An elderly couple from Delaware have told the harrowing story of how they lost $1.4 million on an elaborate six-month confirmation.
Lana Browne, 82, and her husband Ed were coerced by scammers posing as Homeland Security who claimed to be tracking their movements and forbade them from speaking to the family.
The couple were under the illusion that their bank accounts were being targeted by international cybercriminals in China, Russia and Bolivia.
They were convinced to drain their life savings and investments earmarked to fund possible future hospice care for Ed, 91, who suffers from tongue cancer. Now they rely on Social Security payments and a small pension belonging to Ed, a former IT worker, to live on.
The astonishing story lays bare the devastating losses suffered by elderly victims of fraud. The FBI estimates that senior citizens lose $3 billion annually to financial fraud — though the numbers can be hard to pin down because many are too embarrassed to admit they’ve been scammed.
Lana and Ed Browne (pictured together) lost $1.4 million to an elaborate six-month scam in which scammers impersonated Homeland Security, claimed to be tracking their movements and banned them from speaking to family
And it comes after three victims came forward to say they lost life-changing sums of money to criminals claiming to be from Wells Fargo’s fraud department.
Lana and Ed’s case began the same way. Last May, the grandmother received a call from criminals pretending to be investigators for Wells Fargo, with whom she had banked since 2005.
She was informed that their account had been attacked and that the case involved money laundering, pornography and illegal and disputed transactions.
The Federal Trade Commission investigated, Lana was told, and she was transferred to a man claiming to be a US Marshal.
Lana was given an official looking ID belonging to the suspected Marshal and seen by this publication.
A Google of the name turns up a LinkedIn account belonging to a real US Marshal, along with a book on Amazon apparently written by him.
However, DailyMail.com understands that no one by that name has worked for the Marshal Service for more than ten years.
After doing her research online, Lana was convinced he was a real marshal. She dutifully followed his instructions.
The couple were told they were being put into a witness protection program, which would protect their money and protect them.
Victim Alice Fries, 59, was contacted by criminals posing as the bank’s fraud department who tricked her into handing over her personal information, which they then used to access her account
Judith, pictured, and her family are spreading awareness of her story on social media
The scammers said they would be jailed if they chose to talk to anyone about their ordeal. The couple – who were both married once before they met – have six children and 14 grandchildren between them.
In late May, ‘Marshal’ had Lana withdraw the majority of her cash savings from her Wells Fargo bank account. She was then asked to transfer this to Bitcoin.
He then encouraged Lana to drain all her investment accounts and have the money exchanged for gold to be kept in a box guarded by the Federal Reserve. She sent the cash via bank transfer to someone who promised to secure the gold and sent fake receipts.
Every time she left the house, Lana was told to stay in touch with the ‘Marshal’ at all times. He even seemed to follow her movements and tell her things like “You’re not home yet” when she was in the car.
The transactions raised the alarm from Wells Fargo, who repeatedly contacted Lana to make sure she wasn’t being scammed. However, Lana believes that the criminals listened in on her conversations with the bank.
She was also so deeply enchanted that she was too afraid to tell the truth and instead fed bank employees lies she had been told by the fraudsters.
DailyMail.com has seen several wire transfer receipts showing the Brownes lost $1,466,422.
“I had to lie to everyone, including the bank and my family,” Lana told DailyMail.com.
‘My daughter was so worried. She called my best friend to find out what was going on, but of course I couldn’t say anything. I apologized for lying afterwards. I was so ashamed.’
It wasn’t until one night in October that Lana woke up with a start when she realized with absolute clarity that she had been cheated.
Communication with the ‘Marshal’ had all but dried up after she was told he had been hospitalized following his involvement in a shoot-out.
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She and Ed contacted the National Elder Fraud Hotline and are now working with the real Homeland Security, who have made an arrest in connection with the Brownes’ loss. The department declined to respond to multiple inquiries from DailyMail.com about the matter.
Lana said: ‘Our biggest concern is because of our age. If something happens and I can’t take care of Ed anymore, I needed the money for his assistance or whatever he needs.’
A recent report from the Federal Trade Commission estimated that Americans lost $10 billion to fraudsters in 2023. That marked an increase of $1 billion over the previous year.
About 22 percent of fraud cases were of victims over 80, while 25 percent were aged 70-79.
In recent months, several cases have come to light where Wells Fargo customers were targeted by fraudsters pretending to be from the bank.
Last week, Alice Fries told DailyMail.com that she lost $100,000 to rouse. Similarly, the victim Thomas Murrer had his savings and credit cards maxed out – to the value of $30,000.
California grandmother Judith Anderson went viral on TikTok after sharing her story of losing $150,000 to scammers just days before Christmas. She has since received a refund from the bank.
The Brownes have not directly complained to Wells Fargo or asked for a refund. Lana admits bank staff tried hard to stop her from making the transactions – but she insisted as she believed she was protecting her safety.
Wells Fargo declined to comment on the Brownes’ case.