A MAN has lost a significant chunk of his life savings to a fake gold investment opportunity.
Scammers tricked him into handing over serious money while making everything appear legitimate.
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“It was believable. It was believable enough for me to have done this,” Indiana resident Kris Owen told ABC affiliate WLS-TV this month.
“About two years ago, my wife passed away. And so, it was a pretty fragile time for me.”
Owen said the scammers had reached out to him not long after his late wife’s passing through a pop-up message.
It appeared on his computer, claiming that the gadget had been “hacked” and that he had to call a phone number immediately.
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The person on the other end impersonated an agent from the FBI.
After the call, the faux agent from a “cybersecurity task force” emailed a letter to Owen.
“[The letter] indicated my name had been implicated and that I needed to secure my personal funds through an FBI program that was that would take the monetary funds, put them in a secure deposit,” he explained to the outlet.
The scammers said that the FBI would protect his money in case it was wrongfully confiscated by Texas authorities due to Owen’s supposed “framing for a drug crime.”
Manufactured details were shown to Owen indicating that his “name had popped up in the San Antonio, Texas, area related to a confiscation of 29 pounds of cocaine.”
GOING FOR GOLD
The conversation between Owen and the scammers went on for several months through phone calls and texts until they finally convinced the widower to take $80,000 from savings and buy gold bars.
Buying gold is a common investment strategy and can sometimes be a useful way to avoid the effects of inflation and maintain long-term value.
“I was then told to bring them back to my home to take a picture of them and send that picture to them,” Owen noted.
He was then instructed to meet in a parking lot and drop the gold off in the back window of a car, and the $80,000 was gone in a flash.
“I put the package in the back window as required. I asked if he was my agent. He nodded. He never said anything to me, He nodded and drove off,” Owen continued.
Bank tips for avoiding scams
As scams become more sophisticated with the use of artificial intelligence, it is important you know how to spot a scam:
- Be skeptical of online deals that seem too good to be true, especially on social media.
- Scammers will often use tactics to make you panicked so you make quick decisions – be cautious if you are told to take immediate action and verify who has contacted you.
- Chase Bank warns customers to “never return any unexpected funds without calling Chase first.”
- Never send money to someone you have only spoken to online or by phone as this is likely a romance scam.
- Unless you 100% know who you are talking to, never give someone remote access to your device.
- Never accept help from strangers at an ATM and always be vigilant when making withdrawals.
- Do not send money or click any links indicating that you have won a prize.
Source: Chase.com
“It was gone, absolutely gone.”
CULRPIT CAUGHT?
Scammers continued to contact Owen afterward for more money, who then contacted the real FBI, who informed the Indiana resident that the gold was taken in a scam.
The bureau and police force in Carmel, Indiana, set up a sting and later arrested Chicago resident Abdul Afan Mohammed, 31.
Mohammed was later charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of wire fraud, according to WLS-TV.
Authorities told the outlet Mohammed later fled the country after entering a not-guilty plea.
MILLIONS LOST
Owen also isn’t alone in being impacted by the gold scam, as FBI Section Chief of Financial Crimes Chris Delzotto noted that its a scheme that’s cost some Americans $126 million in the past year.
“We’ve had cases all over the country related to this gold bar scheme,” Delzotto said.
“In many cases, couriers travel across state lines and far distances.”
“The couriers are typically foreign nationals. Typically, India, sometimes China, and a lot of these cases, the tech support pop-up that initiates the scam emanates from a call center in India, so we have a lot of focus in India,” he added.
The FBI has warned all Americans to never click on computer pop-ups, and calls or texts claiming to be the bureau should never be responded to.
It’s best to reach out to any government agency independently with direct contact information from its website.
Recently, a 73-year-old woman also lost about $300,000 trying to protect her bank account.
A man also lost $142,500 trying to ensure his JPMorgan Chase account was secure.
