Fraud through Apple Pay

I received a call from a man asking me if I had authorized the use of my debit/credit card on the West Coast. I said no. I was of the impression the caller was from the Fraud Dept of my Metro Credit Union and did not in the least suspect he was a thief, as Metro Fraud will ask similar questions about unauthorized charges to my card. He said he would help me recover the dollars that was spent. He asked if I use Apple Pay. I told him I never used Apple Pay, so he helped me to set up Apple Pay on my iPhone and transfer increments of $1,000.00 to Apple Pay on the phone. I asked why this was necessary and he told me it was so I could recover the unauthorized use of fund. I began to have questions in my mind and told him of my doubt of the legitimacy of what he was instructing me to do. He stated that he had not asked me for any financial information and he was right he only asked about my Social Security number which I did not give him, but he told me the last 4 digits asking if it was correct and I responded yes. Not being familiar with the workings of Apple Pay I had no idea he could steal the $5k I had transferred to Apple Pay. I was totally deceived.

Not feeling good about what had happened I called Metro Credit Union the same day, but it was too late, the money was already being transferred and the Bank could do nothing about it. The Bank shut down my account and asked me to open a new account which I did.

With the info Apple gave me (see attachment) I contacted Best Buy on chat and at the Best Buy Customer Care Hotline Team and talked to two representatives.

One told me the numbers after the name of the merchant identified the store. I asked for info on which Best Buy stores were involved, so I could call and see what was purchased and to see if they had any info on the buyer, but they were hesitant to supply me any info on which three stores the id numbers represented.

Through this I have become much wiser, Metro Fraud gave me their phone numbers which I put into my phone so I can see who is calling me.

I acknowledge I was deceived into making a mistake transferring money to Apple Pay, but if there is any way to recover the monies, I would greatly appreciate the kindness.

Thank you,

Ken

[Edited by Moderator]