The 86-year-old’s landline was ported, then a wire moved tens of thousands from a joint account.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — An 86-year-old San Francisco woman returned from the hospital to find her landline dead. Weeks later, she learned $25,000 had been wired from her savings account, a loss her family says began when her phone number was hijacked and moved to another carrier.
Authorities and consumer advocates say the case highlights how criminals can exploit phone number “port-outs” to reach online accounts and intercept verification steps. In this instance, the woman’s son said a customer service representative later acknowledged the number had been stolen and converted to a cellphone line. The family’s bank and phone company both reviewed the matter. After back-and-forth requests for documents, including proof that the number was ported, the bank restored the missing funds. The episode comes amid a rise in crimes targeting older Americans and renewed scrutiny of how financial firms and telecom providers verify account changes.
According to the family, the trouble surfaced in late fall when the woman—identified by relatives as Joann—noticed her longtime landline had stopped working after a hospital stay. Her son, Steve, contacted the phone provider to report the outage and was told the number had been compromised. “They said there was a breach and the phone number was stolen,” he said. The carrier assigned a new number, but within a month Joann received a letter from her bank’s fraud detection unit about unusual activity on her savings account. When she arrived at her branch the same day, staff told her approximately $25,000 had been wired out. At first, the family did not see how a dead landline could be connected to a wire transfer from a joint bank account.
Steve said the family later learned how the pieces fit. Whoever captured the number had it ported to a different carrier and used it along with personal information tied to Joann’s late husband to access the couple’s joint account. Because the account still listed the late husband as a co-owner, the thieves, armed with the ported number and identity data, were able to initiate steps to move money. “It was too easy for this to happen,” Steve said, adding that he believed more safeguards were needed at the bank. Wells Fargo said it continuously combats fraud and was working with the customer before a local television station became involved. The bank said the matter was resolved after it received complete information to make a claim decision. AT&T apologized for delays and said fraudulent port-outs are a form of theft carried out by sophisticated criminals.
Records and statements reviewed in the case show the bank asked the family to submit documents proving the phone number had been stolen and ported. Steve said he provided a death certificate documenting his father’s passing in 2020 and worked with his mother to lock her credit file. Still, the claim stalled as the family struggled to obtain a letter from the phone company confirming the port-out. After a month of calls without a resolution, the family contacted a consumer advocacy team at a local station. Fifteen minutes after the newsroom reached out, Steve said, a representative from the carrier responded and, soon after, supplied the letter the bank required. The bank then credited back the full $25,000. Neither company disclosed details about how the criminals first obtained the couple’s personal information or which systems flagged the unusual account activity.
Consumer advocates say the case reflects a broader pattern: as more banks rely on text messages and calls to verify high-risk activity, criminals target the underlying phone number. Federal data show financial scams aimed at older adults resulted in multibillion-dollar losses last year, with a sharp year-over-year increase. Local police departments have also reported cases tied to number porting and SIM swaps, in which a thief convinces a carrier or insider to move a victim’s number to a new SIM card. In several recent prosecutions, investigators traced fraudulent purchases and wire transfers to accounts accessed after a port-out, sometimes across multiple states. While mechanisms like account alerts and secondary verification exist, investigators say criminals often exploit older records, joint accounts, or outdated contact details to pass initial checks.
In this case, the bank’s review focused on whether the transfer was unauthorized and what verification steps were used. The family said they were asked for proof that the phone number had been reassigned without consent and that the deceased co-owner was no longer an active party to the account. Once the carrier’s confirmation letter arrived, the bank approved reimbursement. Company representatives declined to specify whether one-time passcodes, callback numbers, or knowledge-based questions were used during the attempted login and wire setup, or whether any branch-level approvals occurred. The family said the line remained inactive for weeks and that the replacement number created confusion among relatives and medical providers who relied on the original landline to reach Joann.
Neighbors said the sequence of events spread quickly among residents of the woman’s block, where many households still use landlines and keep long-standing joint accounts. “You think a landline is stable and then suddenly it’s gone,” said a longtime neighbor who asked not to be named because she was not authorized to speak for the family. Steve said the hardest part was navigating customer service while caring for his mother after her hospital stay. “The biggest frustration was the lack of customer service until we got help,” he said. He credited the consumer team that contacted both companies, calling their response “a lifesaver” once the right people were engaged.
For now, Joann’s original number remains replaced, and the bank has restored the wired funds. Company officials said they are cooperating with ongoing efforts to track criminal groups that specialize in number port-outs and related account takeovers. No arrests tied to this case have been announced. The next update is expected if investigators link the ported number to a known network or if the bank issues a broader notice on similar incidents.
Author note: Last updated December 1, 2025.