Ohio bank's customers targeted by $108K Florida phone scam

CINCINNATI, Ohio (WCMH) - A Florida man and woman have been convicted of stealing customers' information from one specific bank in Ohio through a phone scam.

Deon O. Noel, 28, and Diamond Bezada, 25, of Miami, Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud on Wednesday in U.S. District Court. The scam resulted in 11 bank accounts and more than $108,000 being compromised, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio.

Noel and Bezada's scheme was an attempt to defraud Fifth Third Bank and multiple Ohio residents with Fifth Third accounts. Court documents showed that in August and September 2019, the defendants would call bank customers and falsely represented themselves as Fifth Third bank agents. They used these calls to obtain the bank account numbers and security information of the customers.

With the compromised cash from these bank accounts, the defendants purchased goods, services, and money orders, primarily in Las Vegas, Nevada. They agreed to pay the total funds in restitution as a part of their plea agreements.

The court will determine sentencing for the defendants based on advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. Conspiracy to commit bank fraud is a federal crime that can be punished with up to 30 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.