A 72-year-old Marblehead woman who was scammed and “held hostage” by hackers is sharing her story to help other people protect themselves.
“These scams can so easily happen to anyone,” said the woman, who met with the Current last week. She and the Marblehead Police ask that we not use her real name during the investigation, so we will call her Mary.
Chief Dennis King tells us Mary’s case is, unfortunately, not unusual. Marblehead residents are scammed out of about $100,000 a year.
Mary opened her Mac computer a couple of weeks ago, like she does most mornings.
“There was a message that took up the whole screen, telling me to call Mac support,” she said. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned since then is… don’t call them. When you call them, you enter a version of hell.”
Mary did call them, only to learn later that she had been hacked.
“I was held hostage from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.” she said. “I felt like I was hypnotized.”
When Mary called the number on the screen, a man told her that Chinese and Russian hackers running a child pornography ring had infiltrated her computer and stolen her identity. He told Mary that the hackers had also compromised her phone and that she shouldn’t make any calls.
The man then patched her through to someone he said was with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation investigating the child porn case. The second man told Mary she might be charged in the child porn ring, but that she could help catch the suspects by going to her bank and taking out as much money as possible.
Mary withdrew $7,500 from her bank in Marblehead.
“He told me to tell the bank teller that I had a medical emergency,” she said. “He said if I said anything else it would jeopardize the investigation.”
Then, Mary was instructed to deposit the money in a Bitcoin machine in Salem.
“It was hurry, hurry, hurry. Everything was rushed and had to be done right away,” she said. “I haven’t felt that kind of stress since my 1-1/2-year-old baby had open heart surgery,” years ago.
Mary couldn’t figure out how to use the Bitcoin machine, so the man, who kept her on the phone, told her to mail the money instead. He had very specific instructions.
“He told me I needed to wrap the money in aluminum foil and bubble wrap and that I should put a snack on top of it” to camouflage the items inside, she said.
After carefully wrapping the money and placing snacks on top, Mary brought the package to UPS in Marblehead and mailed it to a California address, as directed by the scammer.
Later that night, after dinner with a friend, it dawned on Mary that she had been duped.
“I said to myself, ‘Oh my God, I just got scammed,’” she said. “I came out of the trance I was in.”
Mary called Marblehead Police and told her story to an officer. They realized that there might be time to contact UPS and stop delivery of the package.
Mary and the officer called UPS, which agreed to send the package back to Marblehead rather than deliver it to California. When Mary opened it at UPS, she unwrapped the bubble wrap and the aluminum foil and found her money.
“It was a miracle,” she said.
Mary says her friends and family can’t believe she fell for the scam.
“But they take over your rational mind and go straight for your gut,” she said about the criminals. “They don’t give you time to ask yourself, ‘What’s going on here?’”
King said many victims don’t report scams because they’re embarrassed.
“This case shows the power of persuasion and lengths that these scammers will go to and how the scams and methods have evolved over the years.,” he added. “Everyone should be mindful that it could happen to them or a family member and be vigilant. Never hesitate to call MPD for help on these types of calls/emails, or mailings.”
King has advice on what to look out for to avoid becoming a victim.
“Never give out your personal information on the phone, no matter what,” he said. “The government, your cell phone provider, your bank, credit card companies and utility companies do not seek out your information, they have it already.”
King continued, “Same thing goes online. Don’t open things online (attachments) that are not familiar to you. People can be very convincing and hone their scamming skills for years. Common scams like the grandson/granddaughter ‘I need bail money’ are very convincing. You would never give somebody bail money over the phone; that would have to be done in person. Virus scams can be scary because you think your information will be exposed in a negative light, like a sexual predator. Tactics such as fear and threats are used so people don’t think rationally and make decisions they would otherwise not make.”
King urges any seniors who suspect they may be getting scammed to hang up their phone, log off their computers and contact the Marblehead Police or the Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11.
Since getting her money back, Mary has had to do a factory reset on her computer, get all new bank accounts, freeze her credit and get two-step verification on her emails.
“I feel compelled to help stop people from becoming a victim,” Mary said about why she’s speaking out.
She also encourages people not to make fun of scam victims for being too naive.
“I have a plea to well-meaning, caring family and friends to please be supportive,” she said.
