A 68-year-old Crossville woman has lost over $52,000 after falling victim to a computer scam.
According to police reports, the victim said on Monday, April 29, 2024 and ad from Pornhub popped on her computer screen and immediately after a message from Microsoft stated that her computer had been hacked and frozen to include her bank account. The victim said the message had a number with it that she called and spoke to a female by the name of Terry Walker. The victim gave the woman the help number and her debit card number on the back of her card. After a couple of minutes a female called by the name of Emma Sloah and advised that she was a Smart Bank Computer Fraud Department representative and told the victim she needed to withdraw a savings CD and deposit it into gold with Money Metals Exchange. The victim told police she didn’t realize it was a scam, until after she transferred over $52,000 to Money Metals Exchange.
The victim may have gotten a lucky break. The victim said that on Tuesday, April 30 a representative from Money Metals Exchange called and said that she may have been a victim of a scam, and explained the process they may have used. The victim said the Money Metals Exchange representative said they would be working with her on getting a refund.
Remember, do not automatically believe everything that pops up on your computer screen.