By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE — A 72-year-old woman was swindled out of $7,000 Nov. 28 by a con artist who told her over the phone that $8,000 had been charged to her account via her laptop to purchase porn.
The caller then pretended to transfer her to a person at her financial institution and tricked her into providing her banking information.
The victim was then instructed to purchase $7,000 in gift cards, as well as bitcoin, and to provide the transfer information to the caller.
The police officer who later took her complaint information advised her to change all her bank accounts numbers and access codes immediately and to monitor her Social Security number and credit monitoring sites for future fraud and misuse.