CLAYTON – A tech support scammer pretending to work for Norton defrauded a Johnston County man out of a large sum of money.
The 72 year-old victim said he was on his computer last month when a fake antivirus pop-up appeared on his screen. He was directed to call a number and spoke with a man who claimed his name was Eric. The fraudster claimed someone had hacked into his bank account and there was a pending fraudulent transaction on his checking account.
Eric then had a second person speak to the victim. This individual said claimed his name was Nick. Nick said to prevent the $27,385 transaction from going through, the victim needed to place a deposit for the same amount in a Bitcoin machine, then provide the account number.
After this was completed, the scammers claimed, the transaction would be reversed.
The victim unknowingly did as he was instructed and lost the money he placed in the Bitcoin account.
Legitimate software companies offer subscriptions to protect your devices but they don’t scare you into making a payment, or demand money to fix a problem. Sometimes it is hard to determine if a pop-up is real. If you’re unsure, close your browser and scan your computer. Never click on suspicious links or attachments, use unique passwords, and keep your antivirus software updated.
Another Darwin Award winner, folks!
@tell the truth, would you PLEASE STOP with the victim shaming!! This man was stolen from by criminals who are very good at what they do. Until everyone gets educated and educates everyone else, this will continue to happen. The criminal scammers WILL NOT stop until everybody stops falling for their scams. Have conversations with all your family, friends and neighbors. Anybody can be a victim of these criminals, not just the elderly.
@Jessica: That’s a typical Snowflake response: it’s not his fault — someone else should have saved him. You can take that Socialst thinking back to Europe. #BeResponsible #UseYourBootstraps #StandupForYourself
You have got to be f’ing kidding me! He should have been educated about these scams so he could have protected himself. Have you talked to your older family members, friends or neighbors? If not, then you are part of the problem. People need to know about these scams so they can avoid being the next victim and won’t need “saving”. #GetYourHeadOutOfYourRear
I’m sorry, but these scammers are not “good” at what they do at all. If you call up “Norton” and the person on the other line speaks with an Indian accent but his name is “Nick, John, Adam” etc. and it sounds like he’s talking through a tube, you should have more sense than to turn your money into Bitcoin and put it in a machine…
The scams are so blatantly bogus that anyone with any sense would know they are fake. Unfortunately, some people are predisposed to falling for anything. This guy was one of those people.