By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE — A 66-year-old woman was swindled out of $13,000 Jan. 27 by a computer hacker who loaded malware onto her computer with a pop-up ad, then posed as a Microsoft advisor who claimed he could help her.
The con artist told her to go to her financial institution, withdraw $13,000, and convert it into bit coins and send it to him electronically. However, after she sent the funds, her computer was still infected with the malware, and she realized she had been swindled.
She was advised to cancel any credit cards in her name, and to never open emails from unknown senders or click on pop up ads.