A 73-year-old woman in Troy lost more than $600,000 in a scam.
“They sent her what appeared to be an official Publishers Clearing House document claiming that she had won $3.5 million, a car, and $7,000 a week for life,” said Sgt. Ben Hancock with the Troy Police Department. “Like the old saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
The scammer posed as an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission, which Publishers Clearing House is known to use in transferring prize money.
However, in this case, the attorney was an imposter and a thief.
“She went back and forth, sent multiple cashier’s checks, deposited money into bitcoin ATMs, which was then transferred into the suspect’s account, and also bought a couple of pieces of high-end jewelry and sent them to the suspect,” Hancock said.
The 73-year-old did so under the assumption she was securing her funds and paying for the vehicle’s storage fees.
In reality, police say she was being swindled out of $669,500 over the course of several months.
“Within the last couple weeks, she told her friend about it and her friend said this doesn’t sound right, this seems like a scam, maybe you should talk to the police department,” Hancock said.
The woman filed a report with Troy police, and an investigation was opened.
Hancock said it’s unlikely the scammer will be caught, or the money will be recovered.
“You should never have to send money to somebody if they’re claiming to be giving you money in the long run,” he said.
He said other red flags included sending cashier’s checks and depositing money into a Bitcoin ATM.