Saratoga County, NY (WRGB) — An elderly Saratoga County woman was moments away from handing over $20,000 in cash to a scam courier when investigators intervened during a welfare check.
The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office said a Sheriff’s Office investigator and a Homeland Security Investigations special agent recently went to the woman’s home in Moreau after it was discovered she had attempted to ship $20,000 hidden in books to an address in California.
When the woman answered the door, she appeared distressed and told officers she was expecting to be picked up by a friend. She asked if she could speak with them later. Investigators noticed she had a cellphone at her side and appeared to be on a live call. They quietly advised her they believed she was being scammed.
The woman told them someone was coming to pick up $20,000 in cash from her home at any moment. She said she had received an email notification about a PayPal account charge for a purchase she had not made and called the number in the email to fix the issue.
Investigators said the scammers, posing as PayPal employees, convinced her to download a remote access app on her computer and mobile phone. That access allowed them to view and change things on her computer and see through her web camera. The scammers then convinced her they had mistakenly given her too much money when refunding the bogus purchase.
Authorities said the scammers persuaded the woman to ship $20,000 hidden in books to California. They also directed her to drive to a virtual cryptocurrency machine in Massachusetts and deposit another $20,000. That transaction could not be completed, and she drove back home.
After the failed cryptocurrency attempt, investigators said the scammers arranged for a courier to come to the woman’s house to pick up $20,000. That plan fell apart because of the Sheriff’s Office and HSI’s response and efforts to contact victims quickly to prevent losses.
Investigators later determined the courier arrived soon after the investigator and special agent got there, but left the area before being detected. The investigation is ongoing.
Officials said the case is one example of fraudulent activity targeting elderly residents, and that the Sheriff’s Office and HSI partnership has disrupted scams in Saratoga County.
Last month, authorities said joint efforts intercepted and returned more than $433,000 in stolen scam funds to two Saratoga County residents. That included a $245,000 wire transfer from a Halfmoon resident who believed the money was being sent to a title company, and a $188,000 bank teller check from a Clifton Park resident who believed it was being sent to the Federal Trade Commission. In both cases, officials said the scams were stopped and the funds were recovered and returned.
In June, the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office and HSI are presenting two community outreach presentations to help raise awareness of these types of scams.
The first is Wednesday June 24 at 1:00 p.m. at the Halfmoon Senior Center, 287 Lower Newtown Road, Waterford.
The second is Tuesday June 30 at 7:00 p.m. at the Clifton Park Elks Lodge, 695 Mac Elroy Road, Ballston Lake.
Officials said additional locations will be announced.
They also emphasized PayPal is not suspected to have been involved in, associated with or affiliated with the scam in any way.
Click Here For The Original Source.
