A 68-year-old woman from Firth, Nebraska, was scammed and lost $7,000 on August 21. Lincoln County Sheriff’s Chief Ben Houchin said a woman reported that a Microsoft support window appeared on her computer that included a phone number and information indicating a suspicious bank transfer of $7,000.
“The person who answered the phone told her that she needed to withdraw $7,000 from her bank account and convert it into Bitcoin through a Bitcoin ATM, which she then did. After that, she realized it was a scam,” said LSOChiefHouchin.
Josh Planos, vice president of marketing, communications and public relations for the Better Business Bureau, recommends that you double-check anything that you suspect is a scam and do some research online.
“Let’s say your laptop is affected, but you still have access to your mobile phone. If you do a Google search or search for information about the scam or the communication you’re receiving, you’ll get hits that will tell you whether or not it’s even a scam.”
LSO mentioned a scam attempt involving an individual using the dating app Hinge. A man thought he was talking to a woman on the app, switched to Snapchat where he sent some explicit photos, and then realized he wasn’t talking to a woman.
“We found through our investigative work that if you meet someone and they immediately move off of Tinder, they immediately move off of Bumble and Hinge, firstly because it’s a more direct way of communicating if you’re just texting with that person. But secondly, that platform can’t monitor that profile or that account manager’s activity if the activity didn’t happen on the account. So you can understand why that might be beneficial because firstly, it’s a more intimate form of communication when you’re texting with someone versus communicating with someone on an app, but secondly, it protects the scammer at least a little bit because they can still potentially use a completely fake profile to target people,” Planos said.
The scammer tried to extort $2,000. When he didn’t comply, they reduced the amount to $1,000 and eventually just hung up because the victim didn’t send any money.
“We need to get people to stop doing this because this is another scam that is common among teenagers across the United States, and we have had suicides due to these situations,” said LSO Chief Houchin.
