858-324-4845

The family member who was targeted received a letter (attached), thanking her for a gift to an organization called PragerU. The letter referenced a phone number to call for any questions. She called and was told she had contacted BBB who would now resolve the issue. Somehow this call got touted through What’s App - we are unsure how. They could see everything she was doing on her phone. They asked her to send $5,000.00 to a trusted person (me: son- in-law) via Venmo and I got the alert that $5k from her had come in. Shortly thereafter another Venmo alert came in saying she requested the $5K back. I immediately drove to her house and confronted the scammer who was still on the phone. He identified himself to me as Richard Clark from BBB San Diego and said his call back number is (858) 324-4845. He said that James Anderson, a local BBB rep was in his way to this house in Maine and that James wouid finish resolving the situation. I told ‘Richard Clark’ I would call police to come if James Anderson shows up. Richard then asked me to send the money back and I refused - he screamed “Are you Stupid???” I hung up. I then called BBB locally to confirm that no reps are being sent here - of course not - and called BBB San Diego. Denise there confirmed there is no Richard Clark and the number he gave is not associated with BBB. I called the bank and they stopped payment on the transfer to Venmo. What a diabolical scam attempt! Both Denise in San Diego and the person I spoke to in local BBB here in York County Maine said they had not heard of this kind of scam before. [BBB Scam Type: Phishing] [Business: Unknown] [Location: ME, USA - 03909]

A text was sent to my 82 year old father saying Apple support needed him to call (858)324-4845 because he account was compromised. My father called and the man said his account was compromised and he needed to gather information to identify my father as the owner of the account. They asked him what his house was worth, how much savings he had, asked how much he gets in retirement, then asked to confirm two credit card numbers. My father gave them all of this. Then the man asked if my father could prove that the cards were in his possession. They told him to go to different stores and buy Apple gift cards for $500 dollars each they wanted him to do it a total of 18 times. Luckily his cards wouldn’t let him buy more than two. He lost $1000. Then the guy kept calling back to ask if my dad had bought the others. Kept telling my dad to send a picture of the gift card code and then they would return the money on his credit card. When the man called again my father called me at work to ask why the man keeps bothering him. I told him it was a scam and to not answer anymore. Then I went to his house after work took pictures of the text messages, the cards, I took down the information my dad could tell me. Then I called his credit card companies to freeze his cards and send him new ones. Now my father is in financial difficulties because he lives on a fixed income. If you want more pictures please reach out. [BBB Scam Type: Phishing] [Business: Apple-impostor] [Location: MS, USA- 39571]