Man scammed out of $2,500 by bogus virus protection company

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Arnold man scammed out of $2,500 by bogus virus protection company
By Tony Krausz 13 hrs ago

A 61-year-old Arnold man was the victim of an apparent scam that cost him $2,500, Arnold Police reported.

The man, who lives in the 1900 block of South Drive, contacted authorities at 4:38 p.m. Oct. 22, after someone claiming to represent an internet virus protection company, told the man to purchase $3,000 in Best Buy gift cards, police reported.

The man told police he had purchased a protection package for $300 from an unknown company about three years ago. Someone called him recently, claiming to have bought his prior vendor and telling him he was owed a $300 refund, the report said.

The caller initially asked to refund the money through PayPal, but because the man did not have a PayPal account, the caller instead asked for his bank account number. The man provided the caller with the numbers, the report said.

When the man checked his account, he saw that $3,000 had been deposited into it, and he called the company to report the error. The person from the new company told him to purchase gift cards and provide the numbers to repay the money, the report said.

The Arnold man was only able to buy $2,500 worth of gift cards from a single Best Buy in a day, and he provided those card numbers to the bogus company. He then tried to buy another $500 card at a different location, but his card was declined, the report said.

It turned out the $3,000 had never actually been deposited into the man’s account, and he has been unable to contact the bogus company, the report said.

The case was forwarded to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. As of Nov. 2, there were no other similar scams reported in the city, Arnold Police Lt. Clinton Wooldridge said.