By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
HEIGHTS — A scammer sent a local man a text message Dec. 9 claiming to be from his financial institution and stating that his bank account had been hacked and money withdrawn.
He then convinced his victim to provide his full name and Social Security number, after which he instructed him to withdraw $2,000 from an ATM.
The scammer then told the man to take the cash to a Detroit casino, at which point the intended victim realized he was being scammed and hung up.
The person’s bank verified that there were no unauthorized transactions from his account, and directed him to change his username and password. The bank also locked all of his accounts and advised him to file a police report.
The intended victim sent screen shots of all the texts to the police officer filing the report. The phone numbers used to text to him were researched, with negative results with respect to the scammer’s identity.
The intended victim did not lose any money. He was given an information packet on identity theft.