Preparing for retirement doesn’t just mean savings, it also means protecting your money too. A viewer reached out to NBC10 Responds after he said he unknowingly gave scammers access to his account and lost thousands of dollars. One day, Joseph Tiegue said he got a text message that appeared to be from Fidelity Investments. “Did you use your card for $503.50 at Kroger CO on 12/26/25? Reply yes or no,” the text message said. So, Tiegue responded. Then came the phone call, he said the caller ID read “Fidelity Investments.” Tiegue explained that the caller started off by asking him to confirm personal information and that they sent him a text message with numbers to read back. So that’s what Tiegue did. Then, this is when someone was able to access his retirement account and took over $9,000. Tiegue filed a claim with Fidelity the same day. Weeks later, he received a letter from the investment company saying they denied his claim. The letter read, in part: “You interacted with a phishing link and provided your one-time security password to an unknown party which led to funds being removed from your account.” It ended with this message: “The Customer Protection Guarantee would not cover this and no compensation is due.” Unfortunately, Tiegue is not alone. The FBI released their 2025 internet crime report this week with Pennsylvania ranked number six overall in the number of complaints received of suspected internet crime with more than $538 million in losses. Phishing is one of the top three crimes reported. When NBC10 Responds reached out to Fidelity after Tiegue’s case, they said they do not comment on confidential client discussions. They did say that if you or anyone you know is contacted by someone asking for personal information, do not reply. If someone calls asking for personal information, hang up. If you’re unsure if you’re being contacted by a scammer, go to the website of the financial institution or organization and contact them directly. ...read more read less