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ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. (First Alert 4) – An 80-year-old St. Charles County woman lost her life savings of $35,000 to scammers who used fake emails and spoofed caller ID to convince her to deposit money into a cryptocurrency ATM.
Georgianna Merrell said the scam began in November when she received what appeared to be a PayPal alert claiming there was an automatic debit she didn’t recognize.
“I knew better, but at that moment I didn’t. I don’t know how to explain that,” Merrell said.
Merrell called the number listed at the bottom of the email and spoke to a man who told her the charge was tied to a serious crime.
“He said you’ve got another email here where it says it’s a child pornography site, and he said you can be prosecuted for that,” Merrell said.
The person claimed that her bank had been notified and would handle the matter further. Moments later, her phone rang with a caller ID showing First Community Credit Union, her bank.
“I felt safe and secure. Then he said the way that my bank had been going in and out that it was possible that someone at the bank was giving out information they shouldn’t,” Merrell said.
Scott Granneman, a cybersecurity expert and adjunct professor at Webster University, said it takes just seconds for scammers to manipulate caller ID to make a call appear like it’s coming from a trusted source, including banks.
The caller told Merrell to withdraw her money from her bank, claiming they had negotiated with other banks.
“We want you to get your money out of your bank,’ they said they negotiated with other banks,” Merrell said.
Merrell withdrew $35,000 and deposited it into a cryptocurrency ATM.
“It’s like another ATM but has nothing to do with the normal ATM… So anyway, I put $35,000 in there,” Merrell said.
The next morning, something didn’t feel right to Merrell.
“I called Bitcoin, and I asked about where my money was, and they said, well, that’s distributed to wallets, and they’re gone… They sent it to wallets in Nigeria,” Merrell said.
“Wow… that poor lady,” Granneman said.
Granneman warns people should be wary of suspicious emails.
“Don’t believe emails, and if it says something awful has happened, call us at this number now. Do not do that, go to the website, look the phone number up, and call them, and slow down,” Granneman said.
Merrell filed a police report with St. Charles County Police, but she said they have already told her it’s unlikely she’ll get her money back.
“You have to stop and slow down, and think. These guys are really good at what they do… they get a lot of practice,” Granneman said.
Merrell hopes her experience will prevent others from falling victim to similar scams.
“The past, you can’t do anything about. I’m really just at the point where I hope somebody does realize, don’t do it,” Merrell said.
Merrell’s family has started a GoFundMe to help her get back on her feet. You can find the link here.
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