SMITHFIELD – In a case that’s all too common, a senior citizen lost a large sum of money after falling to an internet scam. The 71 year-old victim said he was on his computer recently when a pop up alert appeared on the screen claiming his computer had a virus. The alert urged him to call a toll free number immediately.
He called the number and scammers told him they could repair the damages for $799. He was unable to provide them with a credit card number, so he wrote them a check and send a screenshot of the check to the fraudsters.
In the meanwhile, the victim unknowingly provided the scammers remote access to his computer. The scammers gained access to his bank account and made withdrawals of $2,000 and $1,800.
He was contacted again, this time stating he needed to send in an additional $5,900 to pay for their services. He was instructed to obtain $5,900 in gift cards and send the card numbers to them. The victim went to three area stores to obtain the requested merchant cards and then provided the scammers with the information.
Later, the retired Smithfield man realized he had been the victim of a computer scam. Altogether, he had lost $10,499.
The incident was reported to law enforcement several weeks after it happened.
