Sedona AZ (January 31, 2015) – The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office Community Relations Specialist, Anthony Palermo, recently recovered from a 2014 auto accident and now back on the job, is notifying the public of a computer scam that cost a local victim $1,800:
A man received a call from con artists posing as a computer repair company. The victim, a 75-year-old man, called police on January 20, 2015, to report that he had been contacted by The Devine Group, and that a man with an Indian accent told him they noticed problems with his computer, but could fix them for $199, the report said.
He agreed, and granted the caller access to his computer. After that, “everything seemed okay at first,” the report said.
But a few days later, another man called from the Devine group, saying that mistakes had been made, and the company would fix them for free and that they would refund his money by crediting it directly to his account, the report said. The victim agreed.
Then, after a brief wait, he was told “the finance people” had accidentally credited him $2,199 instead of $199, the report said, and, he was informed, “the worker in finance will be terminated unless they can get the money back.” The man asked him to send it back via Western Union.
The victim did, although he was told that he could only sent $1,800 at a time, the report said. He called the computer repair con artist back and said the first payment had been made.
He didn’t have enough to cover the entire “Devine Group finance people’s mistake” because it hadn’t yet cleared, so he used his own money.
The next morning, when he checked his accounts, the victim found the deposited funds had never appeared and he had turned over his own $1,800 to the scammers, the report said.
He was no longer able to reach anyone at the Devine Group phone number used to contact the company previously.
His bank has started an investigation.
If you have been a victim of a scam or fraud, please alert your local sheriff’s office or police department.
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So sad to here this! I hope the man is able to recover his $1800.00.
Oh, so sad.
Appreciates this article.
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Anybody scamming Seniors and the vulnerable need to be put away on major theft charges & made to perform community services!
I thought everyone recognized this scam, and am so disheartened to hear one of our locals got caught up in it!
WHAT CAN WE DO WHEN THESE FOLKS CALL – they continue to call us! HOW CAN WE HELP CATCH THEM??? Why isn’t anyone giving us this kind of info so we can put a stop to this scam??
I’m a senior citizen bur sorry, I don’t have any sympathy for those who get fleeced in this manner, they must be dumb as bricks letting strangers into their homes, giving them access to their computers Identity theft!) and even bank accounts!