Impostor Drains $751,430 From Colgate Worker’s 401(k) via Alight Phone Call
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 17
Impostor Drains $751,430 From Colgate Worker’s 401(k) via Alight Phone Call
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 17
$751,430 was emptied from Paula Disberry’s Colgate-Palmolive 401(k) after an impostor changed her account details through a call to recordkeeper Alight Solutions and routed the payout to Las Vegas.
The caller cleared security with Disberry’s name, birth date, address and last four Social Security digits; her lawsuit said Alight sent no alert to existing contacts and skipped a 14-day hold before BNY Mellon mailed the check.
Disberry, who was living in South Africa, sued Alight, Colgate’s benefits committee and custodian BNY Mellon; the case settled on undisclosed terms, leaving unresolved whether Alight had to restore the funds.
The case fits a broader pattern: the GAO in February urged the Labor Department to issue new guidance after citing 11 ERISA lawsuits from 2009 to 2024 over retirement-plan account takeovers.
Retirement-account theft carries weaker consumer protections than credit-card fraud, and the FBI said Americans 60 and older lost $7.7 billion to internet crime in 2025, including $3.5 billion from investment fraud.
When fraudsters drain your 401(k), who is legally responsible for the loss: you or the provider?
How can you protect your retirement savings when AI can perfectly mimic your voice and identity?
Are Social Security numbers now obsolete for identity verification in an age of constant data breaches?