Watch Out – Florida Residents Beware Of This Online Scam

Author Babs and Joe Winner

April 30th, 2023 8:15 AM

John McKendrick from West Palm Beach had his entire life savings wiped out by online scammers. McKendrick who is a U.S. Navy Veteran says he missed all the warnings signs of an online scam. It all started back in March when he spotted a weird charge on his credit card. He says he thought it was Norton Security Protection.

After googling the company, he found a number and called them. The person who answered the phone said that he needed remote access to his computer to check whether their software was actually installed. The person on the phone goes on to say that their software was not installed, but they found “hackers.” McKendrick says he was convinced that he need their expertise.

Turns out the person on the phone was the actual hacker for the online scam.

He told McKendrick that they would be putting $10K in his bank account to trigger the “hackers.” McKendrick was then instructed to withdraw $10K out of his bank account and put it in a bitcoin machine. He did this 10 times before catching on.

McKendrick discovered he was withdrawing his own money and now his life savings is gone. He is now out of $94K. McKendrick filed a police report and reached out to his bank. McKendrick says even if he does not get his money back, he’s hoping his situation can help someone else.

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