By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
HEIGHTS — A 68-year-old woman reported April 24 she was swindled out of $30,000 by con artists after she connected with them by phone April 18 after a pop-up warning appeared on her computer screen.
The initial con artist said there was fraudulent activity occurring with her credit union account, and she was transferred to another “specialist” con artist.
The woman was directed to go to her credit union and withdraw $10,000, and if questioned, to lie and say that the money was for home repairs. She was then told to deposit the money to a crypto automated teller machine.
The next day the woman received another call, and was told the original transaction did not go through, and was instructed to withdraw $20,000 from her credit union account, which she was directed to transfer to another crypto ATM.
Several days later, when the woman contacted her credit union about the incident, they advised her that there was never any problem with her account, and that she was a victim of fraud. Because she voluntarily withdrew the money, her credit union would not reimburse her loss.