ATHENS, Ga. — Neal Howard was just trying to get his Roku to work so he could watch golf on the TV in his Athens home.
Instead, he ended up being tricked by scammers into giving over control of his phone and access to money-sharing apps like Venmo and Zelle.
“I Googled for the customer service number for Roku, found it and called,” Neal Howard told Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray.
He said the customer service agent was helpful.
“Everything seemed completely legit, and it was as far from legit as it could be,” Neal Howard said.
It turns out, the number he found on Google for Roku was a scammer impersonating customer service, tricking Neal Howard into giving up access to his accounts.
“We felt stupid. We thought we were smarter than this,” Neal Howard said.
Part of why Neal feels so embarrassed is that he had to tell his little brother, Channel 2 consumer adviser Clark Howard.
“When I talked to Clark later, he said, ‘Don’t you know that you never look for a phone number on Google?’” I said, ‘No.’ I said nobody’s ever told me that,” Neal Howard said.
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“I was like, ‘Neal, how come you haven’t been listening to the podcast?’” Clark Howard said.
Chanel 2 Action News Investigates has been reporting on this problem for years.
In 2024, Sandy Springs resident Jason Collins paid $800 to a fake company he thought was Budget Car Rental.
We’ve also reported on it happening with people searching for customer service numbers for Cash App and Zelle.
“It’s like locusts. No matter how many locusts you get rid of, more just sweep in,” Clark Howard said.
Google told Channel 2 Action News that its so-called “spam brain technology” catches millions of these bad listings a day.
“Our advanced spam-fighting systems help keep Google Search 99% spam-free, despite ever-evolving tactics from spammers. We have clear spam policies against deceptive tactics, and when we find behavior that violates our policies, we take action,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.
“It seems so legit, it really did,” Neal Howard said.
Luckily, in Neal’s case, Zelle and his bank suspected fraud and locked down access to his bank account.
“They prey on old people, and I don’t feel old. I’m 76. My wife’s not old, she’s 65. And they got both of us,” Neal Howard said. “We’re going to be more vigilant now.”
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