WILLOW SPRING – A 66 year-old western Johnston County woman is one of the latest victims of an online scam. A few weeks ago, the victim said she received an email that appeared to be from PayPal, but it wasn’t. The email contained a fake invoice claiming she owed PayPal $430.00, and the payment was due immediately.
Not knowing it was a fictitious bill, she contacted the telephone number on the bogus email. Instead of owing $430, she was told money she had deposited in her local bank was not secure.
The victim was told her bank funds needed to be “digitally secured” and to withdraw all the money from the bank.
As instructed, the victim withdrew all the money she had in both her checking and savings accounts. Afterward, she transferred $35,350 into a Bitcoin account, and gave the scammers her password. They immediately took all the funds from the Bitcoin account, leaving her with a zero balance.
The incident was reported to law enforcement a few days later. It is unlikely the money can be recovered.
Stupid is as Stupid does ~ why would you pay a bill you didn’t know what it was for first off??
Can’t feel sorry for these people, especially at her age, she isn’t that old!
I agree! People are warned about this all the time!
Mental illness perhaps..
If this is true and I don’t feel that a person of that age would fall for this, then I feel bad for her. I must say that this does not add up. The only other passable answer is like T says, Mental Illness but if that is the case how does she have access to that kind of money?
This is why people need to talk to their older family members. All these people being scammed are 60+
Would y’all please stop blaming the victim? The criminals are very good at their scams. They know exactly what to say, they can spoof any number, they can send emails that exactly look like they come from legitimate sources and they are just getting better at their scams. Talk to everybody you know, young or old. Be sure to never trust calls, texts or emails. Also, never, ever allow anyone “Remote Access” to your computer or phone. (Anydesk, TeamViewer, UltraViewer, Supremo, LogMeIn Rescue, AweSun. These are a few examples of remote access software that criminal scammers use to steal from their victims.) The criminal scammers will NOT stop until everybody stops falling victim to them.
Nope… stop protecting ignorant people. If you’re not smart enough to manage your money, then you don’t deserve to have it. The alternative is a “nanny-state” where the government “takes care of you.”
Wrong….stop blaming the victim. This has absolutely nothing to do with a “nanny state”! Everybody needs to educate themselves and educate others about all the various scams that are going on now. YouTube videos about scams are a great resource to learn about the different scams.
Old or not how can you fall for something that obvious. Did she not have ANYONE in her life she could ask. SMH.
Did the bank not ask questions, etc. Did she go to the bank in person to make this transaction. Wouldn’t trust that bank again.
Seriously!
I agree with Jessica. Several of you commenting sound ignorant. Early onset dementia or developmental/ learning disabilities could also be a contributing factor, not strictly ” mental illness”. As Jessica stated, the scammers are good at what they are doing and some of the schemes are super elaborate.