(WWJ) An Oakland County woman lost tens of thousands of dollars to scammers last week.
The Oakland County Sheriff's office said the scammers caused the woman, 79, of Orion Township to lose over $29,000.
The Sheriff said the crook called the victim claiming to be an Amazon employee, verifying she had bought $8,000 in Apple products. When she tried to push back against the purchases, the alleged employee claimed to transfer her to the Michigan State Police to make a report.
A person posing as a trooper asked her for her banking information. She then became suspicious and asked for a phone number for the alleged investigator, according to the Sheriff.
The scammers gave her a legitimate Michigan State Police phone number but told her not to call because the investigator "may not be familiar with the case."
The victim was then transferred to a person claiming to be a U.S. Treasury Agent who said she was the victim of identity theft.
Over the next three days, the scammers told her to withdraw funds from her bank account and use QR codes they gave her to deposit money at a Bitcoin ATM in Independence Township.
Detectives from the Oxford Township Substation were alerted to the case. They also have identified other victims who made deposits at the same Bitcoin ATM.
On Tuesday, the Sheriff's Office was sent a voicemail received from a citizen living on the west side of Michigan. The voicemail stated the name of a former Sergeant of the Sheriff's Office, and asked for an immediate call back. The callback number was a (248) area code, but was not a number associated with the Sheriff's Office.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard warned scammers are even more active amid the pandemic than in previous years, and will often pose as law enforcement.
He said law enforcement will never ask you to supply funds, use Bitcoin or put money on gift cards to for services over the phone.
"If something does not seem legitimate, trust your instinct, call your local law enforcement agency, and verify the claim with them first," he said.
