New York 80-Year-Old Defrauded of $285,000 Converted to Bitcoin and Stolen; Files Arbitration Claim Against Charles Schwab

CycleProphet · 2026-03-20T13:26:23+00:00

An 80-year-old man from New York, George Chryssanthou, fell victim to fraud and lost nearly $285,000. He filed an arbitration claim with FINRA, alleging that Charles Schwab failed to fulfill its supervisory duties, which resulted in funds from his account being transferred to suspicious accounts and converted into cryptocurrency.

CycleProphet

2026-03-20 13:26:23

Abstract generation in progress

Deep Tide TechFlow News, March 20 — According to Business Insider, 80-year-old George Chryssanthou from New York was scammed, losing nearly $285,000, and has filed an arbitration claim against Charles Schwab with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

On January 17, 2025, scammers impersonated “Microsoft Technical Support” and called Chryssanthou, claiming to fix software issues. They remotely accessed his computer and stated his account had been hacked. The scammers then tricked the victim into providing a verification code, and within a few days, transferred funds in installments to an account called “Coinbase Inc” at Cross River Bank in New Jersey, ranging from $18,000 to $90,000, totaling $284,650, which was immediately converted into cryptocurrency and transferred. The victim only discovered the balance was zero when logging into the account on January 29. After FBI intervention, he was told that recovering the funds was highly unlikely.

In September 2025, Chryssanthou hired lawyer Adam Gana to file a claim with FINRA, accusing Charles Schwab of failing to supervise, including not verifying and intercepting suspicious wire transfers and accounts.

BTC1,1%

View Original

This page may contain third-party content, which is provided for information purposes only (not representations/warranties) and should not be considered as an endorsement of its views by Gate, nor as financial or professional advice. See Disclaimer for details.

2 Likes