May 14, 2024

Connie's Story: From McAfee Alert to Financial Nightmare

Show Notes
Transcript

This episode of “Let’s Talk About Scams,” host Joyce Petrowski, founder of R.O.S.E. Resources / Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly, welcomes Connie, a recent victim of a tech support scam. Connie shares her harrowing experience of how she was deceived into giving scammers access to her computer under the pretense of a McAfee auto-renewal notice. This episode dives deep into the psychological tricks used by scammers to create urgency and manipulate emotions, leading to a significant financial loss for Connie. Listen to uncover the red flags Connie missed and learn crucial tips to safeguard yourself from similar scams. Key Episode Takeaways:

Connie’s detailed account of falling victim to a tech support scam involving a fake McAfee auto-renewal email.
Psychological tactics used by scammers, such as creating urgency and disconnecting phone calls to heighten emotional responses.
The importance of skepticism when contacted by purported tech support, especially if payment is requested via unconventional methods like Bitcoin.
Tips on protecting personal information and the significance of freezing credit to prevent identity theft.

Remember, knowledge is power—subscribe to "Let's Talk About Scams" podcast to stay updated on ways to safeguard your well-being against scams. Share what you've learned with your loved ones and stay vigilant. Stay safe and informed! Visit https://www.roseadvocacy.org/ for additional resources and newsletters to safeguard against scams. Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for individual professional / legal advice. The podcast information was carefully compiled from vetted sources and references; however, R.O.S.E. Resources / Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly cannot guarantee that you will not fall victim to a scam.

WEBVTT

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Hello, and welcome back to Let's Talk About Scams. I'm

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your host, Joyce Petrowski, founder of Rose Resources, outreach to

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safeguard the elderly, and you can find more resources at

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our website, Roseadvocacy dot org, where you can find our

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social media links and sign up for our monthly newsletters.

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On the homepage. We have an emailed newsletter and when

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miss an episode of Let's Talk About Scams podcast. So

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today I have a guest with me. Her name is Connie,

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and she's going to talk about her experience with a

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tech support scam.

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Well, welcome, Connie.

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I'm so glad you're here with us today to talk

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about your unfortunate experience with the scammers. So could you

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tell us about what happened?

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Sure, it was January twenty second. I received an email

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from McAfee, the cybersecurity people, and they wanted to auto

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renew my service with them, but I could cancel within

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the next twenty four hours.

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And I thought this was.

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McAfee just trying to get me back into their service

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because I had them a long time ago, but I

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had switched, so the fact that it was McAfee and

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the fact that they got in touch with me didn't

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seem that weird.

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It just seemed a little weld.

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So but I could cancel the service within twenty four hours,

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and if I didn't contact them, they were going to

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take the money out of my bank account to pay

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for the service. And so that immediately got my attention,

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and I immediately called the number on the screen, and

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that was that was it, That was it.

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Right there, I called the number on the screen, and

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I had received a.

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Email from McAfee the week before, and I thought, well,

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this is ridiculous, and I ignored it, but this time

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I didn't. So they, after talking with me, asked if

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they could have access to my computer because that would

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be how they would be taking care of the new account,

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the renewed account, and I don't remember.

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How they did that.

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I felt as though my brain was hijacked though, I

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felt as though my actions were not my own, and

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it was very, very scary. So on the computer that

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I had given them access to, there was a blank

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screen and on the top it had McAfee security and

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it looked very legitimate and the other thing about my

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brain is I don't remember how this happened. But they

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were going to put twenty dollars or something like that

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into my account, and so I did twenty eight dollars

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and they went, oh my god, there's a comma in there.

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Instead of a period. We just gave you twenty thousand dollars,

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and we need to get that back immediately because we're

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going to get in trouble. There's going to be taxes

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on the company, and so we need to get that

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money back. That so I needed to get that account

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minus three renewal fee, and I went down to the

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bank and I took the money out. I even lied,

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you know, to get the money because they were saying, well,

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what do you need twenty thousand dollars, and you know,

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I'm buying a new car.

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The other thing they told me.

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Was to put the money, get the money, and put

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it in a bitcoin machine and then we'll take care

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of it from there.

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So there's so many red flags in this situation. So

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I did that, and.

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Looking back on it, yeah, there is red flags.

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But in the whole process of you going through it,

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you know, you didn't see the red flags because you

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were in your emotional state of you know, and like

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you said, your brain, you felt like your brain was hijacked.

