WICHITA, KAN. – Twice in the last five days, District Attorney Marc Bennett has signed inquisitions from his Investigations Division requesting bank records. The records will assist investigators looking into two scams that have resulted in Wichita residents losing tens of thousands of dollars. In the first scam, a Wichita man in his late 70’s received a pop up warning on his computer that his bank account had been hacked. The scammer instructed the man to wire over 35-thousand dollars to another bank account to “keep his money from being stolen and to catch the hacker.” The money was wired and the scammer requested an
additional 20-thousand dollars. But his Wichita bank blocked the wire transfer and it was then that the victim knew he had been scammed. In the second scam, a Wichita woman in her mid-70’s received a pop up warning that her computer had been hacked. When she called the number on the screen, a woman who said she was with Microsoft answered and asked for authorization to log into her computer. The woman told the victim someone had withdrawn 20-thousand dollars to purchase pornography. The victim was told she could be charged with having pornography and money laundering.
The scammer convinced the woman to make several withdrawals from her Wichita bank, resulting in just under 140-thousand dollars. In both scams, the money is gone.
Some things to consider:
– Never call the number in the text, email, or pop up. Always look up the company if you are concerned. Call the number directly from the company website.
– If someone you have never met asks for cash, gift cards, or cryptocurrency, it is a scam.
– Legitimate companies do not use pop up messages on computers to contact their customers. If you receive such a message, or telephone call, or cell phone text, it is a scam. Hang up the phone or just disregard the pop up message.
