Recently, a Lake County resident met with a Lake County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) deputy and reported that they had been scammed into sending $20,000 in cash to an individual posing as a PayPal employee. The victim, the deputy and UPS shipping store worked together to ultimately recover the package; however, this is a very unusual recovery. Most of the time the victim’s money is not recovered.
How this scam works, according to Florida Police Scanner, is you get an email, text message or phone call indicating an account of yours (bank account, PayPal account, other mobile money account, etc.) has been used to make a purchase and if the purchase was unauthorized, to contact a certain phone number contained in the message. The scammer hopes you don’t verify the transaction with your banking institution first and call them instead. The scammer then converses with you and assures you they will help fix your “hacked” computer and get a refund. The scammer has you download a program, which is really a remote desktop – a way for them to access your files, passwords and bank accounts. The scammer will distract you by presenting a form on your computer to type your refund amount into. Meanwhile, the scammer is accessing your bank accounts.
While logged into various accounts, the scammer transfers money from one of your accounts to another account, usually a significant amount. The scammer then tells you to type your refund amount into their fake form. They manipulate the amount you type and then accuse you of inputting the wrong amount. They tell you to open your checking account to see if your balance reflects the wrong refund, which it will because they’ve already transferred that money from one of your other accounts. In some situations, the scammer simply manipulates the website code to display a higher bank account balance than the victim actually has. The scammer then accuses you of stealing money from them and plays on your emotions to make you think they will be fired and their children will suffer because of your typing “mistake.” The scammer then convinces you to repay the money by utilizing a Crypto Currency ATM or withdrawing cash to mail them.
For the victims who have lost money by mailing the money, you may think it’s easy to catch the scammer by going to the address where the money is mailed. It’s not that simple.
The scammers generally have the money mailed to an unoccupied residence that they have no ties to. They sit in their car (usually a rental car or a car with stolen license plates) all day, waiting for the delivery driver to arrive. Once the driver arrives, they swoop in, grab the package, and leave with the money. Once you’ve discovered you’ve been scammed and call the police, almost always it’s too late for officers to be able to retrieve your money. The police do everything they can to catch the scammers, but it can be extremely difficult.
Here are some tips to avoid these scams. Never trust an unsolicited telephone call, text message or email. If you receive any notifications of any of your accounts being compromised, find a phone number on your bank card, bank statements or in a phone book for your institution and call to verify. Do not assume the phone number contained in the message you receive to be legitimate. Always be suspicious of links in emails. If you have the slightest doubt, do not click the link. Contact the sender to verify the authenticity. Do not ever allow someone to direct you to install anything on your computer, unless it’s a computer professional or organization that you trust and only if you have initiated the conversation. Do not wait to make a police report, particularly if you have shipped cash. Scammers are good at what they do. They prey on people’s emotions and vulnerabilities, especially those who are not proficient utilizing the internet.