District attorney issues warning after two Wichita residents lose $175,000 to scams
Two Wichitans are out $175,000 after two separate online scams in the past couple of days, according to a news release from the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
The first scam involved a man in his 70s who noticed a pop-up warning on his computer that his bank account had been hacked. A scammer told the man to send $35,000 to another bank account.
The scammer told the man it was to “keep his money from being stolen and to catch the hacker,” the DA’s news release said.
The money was sent and the scammer asked the man to send $20,000, but the man’s bank blocked the wire transfer. The man realized at this point that he had been scammed, the release added.
In the second scam, a woman in her 70s saw a pop-up warning on her computer that it had been hacked. She called the number on the screen and a woman who said she was with Microsoft answered, the release said.
The scammer asked the woman for authorization to log into her computer, the release said.
The woman was told someone had withdrawn $20,000 to purchase pornography. She was then told that she could be charged with possessing child pornography and money laundering, according to the release.
The scammer convinced the victim to make several withdrawals from her bank account resulting in just under $140,000, the release read.
“In both these cases, the money is gone,” the DA’s office said.
The DA’s office reminds residents to never call or text a number from a computer pop-up screen.
“If someone you have never met asks for cash, gift cards or cryptocurrency, it is a scam,” the release said.