Before you roll your eyes and think “that would never happen to me!”… I am 57 years old and almost fell for this same fraudulent email from PayPal because I had literally just performed a couple PayPal transactions the day before. It had just enough plausible credibility to make me call the customer service number, and then when I was on the phone with “customer service” one question led to another and I finally paid attention to my suspicion early enough to squash the horrible beast before it got its claws in any deeper. Sidestepping the horror was a huge relief.
Although many are aware of the scams out there targeting elderly people, tactics are getting more believable and harder to escape.. One 74-year old lady is pushing back with a lawsuit against PayPal, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo – not saying they committed the fraud, but for not questioning or pausing these transactions in accord with state and federal consumer protection laws.. Over eight months and $500,000 later, the ordeal began with a fraudulent email alledgedly from PayPal which led her to a “consumer support” software solution which – once downloaded – was a remote desktop protocol which allows outside users to connect to and operate your computer remotely. Now there was entry for an organized network of scammers, giving them broad access to her computer data, personal information, and passwords for several of her bank accounts.
Not all of her withdrawals were online – some were unusually large in-person withdrawals from her banks – which leads to the position the court documents take which say all three corporations “failed to take corrective actions” while the fraud took place… Information came from this article in The Island Packet.
Be careful, and spread the word to all of your family and friends – but if you do get scammed, consider talking to a lawyer!
