise, warning that scammers use artificial intelligence to gather this data on thousands of potential victims and create personalized scripts. "The result is scams that are exponentially better than they were even two or three years ago," he said. How to protect yourself Of course, better scams aren't what people expect from AI.

But there are still ways to protect yourself. "Everyone is vulnerable, so what we can do is make ourselves harder targets so we are less likely to fall for a scam," Matthew Stern (5), a lead investigator and CEO of CNC Intelligence (6), told MoneyWise. Stern advised hanging up the phone if someone is pressuring you and never making important financial decisions without talking to loved ones.

"We tend to make better decisions when we are not stressed, under pressure and alone without a support structure," Stern said. Darius Kingsley, (7) head of Consumer Fraud & Scam Prevention at JPMorgan Chase, also told MoneyWise that it's possible to protect yourself by not relying on caller ID, adding a call protector app to your phone, using a code word with your close circle and confirming contacts by calling them back on a known number. "If you receive a call from someone claiming to be from your bank, the best thing to do is hang up and call your bank at the number on the back of your debit or credit card," he said.

He also provided another simple rule to follow that should protect you from most types of scams. "Don't send money. Avoid sending money to anyone you've only spoken to online or by phone.

" Use a protection service As noted, scammers aren't just making contact with suspicious generic messages anymore. AI has made it easier than ever for criminals to create realistic phishing emails, fake customer support calls, cloned voices and fraudulent social media accounts that can fool even the most cautious and critically-minded consumers. The numbers show just how costly these schemes have become.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, nearly 30% of people who reported losing money to fraud in 2025 said the scam began on social media, with reported losses totaling roughly $2. 1 billion (8). With online fraud becoming more sophisticated, investing in digital security may be just as valuable as investing in your retirement portfolio.

After all, what good are your hard-earned savings if you lose them to a scam? Platforms like Aura offer a way to manage device and identity protection in one place. Aura's AI-powered platform is designed to help protect your household from identity theft, phishing attempts, scams and malware across multiple connected devices.

It can even alert you to potential fraud up to 650 times faster than traditional monitoring tools. Aura also monitors spending activity for unusual transactions and can notify you when something looks out of the ordinary. If identity theft does occur, eligible users may qualify for up to $1 million in coverage for certain losses and related fees.

Getting started is quick and easy. Plus, you could save up to 68% if you sign up today — and Aura even offers a 60-day money-back guarantee if you're not satisfied. - With files from Christy Bieber.

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Federal Trade Commission ( 1 ); X ( 2 ); Tulane University ( 3 ); Incode ( 4 ); LinkedIn ( 5 ); Cncintel ( 6 ); Financial Health Network ( 7 ); Federal Trade Commission ( 8 ) This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.