CHAMPAIGN COUNTY — Authorities are issuing a new warning after one of their residents was recently scammed out of thousands of dollars.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, Champaign County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Bob Wagner said they haven’t seen a scam like this before.
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An 80-year-old man lost $65,000 in a scam.
News Center 7’s Mason Fletcher asked Wagner if he thinks the victim will ever get his money back.
“I doubt it because we don’t know where it’s at,” Wagner said.
The man received an email from Apple instructing him to contact a person from the Federal Trade Commission and withdraw money.
“Our county received an email talking about Apple needing to get on the phone with him,” Wagner said.
The sheriff’s office couldn’t share what additional information the scammers claimed Apple needed.
However, the victim believed the scammers and gave them remote access to his personal computer.
“He needed to go get money to take care of it through the Trade Commission,” Wagner said.
Wagner added that the thieves convinced the victim to get $25,000 in cash, put it in a box, and send them a picture of it.
“They would have a courier come to his house and pick that money up,” he said.
A blue Nissan showed up at the victim’s house, and the sheriff’s office believes the driver was part of the scheme.
“This is the first time that I’ve found that they’ve actually come to your house to pick it up here in this county,” Wagner said.
Just days later, the scammers struck again twice on the same day.
Each time, they asked for an additional $20,000.
Wagner said the same driver in the same car picked up the money.
The victim told his neighbor, a Springfield police officer, about the transfer.
Wagner said the sheriff’s office checked Flock cameras for the Nissan, but hasn’t found anything yet.
“We have to figure out where they drove off to, and the most we have is a blue Nissan. License them,” Wagner said.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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