VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The scammers approach their victims in various ways. Some say they've lost their phone and need to make a bank transfer. Sometimes, the con is more complex. One victim reported that a man with a baby in the backseat of his car claimed he couldn't find his wife and begged to use her phone.
But the result has been the same for hundreds of people in the Hampton Roads region: Navy Federal Credit Union customers are scammed out of thousands of dollars by perpetrators who take out loans under their name. The victims are then left to repay the loans with interest or face penalties and a worsening credit score. In all, the scam has cost local victims — many of them young men in the military — more than $2 million.
Investigative reporter Margaret Kavanagh has been following the case — what federal prosecutors are calling the "parking lot scam" — for over a year and has spoken with several victims. But there are many, many more, some afraid to speak publicly about the scam.
Navy Federal has issued warnings to customers about safe digital practices and not handing your phone to strangers. But they have also been requiring victims to repay these loans, despite fraud claim filings.
The victims, however, now have a new person in their corner advocating for them: a local attorney who has taken on more than 50 victims as of November.
Prosecutors continue to make arrests in this case — the latest episode of our podcast, True Crime 757.
Watch our previous episode about the crimes of convicted OBGYN Javaid Perwaiz
