A 73-year-old woman was scammed Thursday morning, prompting a warning from Lincoln Police amidst a recent surge in scam activities, particularly those preying on the elderly.
Officers were contacted by the victim, who recounted seeing a pop-up notification on her computer, falsely indicating technical issues. Captain Todd Kocian says the woman called what she believed to be Geek Squad, and granted them remote access to her computer.
The man on the other end of the line claimed to have mistakenly transferred $25,000 to her as payment for the service, and instructed the woman to withdraw the same amount in cash from her account and deposit the funds into a Bitcoin ATM.
The victim complied and, all totaled, withdrew a total of $29,000 and transferred it into the ATM. Investigating officers were told by Bitcoin customer service that the transaction was irreversible.
In response to this incident and a recent surge in similar scams, LPD issued a reminder to the community to exercise caution and vigilance.
“Always verify the identity of anyone claiming to be a family member or from a financial or legal institution… and we encourage the public to have conversations with your loved ones about these types of scams, so they can help you recognize a scam if someone you don’t know reaches out requesting money,” said LPD Public Information Manager Erika Thomas.
“If you’re on the phone, when in doubt, just hang up. It does not behoove you to stay on the phone with them because that’s their goal, to keep you on the phone,” Thomas concluded.