Scammed by Ron Chudley Page B

in satisfaction. “Yes, Mr. Lothian, I see you noticed. The bank was sensible enough to purchase that a few years back. At my suggestion, I might add. Not enough businesses support local artists, but it is our policy to try. So let me say, first off, how very sad we were to hear of your father’s passing. Also—er—so swiftly, your mother. You have my sincere condolences.”
    Greg wasn’t taken in for a moment. The guy obviously knew full well why he was here, and was trying to soften the ground in advance. That wasn’t going to work, and Greg was determined to waste no time with niceties. “Thank you,” he said coldly. “However, I think you should know that I hold this institution at least partly responsible for what happened to my parents.”
    Herb Wilshire’s smile vanished. “I don’t understand.”
    â€œI think that very probably you do, but I’ll spell it out, anyway. You must be aware that my parents were conned out of a large sum of money and that it was stolen from their account at this bank?”
    The manager looked at Greg speculatively. “Yes, I did know that.”
    â€œSome criminal phoned my mother, pretended to be what he called an ‘account inspector,’ tricked her into revealing her secret information and then looted the account of twenty thousand dollars.” Greg produced the passbook and tossed it across the manager’s desk.
    â€œIt’s all documented there.”
    Wilshire flipped open the passbook with one finger, glanced at it briefly, then switched his attention to his computer, rapidly tapping at the keys. Greg could not see the result, but the other man studied the screen, chewed on his lip, then looked sharply at Greg. “Mr. Lothian, are you familiar with the term vishing ?”
    â€œVishing? What’s that?”
    â€œWell, you must know about phishing , where fraud artists set up a phony website to mimic the site of—say—this bank, and then, by e-mail, con their victims into logging onto that site and divulging their account information?”
    â€œI’ve heard of it.”
    â€œVishing is the same thing, but it’s done over the phone. The word stands for voice phishing . Instead of using a bogus website, the crook pretends to personally represent the institution—the phony account inspector that you mentioned—and get the information that way. That’s likely how your parents were tricked, which is understandable.”
    Greg’s anger rose a notch. “Understandable?”
    Wilshire nodded, apparently oblivious to the effect of his cool appraisal. “Unfortunately, many people, especially those who are older and—how shall I say—less financially astute, are all too easily taken in by this modern brand of grifting. Of course, the bank continually cautions its customers against divulging any of their account and personal information. We post the warnings online and . . .” he slid a printed form in Greg’s direction, “mail them out regularly, along with the bank statements. But our best efforts are sometimes ignored, so that all the safeguards the bank has taken such care to institute are useless.”
    â€œBut why,” Greg interrupted, “would my parents have been targeted in the first place?”
    â€œThat’s a mystery.” Wilshire frowned speculatively. “It’s possible that someone got hold of a bank statement, perhaps by going through their trash, or stealing their mail. That’d certainly give them all the information they needed to start a confidence trick. But, I’ll be frank, it wouldn’t have worked if your mother hadn’t been so trusting. And when folks are taken in this manner, I must tell you that some people believe that the bank would be justified in disclaiming responsibility.”
    â€œWhat kind of heartless crap is that?” Greg all but snarled. “You’ve no idea