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HIGH ALERT
She thought it was her only way out, and then she lost thousands
- Isabelle Hajek, Freelance News & Blogs Reporter
- New York
A WOMAN has been left despondent after being scammed in an elaborate gift card fraud scheme.
Myrza Rodriguez-Fearnley lost thousands after responding to a scam email she believed was from a money transfer app.
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She was shocked when she received an email containing sensitive personal information alerting her to an unauthorized purchase from PayPal.
At least she had thought the email was from PayPal, as it contained the official logo, but it was when she began communicating with the contact that the situation devolved into chaos.
The email contained the last four digits of her social security number, her name, and her PayPal account number, and showed a $981 purchase of Bitcoin.
Given that the person contacting her already had so much information, Myrza believed the email to be legitimate, spurring her to call the attached number for help.
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She described the voice on the other end of the line as a man “with an Indian accent.”
Myrza said that the man instructed her to buy gift cards from Target and Walmartto clear her name after her account was used to buy child p*rnography.
She felt something might be off, but the urgency of the situation caused her to take action.
The scammers told her that $892 was used to purchase child p*rnography from a site based in Ohio and that she was on the hook for legal action because of this transaction.
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"My gut was telling me, ‘There’s something wrong here. This sounds like a scam,’” she told local CBS affiliate WKMG in Orlando, Florida.
"But these people are telling me we need to prove that it’s you.”
AI phone or text Scams
As she spoke with the scammer over the phone, Myrza wrote down everything he told her, documenting the encounter.
The scammers did not provide any proof of the alleged p*rnography purchase but did keep Myrza on the phone while she went to buy gift cards.
After she bought them, the man on the phone told her to take pictures of the gift cards and the purchase codes on the back.
In total, she spent $2,285 on gift cards.
It was the next request that made the panicked woman more suspicious.
After she had bought gift cards, the scammer told her over the phone that she would need to wire money to a Bank of America account.
"That’s when I wake up and (thought), ‘Oh my gosh, this is a scam. These people are stealing my money!’” she said.
In reflection, Myrza said that she was still worried about her information being out there.
"I'm very paranoid right now because these people have my information and they made me spend all this money and was so stupid to believe," she explained.
But despite her fear, she has come forward to protect others.
"I don't want this to happen to anyone," she explained.
"Because it's the worst nightmare that you can ever have."
AMERICANS FRAUGHT WITH FRAUD
The FTC found that fraud cost Americans over $14 billion in 2023.
“Scammers go for an emotional hijacking,” Amy Nofziger, the director of victim support for the AARP Fraud Watch Network, told The Press Democrat.
“That's how they kind of overtake your cognitive brain, and they make you act with your emotions.”
The FTC said that the loss due to scams like the one that tricked Gage increased by 14% in 2023 over the previous year.
“Let's be very clear that this can happen to anyone of any age,” Nofziger said.
“Even if you are a Ph.D. from Harvard, you are vulnerable to one of these scams, and then sometimes even more so, because you trust yourself.”
There are some tips that consumers can follow to avoid falling victim to scams like this.
"The most important thing is for people to always listen to what the ask is,” Nofziger said.
"Are they asking you for money in a prepaid gift card? Are they asking you to go to an ATM machine? Are they asking you for your Medicare number orsocial securitynumber or remote access into your device? If it's any of one of those five things, it doesn't matter what they're saying. It's 100% a scam," she said.
IT HAPPENED TO ME TOO
Myrza is not alone in being scammed after fearing legal action following fake purchases.
Judith Gage's troubles began when her computer screen froze and a message popped up saying he had beenhackedand needed to callApplefor support.
“I can't even describe it. It was almost like being on a path to self-destruction that I couldn't stop and maybe knowing at some level how incredibly crazy it all was and doing it anyway,” she said.
The person who responded at the fake Apple number soon transferred Gage to a fakeWells Fargorepresentative, who told her that her bank account had been used for something that shocked her into staying on the phone.
Because it's the worst nightmare that you can ever have.
Myrza Rodriguez-Fearnley
The scammer said her identity had been used to purchase child p*rnography and that she was in serious trouble.
He told her that the Federal Trade Commission was involved and that she needed to drive to her local bank and withdraw themoneyto hand over to an agent.
In a panic, she did as she was told and handed over $20,000 to a man who showed up at her driveway.
"Seeing that much cash in an envelope and walking out and following through with his stupid instructions and letting this guy tell me what to do who I didn’t even know but I guess I trusted on some level...It was horrible.”
The next morning, she realized that she had likely been scammed.
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“If anything, I’m skeptical of everything, yet I went down this rabbit hole. I was so complicit in this ridiculous thing. It's impossible even though everyone says you can't blame yourself. Who am I supposed to blame?”
Although Gage reached out toSonoma CountyPoliceand Wells Fargo Bank thenextday, she said it was unlikely she would be able to get her money back.
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