Man loses $15,000 to Amazon scam
By KAKE News
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WICHITA, Kansas (KAKE) — The Sedgwick County district attorney’s office is warning residents after a Wichita man recently fell victim to a scam that cost him $15,000.
The DA’s office said Wednesday that a man in his 70s received a call last summer from someone who claimed to be with Amazon. The caller told the man his Amazon account had been compromised, and he was being used as part of a drug-trafficking and money-laundering operation.
The fake Amazon rep told told he was being transferred to the Social Security Administration. That person told the victim he was being transferred to the U.S. Marshals Service. A person got on the phone claiming to be an agent with the marshals office.
“The fake U.S. Marshall [sic] told the victim he needed to prove he didn’t launder money through his bank accounts and to do that he needed to withdraw $15,000 from his bank account in Wichita,” the DA’s office said in a release. “The victim was then told to drive to Newton where he was to complete two transactions.”
The first transaction was to buy $10,000 in bitcoin and send it to the suspect. The second involved inserting $5,000 in cash, purchasing bitcoin and sending it to the suspect.
The victim was then told it was not enough money and he needed to return to his bank to make another withdrawal.
“Employees at the bank were able to explain to the man that this was a scam and encouraged him to make a police report. A report was also made with the FBI,” the release said.
The district attorney’s office said that Amazon, the Social Security Administration and the United States Marshals Service will never call you to say that your account has been hacked and will certainly not ask you to send money.
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