A 79-year-old Villager was scammed out of $10,000 after her computer was hacked and her bank and credit card information stolen.
The Village of El Cortez woman contacted Lady Lake police on Monday about the scam email she received disguised as an email from PayPal notifying her of an outstanding balance. Believing it was legitimate, she called a phone number in the email. Unbeknownst to the Villager, the person on the phone was able to access her hard drive and install three programs on her computer that provided access to the woman’s Lafayette Bank and Trust account in Indiana and her Discover card. Once her accounts were compromised, the scammer purchased $10,000 in gift cards from Wal-Mart and Amazon.
The woman has been working with her bank and credit card company to recover the money.
Lady Lake Chief of Police Chris McKinstry offers some practical advice about protecting yourself from scams.
