Scammers use threats of child porn file transfers to bilk SunRiver couple out of $10K

Composite image using call log screen courtesy of Krebs Security as overlay; background image by Gorodenkoff/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Loan-fee scams are becoming more popular than ever, including fraudsters asking for payment in store gift cards, because once they get the 16-digit code, they don’t need the physical card to spend the money.

Such was the case with a woman who contacted St. George News advising of a scam to which she and her husband fell victim. It all started with the purchase of a robotic vacuum cleaner. The woman said she was embarrassed enough by the situation that she didn’t want to give her name, but she ultimately wanted to make sure people were aware of the scam.

The woman, a resident of SunRiver, told St. George News that her husband connected the new robotic cleaner to the internet but advised her a short time later that the internet account appeared to have changed over to the robotic company’s account. That is where the problems first started.

“He told me, ‘They’ve hijacked our internet,'” she said.

Shortly after, she received a call that appeared to have come from Apple Services, at least from what was displayed as an incoming call. When she answered, she said she was told that several hackers were using her internet IP address to transfer files containing child pornography through her computer.

Photo for illustrative purposes only of call log screen showing Apple Inc., as caller, but number is spoofed and is linked directly to a scammer | Image courtesy of Krebs Security, St. George News

The man then said he would show her the various accounts from which the files were being sent and requested that he remotely access her computer. Convinced the man was an actual technician working for Apple, she agreed and followed the prompts to allow him to access remotely.

“Once he was in my computer, he actually showed me a screenshot of different user accounts that had accessed our internet and were transferring these files containing what he said was child porn,” she said. “I could see the list with my own eyes.”

The “technician” told her the files could be removed for a fee and instructed her to purchase gift cards and call him back with the 16-digit code right away.

She said she panicked, thinking that her internet was being used “for such horrible, horrible activity,” and went out to purchase the first set of gift cards. Upon her return, she provided the man with the code imprinted on the back of the card. 

The man then told her the money from the gift card would result in the removal of a number of accounts accessing her computer but not all of them.

He then brought up a screen showing there were still accounts that were using her internet to transfer files and instructed her to purchase two more gift cards, and the files would be removed once she returned with the code. This scenario played out multiple times, she said, and each time a number of the supposed hacker accounts would drop off with each card purchase.

Additionally, each time she provided the code for the gift cards, the caller emailed her a receipt for her records, which she said seemed to add legitimacy to what she was being asked to do. And yet, while she was making multiple trips to retail outlets to purchase the cards, the scammer, who still had remote access to her computer, deleted the receipts and all traces of the intrusion.

All told, she purchased $10,500 in gift cards from multiple local retailers, including Smiths, Albertsons and Target, she said, but by the time it was over and she realized what had happened, the only evidence that remained was a screenshot of one of the receipts the hacker missed while deleting all traces of the scheme.

Receipt sent to recipient appears to come from Apple, Inc., but it was later discovered to be a scam | Submitted photo, St. George News

“Everything else was wiped out. It’s like it never happened,” she said.

While this scenario may seem far fetched, according to the Federal Trade Commission, it’s not as rare as it seems. 

The agency receives numerous reports from people being scammed into buying gift cards because scammers are so good at creating a sense of urgency during the call, which causes the recipient to go on high alert, similar to what the reader reported.

“Scammers are good at convincing people there really is an emergency,” the FTC stated. “So lots of people have made the trip to the Walmart or Target or CVS to buy gift cards to send to these callers.”   

Gift cards are the preferred choice of cyber-criminals for two reasons. First, once the scammers have the 16-digit code number from the back, they don’t need to have the card in their possession and can then sell that code to others at a discount price over the internet. In many cases, the codes are sold before their victims even realize they’ve been conned.

More importantly, unlike bank transfers, which can be traced, authorities are unable to trace the scammer’s identity or the individuals who might subsequently purchase the card numbers online. This was confirmed when the woman contacted the retailers where she purchased the cards.

Even worse, she said, when she contacted her bank, she was told that since she used her debit card to purchase the gift cards, it would be difficult to recover the money, and she was advised by the bank to file a police report. However, when she attempted to do so, she was told the transactions were untraceable, and no report was filed.

With 1.4 billion active devices worldwide, 900 million of which are cell phones, there is a huge market for scammers to operate within.

The FTC says that the most important thing to know is that “anyone who demands payment by gift card is always, always, always a scammer.” Anyone who falls victim to this type of scam is urged to report the activity to the local police department as well as the FTC.

As an unfortunate side note, the reader told St. George News that shortly before she fell victim to the scam, an alert was sent out to all residents at SunRiver warning of gift card scams, but she didn’t open the email until after the incident took place.

She said that missing the alert prompted her to reach out to St. George News to warn others of the scam.

“If it prevents even one person from being scammed like we were,” she said, “then at least something good will come out of this.”

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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