A widow lost $661,000 in a tech scam. What’s a tech scam and how can you avoid it?

Ariel Harmer
·3 min read
Boyd Webb, manager of the Utah Cyber Center, works in the center at the State Office Building in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Cybercrime has been on the rise in recent years, with tech support scams specifically becoming increasingly popular.
Boyd Webb, manager of the Utah Cyber Center, works in the center at the State Office Building in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Cybercrime has been on the rise in recent years, with tech support scams specifically becoming increasingly popular. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

A retired widow lost $661,000 in a tech scam two years ago when a man posing as an investigator for her bank convinced her to liquidate her life savings.

Marjorie Bloom was scammed out of the money in 2021, per CNBC. A man claiming to be a fraud investigator for PNC Bank, where Bloom was a customer, told her criminals were attempting to steal her information. In order to prevent this, he told her, she had to immediately transfer her savings to cryptocurrency.

The man told Bloom she couldn’t tell anyone about the move so she wouldn’t alert the criminals attempting to steal from her. Had she told her children, they might have been able to help her; as it stands, she has been unable to recover the stolen funds.

Tech scams are unfortunately common. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, losses from cybercrime have jumped 49% in the past year. Tech scams are also becoming increasingly popular — losses from tech scams grew 137% between 2020 and 2021.

What is a tech scam?

A tech scam, also called a tech support scam, is a form of cybercrime that occurs when scammers pose as tech or customer support representatives in order to gain access to sensitive information.

These scams often target the elderly, according to the FBI’s 2022 Elder Fraud Report. Nearly half of last year’s tech scam victims were over the age of 60. The report found that these older adults lost approximately $588 million to these scams last year.

Cryptocurrency is often used in these scams. According to the same report, the ease of transferring large sums of money and anonymity of doing so can make it easier for scammers to avoid detection.

How to avoid tech scams

The FBI has advised consumers to heed the following guidelines to avoid falling prey to similar scams:

  • Keep antivirus, security and malware protection updated on all devices.

  • Disable or reduce pop-ups on all devices. If a pop-up or error message does appear and includes a phone number, do not call the number. Authentic warning messages will never include a phone number.

  • Do not respond to unsolicited contact.

  • Scammers can adjust caller ID readings to appear legitimate, so only answer calls from saved numbers. Do not return calls from unknown numbers.

  • Only use customer support numbers found on verified websites. Numbers obtained through sponsored results of online searches are often boosted by advertising and are not always accurate.

  • Do not give in to the pressure to act quickly. Criminals will attempt to “amygdala hijack,” or trigger a fear response and impair reasoning skills, by telling victims they are in immediate danger and need to act fast.

  • Do not download any software or visit any website that someone you do not know has directed you to.

  • Do not give anyone remote access to your devices or accounts unless you know them and have verified their trustworthiness.

  • Do not give personal or financial information to any tech support.

If you or someone you know has fallen victim to a tech scam or similar crime, contact your state consumer protection services.