Thief pretends to be Apple security and scams elderly victim out of her life's savings
Shawna Perdue of Wichita, Kansas was the victim of a scam that cost her more than $5,500. As a result of getting ripped off, a GoFundMe account was created for Perdue and thus far it has raised $5,090 from 55 kind souls. The main part of the story that has something to do with you is how Shawna got scammed. That's because you could end up being a possible victim too if you don't use common sense.
The scam started with a fake text message and moved onto a bogus phone call
According to KWCH-TV, Perdue received a text message that claimed to be from an Apple Security representative that said her Apple ID had been used in an attempt to make a payment of $143.95. The text said that the request for the money seemed suspicious and she was given a phone number to call so she could keep her Apple ID secure. The victim felt that the message seemed legitimate and she called the number listed in the text.
“There was no red flag. There was not even a yellow flag that went up. I did not get the feeling that this was not legitimately Apple security."-Shawna Perdue, victim of scam
A man on the other end of the phone call told her that hundreds of hackers were trying to break into her bank account and that the only way to stop them would be to move her money around. She opened up her Venmo wallet, loaded with money, to the scammer allowing him to take the cash. Still not fully understanding that she was being ripped off, Perdue was told that she had to do more and was directed to buy $3,500 in gift cards from Home Depot.
The victim said that the scammer "sounded smart"
The victim did ask why would she have to go to Home Depot to buy gift cards, but she told KWCH-TV that the caller sounded smart. To top it off, he even had her spend $500 on an Apple gift card. With the scammer still on the phone, she read the card verification codes on the back of the gift cards to him which allowed the thief to use the cards to make purchases.
There was one comment Perdue made that didn't make sense. She said that she knew that what she was doing was a mistake but with no resistance or questions from her bank and the stores where she was buying the gift cards, Perdue continued to giver her money away. She did say that she felt foolish and violated, but also felt that she had saved her accounts from getting hacked. Eventually, when she received her Venmo and bank account statements, she realized that she had lost all of her money.
Perdue's bank wouldn't help her since she authorized the release of her funds to the scammer herself. She also spoke with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Wichita Police Department. The scammer tried to call back a few days after she gave him the gift card numbers but this time she knew not to answer the call.
There is about as happy an ending to this story as we could hope for. Thanks to the GoFundMe account that Perdue's daughter created and the people willing to donate, her losses will be at a minimum.
At this stage, the best thing you can do when receiving a text about a purchase is to go in person to a local branch of the bank you do business with. Show them the text or email you received. Do not respond to requests made via texts or emails, or even by phone. Do not use Google to obtain what you think are legitimate phone numbers to call. Recently we have been made aware of a trick used by scammers. Some will pay Google for a search ad that will show a bogus customer service number to call in response to a search for a phone number.
If it is inconvenient to drive to the local bank branch, a valid phone number to call will usually be found on the back of a credit card or debit card associated with your bank.
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