California woman drives to AutoZone after her car doesn’t start. Then she gets a suspicious phone call: ‘I’ve been crying all night’ 

A woman was having car issues, so she went to AutoZone. Then she got a call that made her lose more than $5,000.

California resident Leila Marie (@leilalazabal), who works in the healthcare field, ended up accidentally participating in a money scam. “ I'd always say, ‘Ugh, it would never be me.' And this is why I'm making this video, because it literally could be any of us,” Leila Marie said in a video with more than 3,000 views.

The initial scam

The content creator considers herself an educated person, which is why it was even more baffling when she got scammed. The healtchare worker was in a stressful situation, however. She had just finished a shift and realized that her car wasn't starting properly.

“When I went to push to start my car in the garage at work, um, there, it wasn't starting well,” she said. “Like, so I knew I needed a new battery. So then, yeah, they came and tested it. They said, ‘When you get home, get a battery.'”

Leila Marie went to AutoZone afterward. That's when she got a call she said was from her bank, which she later referred to as US Bank.

“You can see the bank. I don't know if I can see the bank name, so I'm not gonna say. But just know it's my bank. It says the bank,” Leila Marie said.

The alleged banker on the other line asked if she had made three Zelle transactions, each for large sums of money. Leila Marie told them she had not made the transactions. That's when the banker claimed they “blocked” the transactions and that they were going to transfer the content creator to their fraud department.

There were a few things Leila Marie immediately noticed that didn't seem right. For one, she said the man on the other line “just didn't sound like a banker I'd ever talk to.” Leila Marie also said that when she previously received fraud alerts, it was via email. She then asked the man why they couldn't just email her.

The man claimed, “Oh ma'am, this is why we're actually talking to you from the fraud department. We can't send you an email because it looks like they've taken your whole identity.”

The banking scheme continues

From there, Leila Marie continued talking to the man. There were a few other claims he made that didn't make sense with hindsight, but he told her he wanted her to be “assured.” He gave her at least some information that made the call seem legitimate.

The scam lasted for nearly two hours, which resulted in Leila Marie sending him two different payments.

The first time the man asked her to send money, it was for a specific figure. “He wanted to assure me that my Zelle was not gonna be compromised, so I had to send $3,987, very random number,” Leila Marie said. “He said that was why they did it with a very random number, so it could trigger in our system.”

Then he continued pressuring her to send additional funds to verify her identity. Eventually, he pressured her to create a Western Union account, download the app and verify her identity there. She sent the alleged banker an additional $2,500.

How common are banking scams?

Leila Marie made her post to spread awareness about the incident, as it turned out to be a scam. She's not the only person to experience something similar.

In a bank scam, “the fraudster's goal is to either gain access to your bank account or convince you to unwittingly move your money into an account they control,” according to U.S. News.

There are a few ways to tell that a call from the bank is fraudulent. Most bank scammers make unusual or unreasonable requests that banks wouldn't. Banks such as Chase, Wells Fargo and USAA all have resources that state that credible institutions would never ask individuals to transfer money as a way of disproving fraud.

Scammers also frequently misunderstand facts and try to pressure bank members to send money as soon as possible. For instance, the person on the other end of Leila Marie's call said the Oregon branch of their bank was closest to Pennsylvania, a detail a commenter pointed out. The scammer also tried to reassure Leila Marie, but he consistently pressured her to send money immediately rather than giving her any alternative to follow later.

Despite this, many people still fall for bank scams. Scammers sometimes use spoofing calls to make the phone numbers they call seem legitimate. The Federal Trade Commission estimated that consumers lost $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024. Financial institutions have estimated that bank scams are rising alongside regular fraud schemes.

Commenters weigh in

Most viewers had sympathy for Leila Marie, although a few questioned how she fell so hard for the scam. Then there were commenters who were simply baffled at the amount she spent overall.

“Are you serious????? Girl! You created an account???” one commenter said.

Leila Marie replied, “I know I know. As I said, sing it out loud is embarrassing because I can hear the red flags. In the moment, I was stressed, on hardly any sleep, finished a huge work shift, single Mom with my son in the background had just picked him up from Boys And Girls Club and he was telling me he was hungry and wanted to go home, I am also in the process of moving and I'm back in school myself!”

Another viewer said, “That's an evil I'll never understand. 5K is an insane amount to ppl who work damn hard for their money.”

Buzz News reached out to Leila Marie via TikTok direct message and comment for more information. This story will be updated if she responds.

@leilalazabal Please watch. I understand it's easy to judge and to think it'll never happen to you…: until it DOES! I am trying to spread awareness! #fraud #moneyscam #scam #fyp #becareful ♬ original sound – Leila Marie