How Tech Scammers Conned Four People Out of $673,000 in Three Days (peninsuladailynews.com)
- Reference: 0184326332
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/07/06/0446207/how-tech-scammers-conned-four-people-out-of-673000-in-three-days
- Source link: https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/2026/07/03/scams-steal-almost-700k-from-residents/
> Four residents of Clallam County, a coastal region west of Seattle along northern Washington's peninsula, lost more than $673,000 in just three days, according to the Clallam County Sheriff's Office... The smallest amount lost was $3,500, which someone purchased in Apple gift cards for a scammer posing as an employee with Microsoft technical support, the sheriff's office wrote. Another person lost $50,000 after they clicked on a malicious email and unwittingly granted the scammers access to their financial accounts.
The local Peninsula Daily News reports another scam [3]involved a 64-year-old resident who attempted to contact Coinbase after seeing their account displayed shown as closed:
> "Believing they were speaking with a legitimate Coinbase representative, the victim was told there was fraudulent activity on the account and was instructed to download a 'rescue' application," the [sheriff's] release states. "The application allowed the scammer to remotely access the victim's phone." They then convinced the victim to transfer approximately $200,000 worth of cryptocurrency to what was described as a secure wallet. The funds were instead transferred to the scammer and could not be recovered...
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> In one scam, reported Monday, an 84-year-old Clallam County resident believed they had received an email from their daughter with a photo. After opening the email, a fake Microsoft security alert appeared on the computer directing the victim to call a support number, according to the release. "The victim was transferred to someone claiming to represent the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and was falsely told they were under investigation in a child pornography and money laundering case," the release states. "The scammers instructed the victim not to contact local law enforcement and claimed local banks were also under investigation. The victim was told their bank accounts were in danger of being seized and was instructed to purchase gold to protect their assets." In three separate transactions, the victim purchased approximately $420,000 worth of gold and gave it to an unknown man waiting at the end of their driveway.
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> "Only after speaking with bank officials did the victim realize they had been defrauded," the release states.
[4] USA Today offers this advice from the sheriff's press release. "These criminals are professional manipulators who prey on fear, trust and urgency. We encourage everyone to pause before sending money, purchasing gold or gift cards, or transferring cryptocurrency. A simple phone call to a trusted family member, your bank or local law enforcement can prevent a life-changing financial loss."
[1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2026/07/05/cyber-crimes-scams-washington-gold-ftc-microsoft/90815341007/
[2] https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1451727043653285&set=a.302914075201260&type=3&ref=embed_post&_rdc=1&_rdr
[3] https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/2026/07/03/scams-steal-almost-700k-from-residents/
[4] https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2026/07/05/cyber-crimes-scams-washington-gold-ftc-microsoft/90815341007/
Booking.com (Score:3)
I got a phishing message in the last week from a WhatsApp business account claiming to be the hotel company that I'm going to be staying with in a couple of days. They wanted me to do some kind of confirmation process and warned that if I didn't do it within 24 hours I might lose the reservation. There were a couple of things that were odd, but it's not the first time that a hotel company has made me jump through hoops to do a pre-check-in. It was only when I saw that the link they sent me (which I opened in a private browsing session, of course) was to a page which had a booking.com header but wasn't a booking.com URL that I got suspicious, and they had a UI for card details with no clear explanation of what they wanted them for. At that point I opened the actual booking.com and sent a message to the hotel to double-check, and after sending that message I remembered reading a few months ago that booking.com had a data leak, but I bet the phishers who wrote to me have had some successes.
Greed (Score:2)
All scams are based upon the principle that the victim has an amount of greed that makes him blind to facts.
Re: (Score:2)
> All scams are based upon the principle that the victim has an amount of greed that makes him blind to facts.
Are you blaming the victim for every scam ever carried out through all of human history?
Where do you buy gold and get it immediately? (Score:2)
Sounds weird. A scammer stands and waits at a driveway. The resident buys gold somewhere and it magically appears in his hands and he walks out and gives it to the scammer. Like gold bars, with immediate delivery or his local supermarket happens to have gold bars, just if someone needs them Sunday afternoon. That's not how reality works, sounds like someone wrote a story and forgot to think about a few important parts.
Don't blame the victims (Score:2)
As hard as it might be to relate to someone carrying six digits in cash, crypto or gold... Or as easy it is to point and laugh at someone losing money in crypto... I think we should celebrate these guys coming forward and reporting it. Most scam victims feel too ashamed to confess to being fooled, and it makes it easier for scammers to get away with it and target us.
hard to relate (Score:2)
> In three separate transactions, the victim purchased approximately $420,000 worth of gold and gave it to an unknown man waiting at the end of their driveway.
I don't understand the confusion that can result in someone doing this three separate times.
Re: (Score:2)
Agreed.
> ... to an unknown man ...
The first 2 scams involved tricking a panicked idiot into not checking what was actually happening. But giving untraceable gold to an untraceable stranger: In what universe does that sound helpful?
Re:hard to relate (Score:4, Informative)
I think it's three separate purchases of gold and one handover to the scammer.