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Absolutely, yeah, So they created a sense of urgency by

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saying this has to be done. They also kept on

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disconnecting the phone and they called me back, called me back,

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and that just revved up my.

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Emotions.

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So I did exactly what they wanted me to do.

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And then they said, oh dear, something has happened while

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we're transferring that money and we need to get ten

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thousand more dollars out. And so, still in that weird state,

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I did it.

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And the whole thing.

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Is very scary. It's very scary. It kind of reminded

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me of Jonestown. I don't know if you knew about

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that situation where the guy was charismatic and he talked

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people into committing suicide. So anyway, that just kind of

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I don't that's kind of a weird connection, but I

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just that's how I felt. So after all this was

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happening and I calmed down, I thought, this is really

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this is wrong. This is a scam. So I called

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the real McAfee and they immediately said, yep, it's a scam.

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And yeah, so the next day, I went down to

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my bank and they told me that not only did

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they they cleared out all my accounts. I had a

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home equity loan worth twenty five thousand dollars and that

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was gone. My savings account and my checking account cleared.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, so this was like thirty five thousand dollars worth

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of me my savings.

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They actually got into your bank account.

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They got into the bank accounts, and I don't know how.

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They did that because I did not give them any

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of my personal information, bank account pen numbers, none of that.

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But apparently once they were in my computer, they had

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access to everything. So the bank did the best they could.

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It was it's.

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A big bank, and there was a lot. I did

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a lot of getting a lot of run around. They

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got in touch with the fraud department and all and

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we got that settled. But what I did right away

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once I got home from the bank is I called

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the police department. I called the Federal Trade Commission and

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the FBI and the Attorney General.

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I just wanted I didn't have I think that I

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was going.

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To get the money back, but I just wanted people

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to know just so that I, you know, I'm just

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one more scammed victim.

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So I could just be added to the list.

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So were you were you able to when you called

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the FDC or the attorney generals, the FBI, the police

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were were you able to get any help from them?

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Or was it more of just reporting what happened?

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It was just it was reporting.

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It was reporting, yeah, reporting what happened exactly, all right.

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So you know, it's.

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Interesting you said that it was like the Jonestown Is

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that what you called it, where there was a guy

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that was very charismatic and got people to commit suicide.

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It's interesting that you said you felt like that scenario

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because there are a lot of people when they realized

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that they've been scammed out of their life savings or

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part of their life savings, they do revert to committing suicide.

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You know, some people think about it a lot, and

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some people actually go and do it, which is it's

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just devastating. So it's not just the financial aspect, it's

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the emotional and the psychological aspect as well.

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And you know, it was.

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Interesting in the beginning you said you felt like your

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brain had been taken over, Your brain had been hijacked,

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I think, is what you said. Yeah, And that's exactly

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what they do, you know, is they get you into

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that emotional state and then they're very good at being

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able to keep you there because if, like you said,

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when you calm down, you were able to think about

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it and go, this doesn't make any sense, this is

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a scam, but they don't want you getting to that point.

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And yes, by allowing them into your computer, then they

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have access to everything in your computer, and you might

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have had something saved. You know, you could have had

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your password or your log into your bank account saved

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in your computer, or maybe you logged into your bank

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account after they had access to your computer. You know,

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there's just a lot of different ways that they can

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do it.

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But it's interesting. So you know, they got in and they.

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Wiped out your line of credit, your home equity line

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of credit, and I imagine you're stuck foot in the

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bill on that.

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Having to make those payments.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, so you not only lost you're checking in your

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savings account. Now you're having to foot the bill on

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a line of credit that you didn't even use the money.

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So that's like getting hurt every time you make that payment.

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I mean, that's that's just awful. But you know, there's

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one thing that you said. You said they kept disconnecting

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the call and calling back. That's very interesting. I haven't

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heard of that happening. You know, people have come out

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and said they've said that they've disconnected multiple times and

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then called back.

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So I'm not.

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Sure if the whole point was to get your emotions heightened,

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because that's what you said happened, is you know, your

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emotions got heightened because they kept disconnecting and calling back,

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and so that very well could be a psychological aspect

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of if they feel that maybe they're losing you in

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that emotional moment, that they're going to do this to

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get you into a heightened emotional moment to keep you

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there for a longer period of time.

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That's interesting. That's really interesting.

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Yeah, when you reported it to any one of these agencies,

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did they say that they've gotten other reports with the

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same scenario and they think, you.

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Know that there's multiple victims.

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I actually misspoke. I I did it through the computer,

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through the internet. I went to their websites and I.

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Sent them through the computer. Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry.

