74-year-old US woman loses more than RM90,000 in Internet scam; California man indicted
A 19-year-old from California who was indicted June 7 is accused of taking part in an Internet tech scam that stole US$20,000 (RM94,335) from a Kettering woman in her 70s.

Karan Karan of Fresno, Calif., is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court for theft (elderly/disabled person) and telecommunications fraud. He is held on US$850,000 (RM4mil) bail in the Montgomery County Jail.

The scam started when the woman clicked on a phishing email and called the phone number listed on the email, according to an affidavit filed in Kettering Municipal Court.

Through several phone conversations with the suspect and possibly other men, she mailed US$5,000 (RM23,583) to a person, took US$18,000 (RM84,901) in cash to a person and was asked to meet in person and bring another US$12,500 (RM58,959) to a man identified as Karan to fix a computer issue, the affidavit stated.

However, police said the woman contacted them before meeting Karan.

“When the suspect, Karan Karan, walked up to the vehicle to collect the money, he was taken into custody,” the affidavit stated.

The woman lost an additional US$1,000 (RM4,716) that was removed from her banking accounts electronically after she gave the suspect all of her personal information over the phone, police said.

The FBI reported that scams targeting people 60 and older caused more than US$3.4bil (RM16bil) in losses in 2023, an increase of about 11% from the year before. The average victim lost US$33,915 (RM159,968).

Tech support scams were the most widely reported type of elder fraud in 2023, followed by personal data breaches, confidence and romance scams, non-payment or non-delivery scams, and investment scams, according to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Those who believe they may have been the victim of a scam should call their local police.

How to protect yourself

Do not rely on caller ID: It can be spoofed to look like a familiar organisation such as the bank is calling you.

Do not grant remote access (the ability to control your computer or device from another location) to anyone unless the request comes from a verified source. Most tech support brands do not reach out to you unsolicited or request personal information.

Do not give out sensitive information such as bank account details or your Social Security number over the phone – unless you initiated the contact. – Dayton Daily News/Tribune News Service
Internet,Cybersecurity,Scam
A 19-year-old from California who was indicted Friday is accused of taking part in an internet tech scam that stole US$20,000 (RM94,335) from a Kettering woman in her 70s.