ALLEN COUNTY, Kan. —The Allen County Sheriff’s Office recently took another scam report where an “elderly” person lost some $13,000. It could have been worse though.
After receiving an alert on their cell phone and calling the number, a confident and convincing official-sounding person explained how someone had hacked the Amazon account, which was connected to a bank account, and an investigation was underway by federal banking authorities.
As part of this, the caller said nobody could be trusted, and to not talk to family, friends, or bank authorities as they were most likely involved, done in a way that sounded very real.After a trip to the bank to empty their life savings, followed by a drive to a Bitcoin machine, which had been explained as the only secure place to put the money.
In this case a picture of a driver’s license had been sent to the scammers, and at least one app was installed on the cell phone. The caller then repeated instructions to not tell anyone as the victim was kept on the line with instructions to stay on the line so they could hear everything going on.
Luckily, a clerk at the store knew what was happening and tried to stop our Allen County victim, but wasn’t believed. The clerk quickly called the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, where a deputy responded quickly and was able to stop any more money from being put into the bitcoin machine. The funds put into the bitcoin machine had immediately been transferred out of the account as soon as it was put in.
The Allen County Sheriff’s Office said legitimate banks and businesses don’t deal or take payments in gift cards, Google Play cards, or Bitcoin. The same also by the way also applies to law enforcement. They caution you that if something doesn’t sound right, don’t let a total stranger, not even a law enforcement officer tell you to not talk to your family or trusted friends.
