ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orlando man fell for a tech support scam and lost $2,500.
Although the scammers who convinced people to buy the gift cards didn’t get their money, victims have yet to get their money back from the merchants.
Rick Miller was trying to share photos between his phone and computer when a pop-up appeared on his screen warning him that there was a problem with his Microsoft account.
“I thought it was the real deal,” Miller told Action 9 consumer investigator Jeff Diehl.
Initially, he was directed to an online chat to resolve the issue.
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“They asked me some questions and said, ‘This is a much more serious issue. We’ll have a Microsoft expert call you,'” Miller said, recalling the conversation.
The expert who called turned out to be a scammer: she convinced Rick to allow her to remotely access his computer, after which she told him that his computer and phone had been compromised and that there were likely problems with his bank account.
“The way she spoke was very professional,” Miller said.
Soon after, he was on the phone with another scammer posing as a bank manager who told him that someone had bought Sephora gift cards and stolen $7,000 from his account.
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According to Miller, “He said, ‘Here’s one way to get your money back.’ He also said, ‘Have you ever heard of double charging?'”
I was told that duplicate gift card purchases would put a warning on my account so I could cancel both transactions, and was directed to buy the cards immediately at the Sephora in Winter Park, which I now know was a red flag.
“If someone is asking you to actually purchase a gift card to make payment, that’s definitely a scam,” said Eva Velazquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center. She told Action 9 that the scope and sophistication of these tech support scams continues to grow.
“They are able to make the initial contact with the targeted victim seem authentic and real,” Velazquez said.
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Rick Miller was worried because it seemed like such a strange process, but he bought 10 $250 gift cards from Sephora for a total of $2,500. He only realized it was a scam when the scammer asked him to read the numbers on the back of the cards.
Miller told Action 9: “I said, ‘No, this is crazy,’ and I said, ‘You’re tricking me,’ and I said, ‘I wouldn’t do this.'”
He told the Action 9 team that he never scratched out the PINs on the gift cards and never gave the scammers any card numbers.
But when he tried to contact Sephora about a possible refund, things got even worse: Miller says he believes his card was frozen as part of the refund process. He hasn’t received a refund since, and the card remains frozen, meaning he can’t give them as gifts or let his wife make any purchases with it.
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“Why don’t they try to fix it? At least get the card working again? That’s the least they can do, because I bought the card,” Miller said.
Action 9 has reached out to Sephora to inquire about this incident, and our team will let you know if they contact you back. If you’re not sure if someone has contacted you, the best thing to do is hang up and look up the actual company’s contact information yourself, so you can call them and see if there really is an issue with your account.
If you have lost money to an online scam, you should report it to the FBI.
The Identity Theft Resource Center also provides answers and assistance to people with questions related to fraud and identity theft.
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