North Fayette Township warns against computer scams after 2 people fall victim

Taylor Spirito,Rich Pierce
·1 min read

The North Fayette Police Department is warning against recent scams where two people lost nearly a combined $70,000.

North Fayette police said the two complaints were made in the last two weeks regarding different computer scams.

Both victims were notified that their computer security was compromised and were told to contact a representative of Microsoft’s Investigation Unit, police said. They were then told to withdraw money from their bank accounts.

One victim deposited $20,000 into a Bitcoin account, which is untraceable. The second victim handed cash to a young man at her house on three different occasions.

“We strongly urge that our residents remain vigilant in the protection of their personal information and finances. The actors in these calls for service used scare tactics to manipulate the victims, which ultimately led to incredible financial losses,” North Fayette police said.

Police are investigating both incidents with the help of the United States Secret Service.

Channel 11 reached out to the Secret Service and received this statement:

The United States Secret Service does not confirm or comment on the absence or existence of specific investigations. The U.S. Secret Service can say that we investigate all financial crimes that threaten the nation’s financial infrastructure and cyber criminals that look to victimize innocent citizens.

To learn more about the United States Secret Service investigative mission and learn how you can obtain additional information regarding online crypto-currency scams visit us at: https://www.secretservice.gov/investigation/DigitalAssets.

If you receive any suspicious calls or correspondence in the future, you’re asked to immediately call 911.

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