Rochester woman scammed out of $1,300 in 'federal agent' dupe
May 26—A Rochester woman is out more than $1,000 after receiving a call from a man claiming to be a federal agent wanting to help her clear up an issue involving several bank accounts that had been opened in her name.
What the woman did not know at the time was that the man on the other end of the phone was a scammer and the two other calls she'd received in connection to the first call also were scammers.
The woman reported to police on Tuesday that she had received a call from a man who claimed to be with a federal agency. The man said several bank accounts had been opened in the woman's name and said he could help her clear the matter up, but would need to communicate with local police on her behalf, Rochester Police Capt. Casey Moilanen said.
The man asked the woman for the department's phone number and a short time later she received a call from the department's phone number. The woman on the other end claiming to be a police officer was a scammer. The woman was transferred to a third person — another scammer — who told the woman to go to the bank, withdraw cash and then buy Nike gift cards. The woman did that and then read the gift card numbers to the scammer. She was also asked to send a selfie, which she did.
The woman realized it was a scam when she told her friends about the incident. She lost $1,300.
