BEREA, Ohio — Criminals are targeting the most vulnerable people in our communities, including a senior citizen from Berea who was scammed out of a ton of money. She’s a person who can’t afford to lose any cash, much less tens of thousands of dollars.
“Instead of thinking for a minute, I just reacted,” said Debbie Carpenter. She told us she got a popup message on her computer saying it was from Microsoft, and she had to call an 877 number right away.
When she did, a guy took control of her laptop.
“And so he says well, press this key and that key and we’re going to go to the next line and press this and this,” said Carpenter.
SCAMMER STAYED ON THE PHONE WITH HER
She told us another person in on the scheme called her, saying her money was in jeopardy, so she had to hop in the car.
“He had it all planned. He says here’s the bank here. Stop at this bank,” Carpenter described.
She said the scammer was on the phone with her the entire time when she walked into a PNC Bank location in Middleburg Heights. She said an employee even asked, "This is a lot of cash; what are you doing with it?"
Carpenter felt the need to lie.
“I’m getting some things done in the house and if you pay cash, they give you a nice break on price,” she told the teller.
She went to another PNC location, too. She took out a total of nearly $20,000. She said the crook told her to stop at a gas station and use a Bitcoin ATM.
She told us she doesn’t remember seeing on-screen warnings that the Bitcoin ATM company said are in place.
“I lost my brain and I took that money and I started feeding it into the machine,” said Carpenter.
NEWS 5 INVESTIGATORS CALLED THE 877 NUMBER
We called the 877 number. “Are you with Microsoft?” we asked.
He said yes and wanted to record us saying our names. We weren’t about to do that.
“How in the world do you think you have the right to scam people?” we shouted. He hung up.
We called several times, and it was the same scam every time.
“How do you do this?” we asked. They just hung up again.
FTC: IMPORTANT ADVICE TO AVOID THIS SCAM
“This is by far our biggest complaint category in terms of fraud,” said Jon Steiger, the Director of the East-Central Region of the Federal Trade Commission. He said imposter scams and the use of Bitcoin ATMs in scams have gone up. His best advice was never to call the number on a popup, turn off your computer, and slow things down.
“There is nothing that needs to be resolved in that exact second,” said Steiger.
On top of losing $20,000, Carpenter is taking care of her severely medically challenged daughter.
“She is my world. She is my love. She really is my everything,” said Carpenter while standing beside her daughter, who is in a wheelchair.
Carpenter told us her faith keeps her going.
“When you’re down in the valley and you’re being pruned and it’s cold and it’s dark and it’s scary…that’s where God does His work,” said Carpenter.
We’ve put Carpenter in contact with the FTC and the Bitcoin ATM company.
Steiger said it’s unlikely she will get her money back. He told us always to report scam calls so FTC investigators can help connect the dots on overall criminal scam systems worldwide.
You can file a complaint online at ReportFraud.FTC.Gov or call 877-FTC-HELP (382-4357).
