Woman loses $45K to credit union impersonation scam in Beaufort County
A Beaufort County woman lost over $45,000 after scammers posed as her credit union.
The woman, who lives in northern Beaufort County, told police she first spotted a suspicious $1 charge on her Navy Federal Credit Union account. She called who she thought was a representative, according to a police report filed July 8; the person on the other end of the call asked her to confirm some information, and then instructed her to hang up.
She received another call from someone she thought worked for the Navy Federal anti-fraud division. The woman gave this person more account information and permission to transfer the money to another account to “secure” it.
She was also instructed to send money via a cashiers check to an address in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which she did, according to the report.
After visiting a local Navy Federal branch, she discovered this was the work of impersonators and that almost all of her money had been transferred or wired.
The officer reminded her to trust “that weird feeling in her gut” and that a financial institution would never ask for her account or routing number.
Impersonating a business partner, law official, lawyer and other officials is a common tactic for scammers. They spoof emails and phone numbers to make it appear like the communication is coming from the actual official.
The town of Bluffton posted an announcement May 29 warning people of advanced scams, with reminders to avoid clicking suspicious links and to double-check suspicious emails.
A previous Island Packet report found that Beaufort County residents lost at least $70,000 in scams like this from July 2025 to January 2026, according to 26 police reports from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
A man trying to purchase property on Lady’s Island sent $250,000 to scammers impersonating his real estate lawyers. The scammers emailed him using a website that mimicked the law firm’s real page. His money has been accounted for, according to Brandon Smith, managing attorney at Smith Law, the firm involved in the incident.