Omaha senior loses $6,000 in Bitcoin scam
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A warning about a popular scam targeting seniors in Nebraska and Iowa.
The FBI says computer alerts trick victims into losing thousands of dollars. Fraudsters also use a method that makes it difficult to get money back.
While writing an email to her daughter, an Omaha senior is surprised by a notification that pops up on her computer screen.
“It says access to this PC is blocked for security reasons,” the victim said.
It’s a fake alert that will end up costing her real money — $6,000 of the $10,000 the scammers wanted.
“It was the Windows icon, and that’s what convinced me that this was really something that was true.”
Out of embarrassment and fear of scammers, 6 News will conceal the victim’s identity. She says the data alert led to a phone number she called.
“He told me to just keep him on the phone so I wouldn’t get lost and he could continue to help me.”
A fake security agent said her bank account had been hacked, so withdraw money before the cyber crooks got it.
“To protect my account he would just put it aside until we found out who did the fraud and then I would get it back.”
The scammer instructed her to deposit the money into Bitcoin ATMs. Despite on-screen warnings, an FBI special agent says this is a growing trend among cyber fraudsters.
sot-super: phil lenz/ass. special agent in charge
“It’s very easy and difficult for people to track,” said Phil Lenz, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI. “There is no state entity. Once you give money through virtual currency, it is irreversible.”
The money may be gone, but the FBI Cyber Crimes Squad called Cywatch is working to make fraudsters pay for their crimes.
“We have a good success rate, but you have to report it first,” Lenz said.
This victim did not lose all of the $10,000 the scammers tried to steal.
The victim still has $4,200 because when she got home before sending this to scammers, a friend said, “hey wait, you’re getting scammed.”
“When they don’t want you to talk to your kids or tell them anything, then it’s a scam because why would they care if you talked to your kids if it’s going up and up,” the victim’s friend said.
That convinced her not to send the rest of the money. So this fraud victim was saved from utter loss, not by a special agent, but a special friend.
At least 350 Nebraskans over the age of 60 lost a total of $2.5 million in fraud last year. At least 400 Iowa seniors were defrauded out of a total of $10 million.
If you are a victim of fraud, you can report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
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