An 85-year-old Valley woman reached out to the Let ABC15 Know team after she says she lost thousands of dollars to scammers who used her actual PayPal transaction history to convince her they were legitimate company representatives.
Her story highlights how data breaches are making fraud schemes increasingly convincing.
Jean says she received an email that appeared to be from PayPal, asking her to verify a transaction.
"It said that an amount of 669 no 669.90 was going to be charged from my PayPal account, and if that wasn't me to call this number," Jean explained.
When she called, the scammer introduced himself as a representative from PayPal and immediately demonstrated knowledge of her recent purchases.
"The gentleman introduced himself as Henry from PayPal, and he knew my last two PayPal purchases. He had the amount and who it went to. So, I assumed that I was talking to PayPal," Jean said.
The scammer told Jean that $400 had been taken from her account and offered to help recover the money. He instructed her to type her name and "$400" on her computer screen.
"He told me to put my full name on the screen, and then to put $ sign and 400. So, I did that. And then he said, 'Did you put an extra zero in?' And I said, 'No.' He said, 'Well, it says 4,000,'" Jean said.
Henry told Jean she needed to return the "extra" money to PayPal and claimed she could only do that by purchasing gift cards.
"He said, 'What I want you to do is to go to the store and get either Nike or Apple gift cards in the amount of the $4,000,' and I said, 'Well, how do I know I'm talking to PayPal?' I asked again. He said, 'Well, how would I know what you bought the last two purchases if I wasn't with PayPal?'" Jean explained.
She says he also told her she had to stay on the phone with him throughout the process.
"I got up to four, and then my bank wouldn't allow me to do any more. So, I told him that. He said, 'Well, you know, just take what you have and go home and scratch off the top and then send them to me,"' Jean said.
Jean eventually realized she had been scammed. Her daughter Beth helped contact the bank to report the fraud, but found the process frustrating and difficult.
"I was on the phone with my mom for two hours, and we talked to seven people and kept getting the runaround," Beth said.
Beth says the stress the scam put on her mother has only made the financial loss even worse.
"Not only are you out the financial amount, but there's a lot of emotional toll to it as well. And then the banks are not making it easy to back you up," Beth said. "It's been a nightmare for my mom. She's just exhausted and, of course, overwhelmed with the whole process. And then, you know, down on herself."
Jean's experience reflects a growing trend of scammers using personal information obtained through data breaches to make their schemes more convincing.
How to Protect Yourself
If you receive an email, text or call from someone claiming to represent your bank, PayPal or similar service, do not click any links or call numbers provided in the message. Instead, use the phone number on the back of your card or visit the company's official website to find their contact information.
Be suspicious of anyone requesting payment through gift cards or cryptocurrency. Legitimate companies will not seek payment from you in this way.
Never hesitate to hang up the phone. Scammers often try to keep victims on the line to maintain control of the situation and prevent them from seeking outside advice.
If you fall victim to a scam, be sure to report it to local law enforcement, your bank and the FTC.
You can also Let ABC15 Know. Email Consumer@abc15.com.
