Utah skiers have fallen victim to a multimillion-dollar lift pass scam exploiting stolen credit cards. VerifyDial (NC), founded by Brian Ley, offers a verification hotline to prevent digital scams and protect consumers.
Park City, Utah and Cary, North Carolina - December 12, 2025
The snow at Deer Valley was perfect, and the lift line moved smoothly. Imagine a typical skier, let’s call him Eric, a 45-year-old software architect, tapping his new Ikon Pass against the RFID reader. The light turned green. A satisfying beep echoed through the cold air, and the gate swung open.
Eric felt savvy. He believed he had found a broker on social media offering the season pass at a steep "corporate discount." He sent $600 via Venmo, half the retail price, and received a legitimate confirmation code from the resort. It worked. The transaction felt safe because the product was real.
What Eric did not know was that he represented the final link in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme. When the resort eventually detected the stolen card and issued a chargeback, the pass was immediately deactivated. Eric approached the lift gate, confident and ready to start his day, only to be stopped. The attendant scanned his pass. Now the red light flashed. A terse “Invalid pass” message appeared. Around him, other skiers glanced up, some impatient and some curious. His face burned with embarrassment, as he was skiing that day with work colleagues who wondered why his Ikon pass was rejected. Not a good look.
This week, Jamilla Greene of South Carolina pleaded guilty to orchestrating the scheme that defrauded Utah's most prestigious resorts. Calling it a simple theft misses the sophistication of the crime. Greene was not just stealing ski passes; she was executing triangulation fraud, exploiting a fatal flaw in America’s digital economy known as the Trust Lag.
How the Scam Worked
To move millions of dollars, Greene relied on infrastructure beyond her control: social media platforms, telecom carriers, and payment apps. Each layer profited indirectly, leaving U.S. consumers exposed.
The Verification Void
Compare this to the United Kingdom. There, a coalition of banks and telecom providers operates 159, a dedicated hotline funded by the industry. Consumers can call to confirm whether a seller or request is legitimate, and part of the liability falls on the bank if it fails to protect the customer. Singapore has implemented similar measures through 1799 and the ScamShield app, giving consumers a reliable way to verify suspicious requests.
In the U.S., there is no equivalent system. There is no three-digit verification code, no shared registry, and no mandatory requirement for banks or payment platforms to bear loss when a consumer is scammed. The burden falls entirely on the individual.
While Utah’s Division of Consumer Protection (DCP) and federal agencies like the FTC and FBI provide resources for victims, they do not offer a real-time verification mechanism. State offices handle complaints and enforcement after losses occur. Fraud patterns are evolving in both volume and sophistication
Federally, the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network last year logged 2.6 million fraud reports and more than $12.5 billion in consumer losses, a 25% increase from the previous year. Imposter scams are among the largest categories and amounted to $2.95 billion in consumer losses in 2024. In Utah alone, tens of thousands of fraud and identity-theft reports are filed annually, highlighting gaps in protections. Many scams go unreported. Victims, such as the fictional "Eric" in the Deer Valley example above, are often embarrassed by the scam and fail to report it.
Brian Ley is a repeat entrepreneur with a history in AI and financial technology. His first company was an AI banking startup, backed by Wells Fargo, followed by a series of mission-driven ventures in carbon removal and other tech sectors. Despite multiple successful exits and planned retirements, Ley returned to the startup world after a deeply personal encounter with fraud: a family member lost nearly a quarter of a million dollars in a romance scam.
Witnessing her struggle to find reliable guidance online—and noticing how search engines and social media could unintentionally amplify scams—Ley became determined to create a preemptive solution. “I got so mad,” Ley recalls, “because I felt like, who’s watching out for these people?”
Ley recognized that most scams exploit trust gaps, outdated verification systems, and a lack of real-time consumer guidance. With VerifyDial, he aims to fill this void. The platform serves as a calm, neutral space where users can pause and verify suspicious calls, links, or payment requests before acting—essentially giving the American consumer the kind of protection that exists in the U.K. (159) or Singapore (1799).
Ley’s approach combines technical insight with empathy. He has observed how scammers now use sophisticated, automated “agent swarms” to target individuals online and across social media. By building a benevolent AI-powered verification tool, he hopes to shift the balance, empowering everyday consumers and vulnerable populations to act safely in the digital economy.
Ley's company, VerifyDial, is an example of a pre-emptive, “call before you click” approach:
Ley said that AI can now optimize scams, making real-time verification even more critical.
“We want to be the first line of defense, not just a post-incident reporting service. Our goal is to create a national safety utility that protects consumers, lowers losses, and restores confidence in everyday communication,” Ley told TechBuzz.
Ley also shared another scam that has been making the rounds in Utah. Utility customers have been targeted by imposters posing as Rocky Mountain Power representatives. This scam works by scammers impersonating Rocky Mountain Power warning customers that service will be shut off unless immediate payment is made. They may even spoof the company’s phone number on caller ID to appear legitimate.
In official scam warnings, Rocky Mountain Power stresses that it never demands instant payments or asks customers to settle bills via prepaid cards. It urges customers to hang up and call the published customer service number if contacted by an unknown caller demanding money.
Practical Tips for Consumers
Why This Matters
The Utah ski scam exposes cracks in the U.S. digital economy where timing, trust, and infrastructure gaps create multimillion-dollar opportunities for fraudsters. Greene will face justice (she pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced in February 2026), but the loopholes she exploited remain wide open. Without preventive verification, the next high-stakes scam is already waiting in line.
Learn more about recent Utah scams: Utah Ski Pass scam, Rocky Mountain Power scam
Learn about VerifyDial.