Lincoln Police say a 56 year old woman was scammed out of thousands of dollars after receiving a notice on her computer that she had been hacked. Captain Todd Kocian says she called the number for assistance and was told $18-thousand was withdrawn from her account to facilitate illegal activity.
“She was then instructed to withdraw an additional $18,000, transfer it to Bitcoin via various Bitcoin ATM machines and send it to the caller so they could reportedly freeze both transactions,” Kocian says.
He says the woman complied with this request, but was not able to send the last $3,000 through the Bitcoin ATMs. She was then instructed to purchase three $1,000 Lowes gift cards and provide the card information to the caller.
Kocian says if you get a message on your computer saying your account has been compromised it’s important to verify that information before you take any action. “Give your bank a call, give your financial institution a call and just double check on that before you follow through.”