This Scary Scam Cost Barbara Corcoran $400,000, And It Could Happen to Anyone

Imagine losing all of your hard-earned money in a  blink of an eye. This isn’t something completely unheard of, as people fall prey to online scams all the time, no matter how careful they are when browsing the internet.

Many of these scammers target high-profile individuals with massive net worths, in order to milk the most money out of them. One of the most common internet scams, that has been around for a few years now, is the phishing scam where cybercriminals send you a seemingly innocent email, pretending to be your accountant or your lawyer.

Internet scamming is nothing new

These emails often contain a malicious link or a form that requires a signature. Once you sign above the dotted line, you’ve basically given these scammers permission to access funds in your bank account, a horrifying scenario that became reality for one television star.

Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran recently admitted in a shocking statement that she fell victim to a phishing scam recently where the scammers took almost $400,000 from her without her knowledge.

It all started with an email from who Barbara assumed to be her assistant. In an interview recounting the incident, the Shark Tank star said that the scammers somehow had all the inside information about her investing activities, her contact details as well as intel on her staff.

Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran became a victim of a phishing scam

This makes one suspect that the scam could have been an inside job orchestrated by someone who was close to Corcoran. The fake email received by the investing guru was seemingly seeking her approval for a renovation project on one of her real estate sites.

At first glance, Corcoran thought that the email looked legitimate since she gets such payment approval requests from her bookkeeper all the time. Since she invests in a lot of real estate, Corcoran approved the $400,000 renovation bill without any hesitation or suspicion.

Upon further investigation, it turned out that the email was forwarded to her by her bookkeeper who claims that it came from an email address that looked very similar to her assistant’s.

Corcoran doesn’t expect to get her money back

The scam was only revealed when the bookkeeper asked the assistant about the payment, but by the time it was already too late. By the time the Shark Tank star realized what had happened, the money wad already in the scammer’s bank account.

Corcoran says that as upset she is about losing her money, she is grateful that she has her health and business. For someone who is worth $80 million, the loss was only a small bump in the road for her.