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The victim had already bought a $500 Google Play gift card and given an online thief the numbers on it when she returned to the CVS on Rock Road to buy another, Police Chief Dean Ackermann said.
The woman had been using her computer when a spam “security warning” popped onto the screen, telling her the machine had a virus and giving her a number to call for help, Ackermann said.
Following an operator’s instructions, she bought the first gift card thinking it would solve the “problem,” the chief said.
However, the operator “called her back and informed her there was a second problem and an additional $500 would be required,” he said.
That’s when the CVS manager stepped in and called police.
A police officer called the number, identified herself and was hung up on, Ackermann said.
Police, meanwhile, advised the victim to contact the issuing bank for her credit card to see whether she could void the transaction, he said.
Ackermann urged citizens not to fall for scams that claim their computers have problems and then ask for money to “fix” them.
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