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Police have urged residents to take action to prevent others from falling victim to similar scams
by Callie Patteson
TENS of thousands of dollars was stolen from elderly woman after a scammer tricked her into providing her financial information in a malicious scheme.
Police have blasted the alleged heartless scam, warning that it all started with the request for an Apple gift card.
On April 8, police were contacted by a woman from Sullivan County, Tennessee – just over 100 miles north east of Knoxville – who claimed she had seen over $130,000 stolen from her, according to WJHL.
The scam reportedly started just four days before on April 4, when the woman claimed she was shopping online.
The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office revealed that the woman said a pop-up message appeared on her screen, claiming there was illegal activity detected on her computer and that she needed to contact Microsoft at a provided number.
Police say the woman called the number and was allegedly informed that child pornography was detected on the computer.
The woman claimed the individual on the call informed her she would need to pay to have the activity removed, by purchasing $900 worth of Apple gift cards and providing information for the cards.
That same evening, the woman was allegedly told that the issue would cost approximately $4,000 to fix, however it would be resolved the next day.
On April 5, the victim was allegedly contacted by a separate person who claimed she needed to provide information for gift cards worth $3,000.
The woman reportedly then purchased the gift cards and provided the alleged scammer with the information.
Not long after the woman was then allegedly told that her bank account was compromised.
She was reportedly informed to withdraw all of her money and hand it to someone in person who would then allegedly create a new account for her with the funds, according to police.
Police reportedly said that the victim withdrew around $130,000 from her bank account at multiple branches, while speaking with the scammers on the phone the entire time.
One day later, a man allegedly went to the woman’s home and collected the money.
The woman told police she saw the man enter a gray vehicle after leaving her home.
Upon investigating the scam, police identified the man as Hang Zhan, 29.
Zhan, from Glen Allen, Virginia, has been charged with theft of property over $60,000 as well as financial exploitation of an elderly or vulnerable person and fraud.
He was arrested on April 16.
Full Article & Source:
ACCOUNT DRAINED ‘Worked their entire lives’ cop fumes after bank user followed instructions & lost $130k – it began with Apple gift card
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