Beaufort woman loses nearly $1 million to scammers posing as FBI agents, cops say
About two months after a Hilton Head woman was scammed out of $130,000 by con artists claiming to be FBI agents, a Beaufort woman reported to the sheriff’s office that she fell prey to a similar trick, losing nearly $1 million.
The 77-year-old woman called the sheriff’s office on Sept. 12 to report that she lost a total of $840,457 after a scammer reached out in March, first claiming to be a representative from the VISA Fraud Department, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.
The scammers told her they were reaching out regarding a purchase on her account from Best Buy that seemed to be fraudulent. The woman was told police would be contacting her and later got a call from someone posing as an FBI agent, authorities said in the report.
The fake agent told her that her identity “had been compromised” but that they would help her. To “protect her assets,” the woman was instructed to liquidate her accounts, according to the report.
For months, the scammers contacted her posing as agents and representatives from various organizations geared toward helping people fight against identity theft.
They instructed her to buy gold and had it picked up by a “courier” from the District Attorney’s office in Savannah, Georgia. The woman told the sheriff’s office that she had never met with anyone she talked to on the phone and had no information regarding the courier who collected the gold from her home.
After six months, the woman contacted the real FBI, where officials told her to get in touch with local police to document the incident.
Anyone who thinks they have been the victim of fraud may call 713-693-5000 or file a complaint at https://www.ic3.gov/.
This story was originally published September 18, 2022 at 11:26 AM.
