The Hialeah Police Department is receiving much deserved credit for helping an 85-year-old New York woman after she fell prey to scammers who got her to wire nearly $50,000 to a bank account.
The woman, who only wants to be known as Lee, spotted a pop-up window while she was browsing websites online back in March.
“It was red and it took up much of the screen,” explained Lee to NBC6 affiliate WNBC. “I tried to exit out but it didn’t work.”
On the pop-up was a phone number. When she called, the person on the phone told her it was Microsoft, and that her computer had been hacked.
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“You beat yourself up, how could I be so damn stupid?,” Lee said.
Lee told WNBC the person on the phone said they would set up a sting to catch the hackers, but she would need to send $49,000 to a bank in Hialeah.
She went to a bank that wasn't her usual branch and the teller asked her if she was sure about the transaction. Lee went through with it anyway.
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Le received a text she believed was from Microsoft, thanking her for calling them. Hours later, she had a revelation.
“I said holy, I think I’ve been scammed!,” she said.
Lee called Chase Bank to report fraud, but she didn’t stop there. She filed a report with her local police department as well as police in Hialeah.
"Our communications personnel immediately contacted our detective bureau, and our detective bureau took the initiative, contacted the local bank and put a stop payment on that wire transfer," said Hialeah Sergeant Jose Torres.
That quick action is what Lee said helped her get her money back.
"Whoever's watching this, don't fall for it," Lee said. "Please, please don't."
A Chase spokesperson provided a statement which read, “It’s unfortunate that our customer fell victim to a scam. We are working with the recipient bank to try to recover the funds and will credit the customer if any are recovered.”
On Microsoft’s website there are warnings about such scams. The company telling users “any communication has to be initiated by you” and “don’t call the number in the pop-ups. Microsoft’s error and warning messages never include a phone number.”
