A Des Plaines woman lost $45,000 to scammers who said her computer had been hacked, police said Monday.
The 73-year-old victim first heard from the scammers Aug. 16. They claimed to be from Microsoft and said she needed to call a phone number to resolve the issue, police said.
The woman called the number and was told someone from her bank would contact her. The woman later got a text message from someone claiming to be with her bank’s fraud department, directing her to withdraw $45,000 and deposit it into a specific bitcoin account using a machine at a Des Plaines business, police said.
The woman did as she was instructed, police said.
Des Plaines police officer Kathryn Kozlowski cautioned people not to ever make payments to companies demanding cryptocurrency or gift cards, another common scam tactic.
“No legitimate company would ever advise you to pay (or) deposit money through gift cards or cryptocurrency,” Kozlowski said.
Kozlowski also advised people to independently verify the employment of someone claiming to be from a company during a phone call, text message or in person.
People should call police to report or ask about any suspicious activity, Kozlowski said.
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