Credit: Montgomery County Jail
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
The scam started when the woman clicked on a phishing email and called the phone number listed on the email, according to an affidavit filed in Kettering Municipal Court.
Through several phone conversations with the suspect and possibly other men, she mailed $5,000 to a person, took $18,000 in cash to a person and was asked to meet in person and bring another $12,500 to a man identified as Karan to fix a computer issue, the affidavit stated.
However, police said the woman contacted them before meeting Karan.
“When the suspect, Karan Karan, walked up to the vehicle to collect the money, he was taken into custody,” the affidavit stated.
The woman lost an additional $1,000 that was removed from her banking accounts electronically after she gave the suspect all of her personal information over the phone, police said.
The FBI reported that scams targeting people 60 and older caused more than $3.4 billion in losses in 2023, an increase of about 11% from the year before. The average victim lost $33,915.
Tech support scams were the most widely reported type of elder fraud in 2023, followed by personal data breaches, confidence and romance scams, non-payment or non-delivery scams, and investment scams, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Those who believe they may have been the victim of a scam should call their local police.
How to protect yourself
Do not rely on caller ID: It can be spoofed to look like a familiar organization such as the bank is calling you.
Do not grant remote access (the ability to control your computer or device from another location) to anyone unless the request comes from a verified source. Most tech support brands do not reach out to you unsolicited or request personal information.
Do not give out sensitive information such as bank account details or your Social Security number over the phone — unless you initiated the contact.
Source: National Council on Aging
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