VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Crooks are targeting people with the Navy Federal Credit Union app on their phone and they’re conning victims out of thousands of dollars.

Antoni Garza was walking to the Planet Fitness on Laskin Road when a car drove up with three men inside. At first, they were polite, asking where the nearest Navy Federal? Then the mood changed.

“At that point, I was right there, they cornered me kind of in between my car and their car,” Garza said.

They told him to open his Navy Federal app on his phone and that’s when they put the heat on.

“The man who was talking to me was talking extremely fast,” Garza said. “I’m sure it’s a tactic. You know, my heart was racing a million miles an hour. At that point they were demanding my phone and it was either my life or my phone at that point.”

In under five minutes, they applied for a loan using fraudulent employer and salary information. Navy Federal approved the loan in under a minute, no questions asked. Now, Garza is out more than $7,000.

“In my eyes, they’re enabling this by making it so easy. You don’t have to type in the right information to get a loan,” Garza said.

He called Navy Federal, but they said they couldn’t help Garza get his money back because —

“Because I gave them my phone,” he said.

Thanks to police, he can share the type of car and license plate of the crooks, hoping they’ll be caught.

“Since November of 2023, we’ve received about 23 reports of this type of scam,” Portsmouth Police Department PIO Elexcia Washington said.

Those 23 reports total more than $110,000 in damages to victims in Portsmouth alone. Garza said police told him there are 200 pending cases between Virginia and Florida.

His mom shared the information on social media and has heard numerous people tell her it happened to someone they know — all had the Navy Federal app on their phone. And sometimes, the tactic would vary.

“Someone would ask someone to transfer money and then they would have an issue,” Washington said. “And so, the scammer would then say, ‘Oh, let me see your phone’. And in that little bit of time they have your phone, they’re able to copy your account information and sometimes, even apply for a loan on your phone.”

That loan is deposited into your account, and the scammer transfers it to theirs–and you’re on the hook for the money. In a statement, Navy Federal said:

“Navy Federal makes safeguarding our members’ privacy and security a top priority. We have many security controls in place to protect our members from fraud and hackers, including multifactor authentication, state-of-the-art fraud prevention systems, and biometric sign in. All are backed by our 24/7 Member Services line at 1-888-842-6328, our network of over 350 branches worldwide for in-person support and employees who work behind the scenes to keep our members safe. If a member is a victim of fraud, they can contact us any time.”

— Timothy Day, Senior Vice President of Digital Strategy & Experiences, Navy Federal Credit Union.

Meanwhile, Garza has this warning.

“I don’t want to say don’t trust anybody, but you really can’t,” Garza said.

Police say Garza did the right thing in complying with the crooks. But they advised to always be aware of your surroundings and, if you can help it, don’t hand your phone over to anyone.

Garza said he files a fraud claim with Navy Federal every day, but every day it’s denied.