- November 21, 2024
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11:05 a.m. — 100 block of Ormond Parkway
Fraud. A 62-year-old Ormond Beach woman was scammed out of $16,000 in a scheme that began with a pop-up message on her computer.
According to the incident report, the message warned the woman that she needed to contact Microsoft or her computer would be disabled. She contacted the phone number included in the message, and the man on the other line asked for access to her computer. Thinking he was going to fix the problem, the woman allowed this.
The man then alleged that she had 60 "hackers" trying to use her information and that she had a "Trojan" virus in her bank account. He instructed her to call another number to connect her "on a secure line" to her bank. The man pretended to connect her and she started speaking with another man who asked her questions about her bank accounts.
The second man claimed that there was a pending withdrawal of $12,500 in her account, and advised her to remove the money before she lost her savings. This scared the victim, and she followed his instructions for the withdrawal of $16,000, which she deposited into a bitcoin ATM. The victim was instructed to lie to her bank and make up a story about home repairs if one of the bank employees inquired about the transaction "because they were not wanting the thief to become suspicious that they were aware of the thefts," according to the incident report.
Police advised her to contact her bank and to factory reset her computer.
