Westminster woman Diane Peltier is sharing her story in hopes of preventing others from falling victim to a scam that cost her $37,000.
Peltier was paying bills online when a pop-up message appeared claiming her computer was hacked. A phone number supposedly for Microsoft was displayed, and Peltier called it. The scammer gained control of her computer and convinced her to withdraw money and deposit it into a cryptocurrency machine, which turned out to be a fake transaction.
The FBI warns that these “phantom hacker” scams are targeting people across the country. They advise never to click on suspicious links or pop-ups, and to avoid giving control of your computer to anyone you don’t know. If you suspect fraud, contact your bank directly using the phone number on the back of your debit card. Don’t fall victim to the pressure tactics used by scammers – take a step back and verify any claims before acting.
