Rochester woman avoids falling prey to $400,000 anti-virus scam
Apr. 8—ROCHESTER — The Rochester Police Department is warning email to be wary of emails claiming to be from legitimate businesses after a 76-year-old Rochester nearly lost $400,000 to a scam.
The woman called police on Wednesday, April 7, 2022, to report the incident. She reported to police that she was trying to renew her Norton Antivirus software from an email she received when she realized it was a scam, according to Capt. Casey Moilanen.
The woman followed the link in the email sent to renew her subscription. On the website, the woman did not have to input credit card information as it said it was already on file. A short time later she received an email saying the payment was successful but instead of being $49.99, it said she was charged $409.
The woman called a number on the invoice and spoke to a person who told her she accidentally signed up for an international subscription and to rectify the issue, they needed to take control of her computer. The woman initially refused but eventually relented. She was also instructed to fill out refund information as the fake customer service representative said they accidentally deposited $409,000 into the woman's account.
The fake representative told the woman to send payments under $100,000. The person also told the woman not to turn off her computer and wait for a call back. The woman, realizing she was being scammed, called and reported the incident to police who instructed her to turn off her computer and contact her banks.
Moilanen said a common theme in many scams is that a supposed customer service representative convinces a person that the business has deposited the wrong amount of money in someone's account and the person needs to refund it.
