CVE Resident Targeted!

A Century Village East resident came just a few button clicks away from losing thousands of dollars in an online scam that lasted several days, sent him to multiple locations just outside the village, and had him minutes away from handing over thousands of dollars in cash.

It began on a Friday afternoon last month when David Kirstin was at home at Lyndhurst N and in front of his computer.  Suddenly, a warning popped up on his screen claiming his computer’s virus protection had expired. He called the phone number on the warning and was immediately connected to what the voice on the other end claimed was the “fraud department.”

“It looks like there’s been some activity on your account,” claimed the voice. “Let me put you on hold while I look into it further.”

After holding a few minutes, the voice returned and told Kirstin it appeared his bank accounts may have been breached.  But not to worry, said the voice, because his people “got on this right away!”

The voice said they were connecting with Kirstin’s bank to investigate what had happened and would have more information in a few minutes.  When they returned, they told Kirsten it appeared his personal information had been stolen and was being circulated on the “dark web.”  Once again, however, the voice assured him that his people were taking care of it.  He again asked Kirstin to hold on while his teams contacted law enforcement.

Several minutes passed before the voice returned and announced they had found a way to protect his money.

“You need to take your money out of your bank account,” said the voice, which explained it appeared his account had been breached and the only way to prevent his money from being stolen was to get it out of the compromised account as soon as possible.

“Can you get to the bank right away,” asked the voice.

Kirstin looked at the clock and saw it was 4:45pm Friday afternoon.  He explained he would not be able to get to the bank before it closed for the day.  The representative from the self-proclaimed “fraud department” instructed him to make plans to get to the bank as soon as it opened Saturday morning.  His team would call back in the morning to help walk him through the process.

The next morning, as promised, Kirstin’s phone rang. It was the scammers calling back to make sure he was headed to the bank.  They kept Kirstin on the phone as he left his condo, went downstairs, climbed into an Uber, headed out the Century Village East gates, arrived at the bank, and headed in.

“You must not tell anyone at the bank what has happened, or what you are doing,” explained the voice. “We have other cases where bank associates are involved.”

As instructed by the “fraud department,” Kirstin withdrew $5,000 in cash from his account.  As soon as the voice on the other end was told Kirstin had the cash in hand, he provided an address and told Kirstin to head there right away.

It was close enough that it didn’t require a second Uber.  With $5,000 in his pocket, and the “fraud department” still on the line, Kirstin headed for a nearby convenience store. When he arrived at the store, he was instructed to look for the Bitcoin ATM inside.

“They gave me passwords to use at the ATM, and told me to deposit the money,” explained Kirstin.

As Kirstin struggled to operate the ATM, frustrations grew on both ends.  He became increasingly suspicious and apprehensive as he unsuccessfully tried to enter the passwords he had been given.  On the other end of the call, the scammer seemed equally exasperated with the delays.

After several attempts to deposit the money, Kirstin gave up and handed the phone to his wife. She had accompanied him to the bank and then to the convenience store.

Perhaps it was the troubles operating the ATM, or perhaps it was the sudden switch of voice, but as soon as his wife took the phone, the line went dead.

At this point, growing even more suspicious of the entire incident, the two headed back to the bank.  When they explained to a bank employee what had happened, they learned an even more chilling piece of information.

“This is happening a lot to residents in Century Village East,” the bank employee told Kirstin.

David Kirstin was lucky.  He came within a few button-pushes away from losing his money.  This type of scam is common among senior citizens.  Kirstin contacted the CVE Reporter and wanted to tell his story in the hopes it might help prevent someone else from becoming a victim.

“Hopefully, if I can make people aware it will help someone,” he told the CVE Reporter. “If someone like me can fall for this, it could happen to anyone.  They had just enough personal information about me to make it sound convincing.”