New York Senior Loses Nearly $285,000 in Scam, Funds Converted to Cryptocurrency Difficult to Recover

Odaily News An 80-year-old New York resident, George Chryssanthou, fell victim to a scam, losing nearly $285,000, and has filed an arbitration claim with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against Charles Schwab over the incident.

On January 17, 2025, scammers posing as "Microsoft Technical Support" called Chryssanthou, remotely accessed his computer under the guise of fixing a software issue, and claimed his account had been hacked. Subsequently, the scammers tricked the victim into providing verification codes and, over several days, transferred funds in batches via wire transfers to an account named "Coinbase Inc" at New Jersey's Cross River Bank. The amounts ranged from $18,000 to $90,000, totaling $284,650, which were then converted to cryptocurrency and moved. The victim only discovered his balance was zero when he logged into his account on January 29. After the FBI intervened, they informed him that the likelihood of recovering the funds was extremely low.

In September 2025, Chryssanthou, represented by attorney Adam Gana, filed a claim with FINRA, alleging that Charles Schwab failed in its supervisory duties, including not verifying or blocking the unusually frequent wire transfers and the suspicious receiving account. (Business Insider)