KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. — The Kill Devil Hills Police Department is raising awareness about scammers targeting elderly people after one of the town’s residents lost $29,000.
Chief of Police Gary Britt says a 70-year-old woman was scammed out of $29,000 by people posing as Federal Trade Commission (FTC) agents.
Britt shared the following details about the incident:
- While online, the woman clicked on a pop-up window that alerted her about a computer virus. The message told her to call 877-659-4753 or 877-594-1055.
- After calling one of the numbers, she spoke with someone posing as an FTC agent. She then spoke to another person who claimed to be a federal officer with the FTC named “Jason Roy."
- The officer told her she was the subject of an ongoing conspiracy and drug-related investigations, as well as investigations regarding money laundering and filing false financial reports.
The person then told the woman to pay a fine for the offenses, prompting her to withdraw $29,000 from various personal accounts, Chief Britt said. He said she sent the money to Bitcoin accounts using a QR code the fake agents gave her.
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Chief Britt said transactions like the one the woman initiated cannot be traced, and his department could not help her. Her bank was unable to reimburse her, he added.
He says this is not the first case the department has seen of someone falling victim to scammers.
“The number of local victims tricked by scammers is heartbreaking and disheartening,” Chief Britt shared in a release. “No matter how many warnings and cautionary tales are circulated about unscrupulous individuals and their methods, there are still people falling prey to the scams.”
He’s advising family members and people with jobs that entail overseeing cash withdrawals to keep an eye out for activity that seems abnormal.
“If an elderly person comes to your window or your register and tells you they need to withdraw several thousand dollars in cash (and this is out of the ordinary), maybe make a friendly inquiry,” said Chief Britt. “Urge them to call the local police if what they tell you does not sound kosher.”
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He’s also encouraging people with parents who are seniors to talk to them about online safety and scammer tactics.
He shared the following advice to ensure protection from scams:
- If you receive a communication/alert/text from any local, state or federal agency telling you that you are in trouble and need to pay some fine (particularly a fine for something you’re pretty sure you didn’t do), give your local police department a call first.
- Cyber crimes/fraud can be reported online to the FBI at www.ic3.gov.
