SOLOMON — A Gila Valley woman is out $25,000 following an internet security scam.
The woman told Graham County Sheriff’s deputies that she received an e-mail stating her McAfee software was set for an automatic three-year renewal of $499. She said she had canceled the service years before and made contact with the sender of the e-mail to stop the auto payment.
The man asked for permission to operate her computer remotely, and he would reimburse the woman two payments of $250 each.
The man then said an error was made and she was reimbursed $25,000. She said she saw a pending transfer into her bank account in that amount. She also said the man connected her with another man who claimed to be a president for her bank, who assured her the situation was not a scam.
The woman was instructed to go to her bank and withdraw the erroneous transfer in small bills and send that money to an address in Houston.
The woman did and that’s when she learned there was no transfer of money into her account, only her withdrawal.
She gave deputies the tracking number for her parcel, as well as the phone numbers of the people with whom she was in contact; however, deputies were unable to re-establish contact with the scammers.
