Scammer Steals $8,000 From Senior Citizen

CLEVELAND – A Cleveland-area resident lost thousands of dollars in a recent scam. The 75 year-old Johnston County woman was on her personal computer and saw a pop up on the screen. The message alerted her to call a phone number about a security threat on her computer.

The victim called and was tricked into thinking her computer had security issues and needed to pay $8,000 to upgrade the virus software protection.

The woman withdrew the money from the bank and drove to another county to deposit the cash in a Bitcoin machine. She then provided the Bitcoin account information to the scammer. The criminals extorted money from the senior citizen to fix a threat that did not exist on her computer.

The incident was reported to law enforcement the following day, however, the money had already been withdrawn from the Bitcoin account.

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7 COMMENTS

    • That is a GREAT POINT! My wife has been saying that for a long time. Now I just wish the banks could understand what they should and need to do. All I know is something needs to be done to protect the elderly. Jessica Vance gives a warning every time this happens, but I guess younger people are not listening. By the way, thank you Jessica Vance for taking the time to make the warning post every time this happens and thank you Icarr for pointing out that the banks need to take some kind of action to protect the elderly depositor.

      • Thank you Steve. I am part of a group that goes after scammers. We talk to scammers and pretend we are potential victims and collect as much information as we can. Then we forward that info to other members of our group who have connections to banks and the FBI. We are all volunteers, but we all have a passion to protect people from the criminal scumbags. My good friend Trixie has a YouTube channel called TrixieTricks, that shows how the scammers do their scams. Thank you again for your kind words. Jessica

    • @Icarr: Mire regulation is NEVER the right answer. You sound like a Snowflake lib who expects to be taken care of, by others. #BeResponsible

      • @tellthetruth Just please stop! We are trying to protect people. Why do you always say this crap? You never make any sense. #ProtectOurElderly

  2. People!! Please have serious conversations with every elderly person you know. Tell them they absolutely cannot trust anyone who calls, texts or emails them and NEVER call a number in a popup on their computer. Tell them to power off the computer and take it to a local repair service to remove any malicious software. (Tell the elderly person that they can call you if they need any help.) If the caller says they are from any bank or company, tell them they should hang up and call them at the number that is legitimate. They can’t trust anyone to be who they say they are. We live in a very different world than the one they grew up in.

  3. I have a ministries here in Johnston County, we average around 10 to 15 calls per week, trying to scam us. Number 1, if they cannot pronounce your name or speak your name clearly, hang up, If you see the words: “SPAM CALL” let your phone ring 5 times, DO NOT PICK UP ON THE CALL, After this point they will drop you from their calling list. Also always keep close personal tabs on the people you do business with daily, Go to the businesses, get to know them. And NEVER GIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION OUT OVER THE PHONE OR INTERNET TO ANYONE. These things will help to keep you safe, also stay alert to your surroundings at all times, be safe, “for Safety is of the LORD” Proverbs 21:31(end of verse.)

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