AFTER losing about $120,000 to scammers, the family of a senior citizen has demanded she be compensated $500,000 by her bank for allegedly failing to prevent the fraudulent charges.
Memphis, Tennessee, resident Maureen Rosenblum, 88, often uses Facebook to communicate with longtime friends who moved away from the area.
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According to her son, attorney Jeffrey Rosenblum, while logging onto the social media platform in November 2022, his mother received a warning pop-up scam, per local NBC affiliate WMC-TV.
"She got a message on her laptop," the attorney told the outlet.
"One of the things she enjoyed doing is getting on Facebook and emailing her friends who moved away from Memphis, and she sees this message, ‘Your computer’s been hacked!’ and she panicked.”
Maureen contacted the fraudsters soon after, ultimately losing her $120,000 in life savings after wiring the money from her financial institution, Regions Bank.
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On November 28, Rosenblum worked with his mother to file a lawsuit against the bank, claiming they should have prevented their client from taking out the cash to pay the scammers.
They're asking for at least $500,000 for Regions Bank's alleged "negligence" in letting the 88-year-old withdraw the considerable funds.
Maureen received the fraudulent warning message on her Facebook page just over a year ago, according to the lawsuit documents obtained by WMC-TV.
The scammers claimed to be part of Microsoft's "fraud department," per the suit.
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A man who referred to himself as "Josh" then told Maureen over the phone that she should transfer at least $95,000 to "protected accounts" so her money wouldn't be stolen from the "hack," the suit continued.
The fraudster then allegedly gave Maureen the information for an account at Hang Seng Bank in Hong Kong, China, for the money to be wired.
According to the lawsuit, Maureen also claimed Josh told her to inform employees at Regions Bank that the excess funds were for a family emergency when asked.
The first $95,000 wire transfer was approved, per the suit, and Maureen went back only one day later for another transfer of $25,000.
"She was told by this ‘Josh’ fella to go back to the bank the following day and to wire $25,000 more to a man called Shen Ciao Hsin at Standard Charter Bank in Hong Kong and Regions Bank again allowed her to do it,” Rosenblum claimed.
Maureen was confronted by a security officer at Regions Bank during the second transaction after a teller reported it, according to the lawsuit.
Rosenblum claimed the transaction was still allowed, and Maureen later told her son everything on December 3, 2022.
The attorney said he then called the security officer immediately to cancel the $25,000 transaction, but the bank allegedly noted they would have to wait until the following Monday for it to go through, per the suit.
The legal documents also claimed that Regions Bank advised the family to file a police report, but Rosenblum stressed that the financial institution did not wait to take action.
By the following Monday, the money was gone, according to the attorney.
It's unclear if a police report was ever filed.
The lawsuit claimed that Maureen was not only misinformed about a 72-hour process to recover large international wire transfers but that Regions Bank allegedly failed to train employees to prevent transactions that raise suspicions to protect customers from fraud.
Maureen is requesting $500,000 in damages from the financial institution along with the $120,000 she lost, the suit states.
A spokesperson from Regions Bank issued an official statement about the Rosenblum lawsuit to WMC-TV.
"While we do not comment on pending litigation, we can share that our priority every day is helping customers conduct the transactions they request while making them aware of the risks of fraud," they told the outlet.
“Regions also makes fraud prevention information available online to anyone, regardless of whether they are customers of the bank. You can find updated articles at this link on our company news site and additional information at
Rosenblum said he just wants his mom to get her money back and hopes Regions Bank asks the family to dismiss the lawsuit and admits to its alleged negligence in the situation.
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"I’m hopeful Regions will do what I think is the right thing by calling and apologizing and saying, ‘Please dismiss your lawsuit, we’d like to reimburse your mother for the money we allowed to be defrauded from her,’” the attorney said.
The U.S. Sun contacted Regions Bank for additional comment on the claims made in the litigation but has yet to receive a response.
