A woman who appears to be from Idaho, identified on TikTok as Eliza Joy under the handle @elizafalkenrath, said in a video that roughly $20,000 was taken from a savings account she shares with her husband. According to her account of events, she and her husband, whom she referred to as Jace, held a joint checking and savings account with SoFi, which she said they chose because it offered the best high-yield savings rate they could find.
She said the trouble surfaced while she was reviewing her email. According to her, she saw a message from SoFi stating that her husband had transferred $19,998 out of their savings account, and that the transfer had been approved and would take place within three to five business days. She said she initially thought her husband would not move that much money without telling her.
In her telling, she tried to reach her husband by call and text several times without an answer, which she said was unusual for him. She said he eventually replied that he was in a meeting, that he had not made the transfer, and that they would get to the bottom of it. She described him as calm about the situation while she was, in her words, panicking.
She said small transactions from other banks preceded the large transfer
Eliza said that before the roughly $20,000 left the account, there were about four or five small transactions involving Ally Bank. According to her, these included amounts such as 80 cents in and 80 cents out, and $5 in and $5 out. She said the large transfer of $19,998 then went to US Bank. This small activity was the only thing that seemed unusual on the account.
The account had two-factor authentication turned on, which she described as a system where a text message is sent whenever someone signs in. According to her, her husband would receive such a text on his phone, and she said no one had signed into the account in a way that appeared abnormal.
According to SoFi’s records, her husband was the person who transferred the money. Fraud can take many forms, and some victims have been tricked by elaborate fake stories before realizing something was wrong.
She said she contacted SoFi through the app’s chatbot and eventually reached a person. According to her, she was told she would have to dispute the transaction, and that the money could not be returned until an investigation was complete.
Eliza said the company had 10 days to look into the dispute. She indicated that the family caught the issue within roughly 24 hours, and said she believed catching it within 48 hours may offer certain federal protections, adding that they were trying to look into that further.
Eliza said she and her husband were planning to go camping in an area without cell service. Because of that, she said, they expected to drive about an hour out of their campsite each day to reach service and check whether SoFi had made a decision. She said that if the money were not returned, it would be, in her words, “$20,000. Down the drain.”
In the same video, she urged viewers to take security steps. “So this is your reminder: make sure you have two-factor authentication on, make sure that you’re changing your bank passwords, updating them semi-frequently, and make sure that you’re watching your bank account,” she said.
She added that people who do not catch such activity within 48 hours may not be as protected under federal law, and said, “watch your savings accounts because apparently your money’s not safe even in a bank.” Some targeted individuals have found ways to fight back, including one widow who outsmarted a gold scammer.
In a later video responding to viewers, Eliza addressed comments that appeared to question her husband. On-screen text stated that people in her comment section were accusing her husband of stealing the money and suggesting it was not safe to go camping with him. According to that text, her husband was asleep in bed next to her when, in her words, “the hackers stole our money.” Her caption read, “glad people are genuinely concerned but i can assure you i am okay”.
Commenters responded to her updates with a range of advice. “Definitely pay attention to your bank account. But also pay attention to other things too, insisting you eat or drink something, car feeling weird, strangers near your house, a change in routines,” one person wrote, adding, “I know you dont want to believe what we are saying, but keep your eyes open and trust your gut.”
Another commenter wrote, “It’s wonderful that you love and trust your husband. Regardless, you should still have your own separate account. It has nothing to do with trust and everything to do with practicality.” One commenter asked why some viewers suspected the husband, writing, “I don’t get it? Why do we think it’s the husband?”
Another commenter offered a hypothetical explanation, stating that there have been cases where a husband drains a shared account before harming or leaving his wife. According to that comment, some viewers speculated the husband may have hypothetically drained the account before the camping trip, while others suggested he might simply abandon her in the wilderness. The commenter added, “Not saying I believe those theories, but this is just an explanation for why people think it’s the husband who secretly stole the money.”
In a third follow-up video, Eliza said she had shared the original story to raise awareness about watching bank accounts. “I can assure you I am safe, I am happy, and I think that’s all I’m going to say about that,” she said. She said the couple had received more notifications from SoFi about suspicious activity while they were out of service, and that the company had locked down their accounts.
She said she would share one final update once SoFi made its decision. Neither SoFi nor Eliza’s husband has commented publicly on the video.
Published: Jul 3, 2026 09:01 am