VERO BEACH – Most of us know about the typical computer scams, especially the ones when a person calls pretending to be from Microsoft or Apple, hoping to gain your online trust.
The person on the phone eventually wants to access your computer so that they can fix malware or a virus. Some of them sound so convincing that people grant them access, and giving them their bank account.
But now there’s a new online computer scam making its way across the country. A Vero Beach man recently lost $11,000 to the thieves.
It all started when Raymond Imbro of Vero Beach purchased a computer program for $500.00 from a man in Thailand. After several months of using the program, the man notified Imbro that the program stopped working.
The man promised Imbro a full refund for his troubles. The man requested to sign into his computer over the Internet and access his bank account to deposit the refund.
Imbro agreed to grant the man access, but once inside he made a huge error. The man told Imbro he accidentally deposited $6,000.00.
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“Imbro was instructed to get a ride to Walmart and retrieve gift cards totaling the remaining balance, which he did,” police said.
Once Imbro gave the gift card information to the man, he was instructed to get more cards. Well, that’s when Imbro became concerned.
Imbro found out that his Bank of America account has suffered approximately $11,000.00 in losses since the incident and is now under investigation by the bank’s fraud prevention team.
“Imbro was urged to use more caution while dealing with online subjects,” the deputy said.
This case is similar to the Vero Beach woman who paid $5,000 in a computer virus scam. Then, there was the Microsoft Scam that targeted Sebastian and Vero Beach residents.
These Cybercriminals are smart, talented, and know how to steal from people. Under no circumstances should you allow anyone in your computer. Especially banking information.
