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SALEM TWP. -- Constable Dan Valentine is warning residents to be wary of callers requesting bank and personal information and remote access to their computers after scammers drained a local woman's bank accounts Thursday.
A resident on Cunningham Road reported the incident at 1:06 p.m., saying she turned on her computer and there was a message allegedly from Microsoft indicating there was a virus and she needed to sign into a Microsoft account.
The report said she signed in and was taken to PCFix and spoke to a person who said they needed to remotely access her computer to help her.
According to Valentine, the woman was told there would be a fee of $299, but when she said she couldn't afford that, they were negotiating the price down and she agreed to pay $200. She typed in $200, but the person claimed she typed in $2,000 by accident.
To fix the issue, they then told her to go to Walmart to purchase four $500 gift cards and call them back with the PIN numbers. She did it and gave them the PIN numbers and they told her they would refund her money. She later checked her bank account and discovered her checking and savings accounts were completely depleted other than $10 left in an account.
Valentine said others are getting hit with this same scam, learning from the woman that she found out one of her friends was taken for $4,000. He estimated the woman was missing $2,249 as a result of the incident.
Valentine urged people who get that type of message on their computer to check with a family member or other person who's more familiar with technology before allowing remote
access. He said don't give anyone access to the computer, don't give out account numbers and under no circumstances should anyone purchase prepaid cards at someone else's direction and then call them with the PIN numbers.
A lot of scams like this have been around, via computer, email and even phone, and he urged people to just use caution. Check with someone else before taking any action.
mgreier@salemnews.net