‘I just started sobbing’: Spotsylvania woman scammed out of $150,000

SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A Spotsylvania woman is seeking a resolution after a possible international bank scam caused her to lose $150,000.

Rayna Sprouse said she has outsmarted scammers before so she never thought she would be the one to fall victim.

"I've been involved previously with attempts at being scammed through the phone or text messages or computer emails and so I felt like I knew what to look for," Sprouse said.

The situation she thought she was prepared for happened in June when she received a call from a number she believed to be Navy Federal Credit Union. The person on the other line told her that her account was compromised and an investigation was underway after someone deposited money into her account that was not hers.

"They were very professional," Sprouse said.

To fix the problem, Sprouse said she was told to take out a $150,000 cashiers check and send it to E Worldventures LLC. She said she did not think twice about it because she thought she was assisting in an active investigation. It wasn't until she was asked to take out more money that she realized she was tricked and her mother's inheritance was gone.

"It's very heavy that's what my mom's supposed to be able to live off of. You know, as she gets older things are going to get harder. Insurance only covers so much and you have things you need to take care of and now that has drastically been reduced what she has available to her," Sprouse said.

Despite reaching out to both banks and local law enforcement, she said she has not gotten her money back.

8News reached out to the Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office. A spokesperson said the case was sent to the FBI. A spokesperson from the FBI said they can not confirm the investigation however, they encourage Central Virginians to visit FBI’s Internet Crimes Complaint Center.

8News also received a statement from Navy Federal:

"Navy Federal takes every step to protect the privacy and security of our members’ financial information. With this, it is our policy to only discuss or disclose account-specific information with the individual(s) associated with the account in question. Any Navy Federal member who believes they have been the victim of fraud is encouraged to contact us directly at 1-888-842-6328 or by messaging us through our online banking services via NavyFederal.org."

Chase Bank is reportedly looking into the situation as well.