Impostor scams on the rise in Allegheny County; local family down $25K issues warning to others

ALLEGHENY COUNTY — Greg DuVall describes himself much like any other Pittsburgher.

“Married since 2006, have a 16-year-old who’s about to get his license in a month, happy,” DuVall told Channel 11.

But his entire life was flipped upside down because of one phone call. It started with a suspicious email to his wife’s phone, fraud charges on her credit card, which led her to Clearview Credit Union to change her account number and passwords.

“She gets a phone call from an 800 number scrolling across Clearview Credit Union, so she answers it,” DuVall said.

The employee on the line told them someone at the bank sold her identity and suggested she call a number they provided for the Federal Trade Commission.

The next person on the line then told her they were running a sting operation and needed her help in order to protect her family’s identity, providing her specific instructions.

“We are going to deposit $10,000 into your account. You need to go to the Clearview in Robinson and withdraw $9600 and if they ask what it’s for, home renovations, not once did she think this could be anything but legit,” DuVall said.

DuVall did get involved in the second and third withdrawals, where they were instructed to deposit the money in another account as part of the investigation. The total amount coming out was $25,000.

“Not once did I think, wait, I’m a pawn in this scam, not once did I think that. It’s a tough pill to swallow. Everything you’ve saved and worked for is gone and there is nothing anyone can do about it,” DuVall told Channel 11.

But the DuValls are not alone.

The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office Fraud Squad advises people not to respond to unexpected messages, not to move money to fix the problem and slow down, as many times scammers will want to rush you into decisions.

While the DuValls know they can’t change the past, they are sharing their story in the hope of changing someone else’s future.

“If we can help just save one other family from this happening to them, it would give us some peace of mind,” DuVall said.

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