In Hingham, Massachusetts, two elderly residents recently fell victim to an old scam operation, suffering a combined loss of $36,500.
The first victim, a 76-year-old, in April, was contacted and tricked to believe his computer was infected with a virus. As stated by the Hingham Police Department, the scammer posed as a "MSN for technical support" representative and obtained remote access to the victim's computer several times within a four-month span. This scam led to electronic checks nearing $19,000 being withdrawn from the victim's account and transferred to different companies controlled by the scammer.
A 72-year-old was also duped by a comparable scam. Upon receiving a computer message from someone falsely claiming to be "Microsoft," he was manipulated to believe that his accounts were compromised and needed a secured account to solve the problem. As noted by Hingham Police Department, the scammers managed to rob $17,500 from the man’s checking and money market accounts after obtaining his banking details.
