Skilled scammers conned a local woman out of $61,000 May 16.
The sheriff’s office reported that the woman responded to a pop-up message on her computer about a potential virus. She was given a number purporting to be from Apple Care to contact.
“Upon calling the provided number,” a sheriff’s office spokesperson said, “she spoke with an individual who claimed her computer—and possibly her bank accounts—had been compromised.”
The victim, who is 73, was then transferred to individuals posing as Wells Fargo representatives, who over the course of several days convinced the woman she had “preauthorized fraudulent transactions that were pending on her accounts.”
At their direction, the report said, the victim made four withdrawals totaling $61,000 that she then converted to Bitcoin.
“The suspects further misled the victim by claiming they had identified a suspect in Texas responsible for the alleged fraud,” the report said, “and that she would need to meet him at a local police department to sign paperwork in order to recover her funds.”
The victim has had no further contact with the suspects, the report said, and contacted the sheriff’s office because she felt she was being scammed.
“Citizens are reminded to remain vigilant when receiving unsolicited messages or calls requesting financial transactions and to verify any such claims directly with official service providers,” the sheriff’s office advised.
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