(WWJ) The Troy Police Department is sharing a cautionary tale about a resident who lost $2,800 in an online/phone scam.
The woman, who lives on Willow Grove Rd. in Troy, told police the whole thing began last Friday when she needed to change the shipping address on a package that she'd ordered From Amazon.
Rather than using the Amazon app or going to directly to Amazon.com for assistance, police said the woman called a customer service number that she found on Google.
The person who answered the phone (on which turned out to be a fraudulent line) gave then woman a second number to call. When the caller spoke to a second person, she gave that person remote access to her phone. The suspect then asked the victim to provide a picture of her ID and a photo of herself to verify her identity, which she did.
Related
After all of that, the suspect was then able to gain access to the victim’s Cash App, police said, and remove $2,800 from the account.
The woman reported the incident to police, but it's difficult for law enforcement to identify and prosecute suspects in scams like this one.
The public can find information on how to avoid falling victim to online and pone scams — including information on the latest scams and how to issue a complaint — on the Michigan Attorney General's Consumer Protection site at this link.
Related
