An elderly Virginia woman lost $77,000 after scammers allegedly impersonated Amazon, Bank of America and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in a scheme designed to convince her that her identity had been tied to criminal activity.
The Alexandria resident was first contacted June 26th by a woman calling herself “Anna Covery,” who claimed to work for Amazon and warned that someone had used the woman’s account to purchase a $1,400 laptop and $200 worth of accessories, reports ALXNow
Although the woman said she did not have an active Amazon account, the caller allegedly provided a fake employee ID, complaint number and phone number to make the story appear legitimate.
The caller then allegedly transferred her to a man identifying himself as “Neil Carson,” who claimed to work at Bank of America’s fraud department.
Carson allegedly brought another person into the call, a man calling himself “Officer Marcus Aubin” who claimed to represent the FTC.
Authorities say Aubin told the woman her identity had surfaced in connection with bank accounts in Virginia, Texas, Ohio and New York. He allegedly claimed those accounts were linked to drug trafficking involving Mexico and Colombia.
The supposed FTC officer instructed the woman to monitor her accounts and report any transactions above $1,000.
Over the following days, the scammers allegedly worked to isolate the victim from her actual bank.
Carson claimed that two employees at her local Bank of America branch had been involved in fraudulent activity, including one who had allegedly been arrested for manipulating customer accounts.
The victim was later warned not to open suspicious text messages. When she received one containing a hyperlink, she contacted Aubin, who allegedly told her to ignore it.
The alleged scam escalated June 29th when Aubin claimed that someone using the woman’s identity in Florida had purchased a handgun. He also allegedly told her that her Social Security number would soon be suspended.
Aubin allegedly instructed the woman not to discuss the investigation with anyone and asked about her bank balances, home value, investments and whether she owned gold or silver.
The victim told him she had more than $100,000 in her accounts.
The following day, Aubin allegedly claimed he had spoken with the FBI and the Attorney General’s Office and told the woman to move $77,000 into a supposedly secure escrow account.
She was instructed to obtain a cashier’s check from a Bank of America branch in Old Town and make it payable to a company in Flushing, New York.
The woman followed the instructions, but began questioning the scheme after visiting the FTC’s website on July 1st and discovering that the agency does not demand money from victims in this manner.
She attempted to stop the envelope from being delivered the next day, but was told it had already reached its destination.
Authorities are investigating the alleged fraud.
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