CLEVELAND — Tricked by a spoofed number and false threats of arrest, a local woman lost nearly $200,000; she's now urging others to be vigilant against similar scams.
It started as a phone call and ended with a local woman being bilked out of her life savings.
“I usually don’t pick up any phone calls, but the caller ID said public services, and it was like three times in a row,” said the woman.
She googled the phone number, which had a Columbus area code, and it came back, she said, as the Bureau of Organized Crime at the Columbus Police Department.
“I thought maybe it had something to do with my green card, so I picked up on the third one,” she explained.
The number was spoofed, and she was about to be scammed. The 45-year-old woman asked that we conceal her face and not disclose her name because she fears for her safety and the safety of her family. The man on the other end of the phone said her social security number had been stolen and was being used to traffic drugs. Although the scammer didn’t think she was involved, she did need a new Social Security number.
“He was saying that my internet flow of traffic is also being monitored, whatever you Google I can see,” she added.
The scammer warned her not to tell her husband because the scammer claimed he could be arrested as an accomplice in drug trafficking.
“The thought that my husband could be taken away for one, and if I because of the green card if I get affected, I need him to be with the kids. That was my weakness,” she said.
The elaborate scheme lasted not hours or days but two weeks. The scammers had the mother of two download an app to communicate with someone he said was with the Social Security Administration, but it wasn’t; it was the scammer. The woman wired money from the bank, transferred money from her retirement account, maxed out her credit cards, bought Apple gift cards, and sent cash to a crypto bank.
“My husband and I lost about $200,000,” she said.
On the day she was told agents from three different federal agencies would meet with her to deliver her new Social Security number, nobody showed up. When the name of the person she was dealing with on the app changed, she suspected a scam and told her husband.
“I was in a panic basically, the kids were eating dinner, and I pulled him aside and broke down,” she explained.
The couple then called their local police department and filed a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Luckily, about half of her money was able to be recovered because she acted just in time to allow authorities to track the money.
“I’m hoping that this really gives me the opportunity to help somebody else in the same situation,” she explained.
The FBI said this is an ongoing investigation, and other victims have also lost money due to the scam.
If you suspect you or someone you know is a victim of a scam, the FBI advises filing a complaint with their Crime Complaint Center and contacting your local police immediately.
