A friend knocked on my door and informed me that she had received a pop up about a virus on her smart phone. She clicked on the link provided for help. By the time she realized this could be a scam, she could not get out of the screen. She luckily did not lose money.
Tech scammers have been around a while, and they are still using fake security pop-ups to get you to call a number.
However, they’re now going the extra mile. Instead of just telling you there’s a virus on your computer or smart phone, they may now say someone hacked your bank or your investment or retirement accounts. In order to “help,” they connect you with another scammer who pretends to be with the fraud department at your bank or with a government agency like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or the FBI.
The scammer then says the only way to protect your money is to transfer it to a new account (controlled by the same scammers). Or they tell you to withdraw your savings and put it in gold bars to secure it.
Just to be sure, legitimate companies won’t contact you by phone, email, or text message to tell you there’s a problem with your computer, and Uncle Sam will not ask that you put your money in gold bars for safekeeping.
This updated tech scam already has resulted in people handing over thousands, even millions of dollars to scammers. In October last year, five people were indicted in the Eastern District of Missouri for stealing at least $8 million from elderly victims in at least 10 states via a tech support scam involving gold bars. The indictment says:
An 82-year-old St. Louis woman was one of the victims, having been told by scammers pretending to be from a computer software support team that her financial accounts had been compromised. They said she needed to pay money to prevent her funds from being stolen. The scammers had the victim open new bank accounts, transfer her money into those accounts and wire money overseas, in addition to buying about $250,000 worth of gold bars.
In a similar case in California, a 70-year-old retiree said she was using her computer when a pop-up window appeared, advising her to call for help because her computer had been hacked. The separate indictment says:
When she made the call, she was transferred through a series of co-conspirators pretending to work in tech support who told her to download software on her computer. She was also told her personal identifying and bank account information were compromised and was subsequently referred to co-conspirators posing as employees from her financial institutions.
The victim was then told she needed to “secure” her assets. At the direction of someone posing as a bank employee, she deposited approximately $55,700 into Bitcoin ATMs located in North County San Diego.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the scammers in the California case were further able to convince this victim that she could safeguard her funds by converting them to gold bars. The gold bars supposedly were then sent to the U.S. treasury, which had created a locker under her name. The victim sent approximately $1,335,000 using three separate wire transfers to a precious metal business located in San Marcos, California.
Also, last summer, the Montgomery County, Maryland, state attorney reported that around 20 victims of the gold bar scams had come forward since July 2023. He believed there may be many more victims who may not even be aware they were scammed.
The Financial Crimes Section detective leading the investigation was quoted in the news report saying, “It’s important for people to understand if you think that you could not fall victim to this because you have a degree in psychology or science or astrophysics — you’re wrong… The individuals who we have seen have all been intelligent individuals, they have degrees, they have very respectable jobs that they have retired from.”
Closer to home, an 80-year-old Sequim man was defrauded reportedly of $862,000 in gold early this year. The case is pending investigation by the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
The FTC has the following tips for avoiding these scams:
Never call a number on a security pop-up warning. Pop-ups that tell you to call tech support are always scams.
Never move or transfer your money to “protect it.” Only a scammer will tell you to do that.
Never give someone a verification code to log in to your account. Scammers want to get into your account.
Call your real bank, broker, or investment advisor if you’re worried. And use a number you know is real.
If targeted, residents should cease contact and call the non-emergency numbers for Clallam County Law Enforcement at 360-417-2459 or the City of Sequim Police Department at 360-683-7227.
If you’re not able to use ReportFraud.ftc.gov to file a report, you may call the FTC’s Consumer Response Center at 877-382-4357.
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Ruby E. Carlino is a published writer with over a decade of blogging experience and a background as a technology analyst. She has lived in Sequim since 2018, after spending years in Asia, Central America, Europe, and the Washington, D.C. area during her husband’s diplomatic assignments. She can be reached at nextchaptercolumn@proton.me.
