THE SCAM

Lee Erickson

 

An “Imposter Scam” recently cost me $15,100.00. . . and briefly, my peace.

The FBI receives thousands of calls about similar scams every day — nearly 500,000 last year alone, according to The Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

It can happen to anyone, at any age or background.

ABOUT ME
I am 73, active, and consider myself fairly streetwise.

Six months ago, I was gradually recovering after losing my mother, then my husband of 48 years, just eight months apart. I’d had two heart attacks — one after discovering my husband had passed away in his sleep. I’d also had three major surgeries in recent months.

Perfect storm, right? When the fraud occurred, I was vulnerable, caught off guard, isolated, and manipulated.

THE CAST OF CRIMINALS
Posing as: an AppleCare support tech, an Oregon Community Credit Union fraud specialist, and an IRS criminal investigator, each “helper” presented as professional, patient, kind. . . and convincing.

Their scheme to make me an accomplice in taking a large sum from my own account as seamless. Looking back, it was a masterwork in psychology.

HOW IT STARTED
10:08 am. Working from home, my laptop froze.“Your Computer Has Been Breached” appeared, with an 800 number for AppleCare tech support.

I’d always believed I could spot a scam, but I didn’t. In hindsight, if only I “woulda… coulda… shoulda.” There were many red flags, as you will see.

My first mistake was to panic. Had I been thinking clearly, I would have called AppleCare’s published number, or a trusted person. I could have called my
daughter, but knew she was busy. I could have paused for calm but didn’t.

Alarmed at the “breach” and still fragile from past events, I called the number on screen. A pleasant woman answered, identifying herself and providing call-back numbers in case our call dropped. She asked and I agreed to her diagnosing my computer.

Chatting while she did so, she asked if I had concerns about any compromises to my personal data. I said yes, especially my identity and financial information. She kindly offered to call my bank to check for any suspicious activity while the diagnostic processed.

THE RED FLAG
I briefly thought, “unusual customer service,” but thanked her — my phone was tied up so I couldn’t call myself. Returning to our call she said the diagnostic would take a while, asking if I wanted her to call back to free up my phone. Yes, please.

As soon as I ended that call, my bank’s fraud department called. The banker identified himself, saying he was at the Corvallis branch (which I later learned was under construction). He said there were three suspicious “pre-approved” transactions pending:
two from checking, one from savings. He confirmed the last four digits of both accounts,
the transaction numbers, time, and exact amounts.Turns out the last four digits of every bank account is public. I hadn’t known.

Each transaction was for thousands. Some scammers start small, testing to see if they can access an account. In my case, two were Amazon purchases ($1800 and $3,200), shipping to Texas. I told him I had not made those purchases!

After being placed on hold several times, the banker returned and informed me the bank was able to remove the pending transactions. Such a relief!

11:13 am. The relief of the pending transactions being stopped evaporated when the banker informed me a third pending “international” charge ($9,200) couldn’t be. His next words unhinged me — the purchase: “PORNHUB.”

For What!? “To license child pornography in China,”he said grimly, saying this implicated me for this crime.

THEN…
Sadly, this wasn’t the end. In fact, things were about
to get really crazy. Read about it November issue.