ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The family of an 83-year-old woman is questioning how ESL Federal Credit Union allowed nearly half a million dollars to be fraudulently withdrawn from her account over a six-month period.

Darlene Gropp read off the withdrawals from her mother Ana Yankloski’s ESL bank account to News10NBC Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean.

“$1,970. $6,259. $7,689,” Gropp read.

The transactions started in January and continued for several pages.

“$9,543,” Gropp continued. “And that’s just the first page. There’s three more pages.”

In total, the bank statements showed 76 withdrawals totaling almost $420,000. Each time, the money was transferred to accounts at Wells Fargo Bank and Valley Bank, none of which belonged to Yankloski.

The daughters had no idea this was happening until two weeks ago when they decided their mother needed help with her finances. During a meeting at Yankloski’s ESL branch, a clerk gave them the statements.

Berkeley Brean, News10NBC chief investigative reporter: “Did you think that withdrawals of those amounts would raise some kind of red flag?”

Julie Willmes, daughter: “Absolutely. It was so clear. And when Darlene was working with the representative at ESL, she made it clear, she circled those – knowing just with her eye, not being part of the fraud department – that those were fraud expenses and activities. So it was very clear and obvious that this was not normal activity on any account especially that of an 83-year-old woman.”

ESL limits ATM withdrawals to $1,000, but the bank told Brean there is no limit on account withdrawals and no single amount triggers a red flag.

“Alerts are based on account activity, which allows us to identify the suspicious transactions no matter how big or small the dollar amount,” ESL wrote in an email. “The safety and security of our customers’ accounts and funds at ESL is of the utmost importance to us. We have numerous controls in place that help identify irregular and suspicious account activity to ensure our customers and their accounts stay safe.”

Withdrawals over $10,000 must be reported to the federal government, but the most taken from Yankloski’s account was $9,800. The scammers knew what they were doing.

Berkeley Brean: “What do you want our viewers to understand?”

Darlene Gropp, daughter: “How easily this can be done.”

Willmes: “And really it’s truly about prevention because once you’re in this situation reimbursement and assistance and help is nearly impossible.”

The sisters filed a police report in Webster and a complaint against ESL. They believe the total loss may be greater than $420,000 since they could only get statements for this year. The scammers also took every Social Security check between September and April when the government froze the account. They changed Yankloski’s entire profile, so when the sisters call about the money, Social Security says they have the wrong address.

So far, ESL has only replenished about $23,000 of the stolen funds because they only go back 60 days. The family says ESL knew Yankloski’s account was compromised 11 months ago and closed it, giving her a new one. But the fraudulent withdrawals continued for six more months.

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