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An elderly couple in Grey that fell victim to an online scam was able to quickly recover $19,500 with the help of their bank and local authorities.
On Nov. 7, a Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office deputy was called to Androscoggin Savings Bank in Gray for a report of fraud.
Working with the bank and the couple, the deputy’s investigation found that the couple were victims of an online scam in which they were convinced they were due for a rebate the day before. The scammers then persuaded the couple to grant them remote access to their computer or cell phone, according to a release from the sheriff’s office.
The scammers then showed the couple a fake bank account portal that looked legitimate, making it appear that a larger amount of money than the couple was supposedly owed for a rebate was mistakenly deposited. For example, $20,000 was displayed on the fake account when scammers claimed the rebate was only $200, said the sheriff’s office.
Telling the couple they needed to “return” the money that was accidentally deposited into their account, the scammers convinced the couple to withdraw cash from their real bank accounts. As the victims followed these withdrawal instructions, the scammers moved $20,000 into their legitimate accounts to make the false deposit seem real.
After failing to get the couple to purchase Bitcoin, the scammers sent a courier to the victim’s address to collect the cash.
Alerting the bank of this incident the next day, Androscoggin Savings Bank quickly froze the couple’s accounts, and no further funds were lost.
The deputy soon found the potential location of the couple’s cash provided to the courier, and with the cooperation of FedEx, the stolen $19,500 was successfully recovered and returned to the couple.
This case remains under investigation by the Cumberland County Criminal Investigative Bureau.
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