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And I and I sent them a copy. I had

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to write it all down and sent them a copy

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and I have not heard back from them, but I

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figure they these are you know, I did speak with

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the Tucson Police Police Department and they said that there

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was no chance of getting it, and they used a

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burner phone.

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That's the other thing. The phone that I.

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Was getting the call on was listed as Merrimac, Massachusetts,

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and you know, I called back and it was gone.

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So that's how they're so clever.

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They're very clever, you know.

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And I'm sure at one point years ago they were

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using their own phones and then found out it could

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get traced, and so now it's like, okay, we use

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burner phones.

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This is all the ways they evolve.

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You know, they.

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Realize people are because this is a twist on a

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tech support scam. So you know the old tech support

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scam where you get a pop up saying you have

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a virus and you need to call this number, you know,

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to get rid of it and all of that.

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Well, you know, they're.

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Still using that, but I think they're realizing they're not

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getting as far with that one, and so they put

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the twist on it of oh my gosh, you know,

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we put way too much money into your account. I'm

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going to get fired I'm going to get in trouble.

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They said, they're going to have to pay all these taxes.

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It's going to hurt the company. And it almost, I think,

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kind of makes you feel guilty or sorry for them

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or something, you know, some sort of emotion like, oh,

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I don't want to get them in trouble or I

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don't want to get the you know, am I going

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to get in trouble if I keep twenty thousand dollars

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that I wasn't supposed to get, you know, And you

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have all these thoughts running through your mind, and so

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you're like, yeah, let's let's get it back to you

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as soon as possible. Looking you said this happened in January.

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It did, yeah, January, late January.

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Okay, looking back on it now, if you don't mind,

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you had mentioned there were a lot of red flags.

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Could you talk about the red flags that looking back

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on it, that you see now.

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Sure, I've learned a lot. So the first red flag

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was the first mistake was to call the number that

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was on there on the email and I so that

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was a problem.

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And let's see the first red flag.

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Well, bitcoin, you know, bitcoin I have never under stood,

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and what I understand of it is that it's not

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it's shady. So why would in order, why would a

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company like McAfee use bitcoin for that transaction? Didn't make

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any sense other than they wanted the money back immediately.

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But there are, I guess there's there are other ways

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to do that. So the bitcoin was a really big,

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big red flag the urgency. But I was so emotionally

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drawn in at that point that I wouldn't have seen that.

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What else was a red flag? Well, I'm I'm learning that.

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If there's a question, if anyone has a question about

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who's sending an email, if you hover the cursor over

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that name, it'll tell you what the address is the

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email address. And I did that after the fact, and

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the son of a gun it was not McAfee. So

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that was a that was a big rid right, But

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you know what, that's.

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That's a good thing for people to do. But you

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also have to keep in mind that there is you know,

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if the email did look accurate from McAfee, that or

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from whatever company it was. Sometimes the emails from people

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inside of those companies get hijacked and get taken over

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by a hacker, a scammer, and so they not only

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make the name seem correct, but now the email is correct,

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and it's like okay, so then you think it's accurate.

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Right.

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So but you know that I think it happens more

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often the way it happened to you. But you know,

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we found that, yes, people's emails have been hijacked and

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they didn't know it until people have fallen victim to

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whatever it is the scammers trying to do, and then

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it gets back to them, or they're if they have

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really good cybersecurity, you know, on their business, they might

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be able to intercept it or they might get be

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able to note pick it up right away so then

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they can mitigate things. But yeah, I mean we hear

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all the time about these businesses that are getting hacked,

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right and they're holding information for ransom, you know, because

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they're making a lot of money off the ransom money.

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But while they're waiting for the ransom, they're selling that

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information on the dark web.

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You know.

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They're like, well, we'll give you all your information back,

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and they do give it back, but it's already been sold.

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Everything's been sold right on the dark web. So it's just.

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But you know, the scammers do like to impersonate the

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large companies, so Amazon, I can't tell you how many

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Amazon emails I get that are fake, you know, or

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text messages, or the big banks, or McAfee, you know,

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Geek Squad, all of those different companies because they're trustworthy

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and they're betting that you currently have McAfee or like,

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what happened with you is that you used to have

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it and they emailed you the week prior and so

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you were thinking.

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Oh, well, okay, this makes sense. I used to have them.

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You know, they want to get me back as a customer.

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So it makes it more believable instead of you know,

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someone going, oh I never had McAfee or I don't

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have it and just you know, deleting it or xing

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out of whatever it is.

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So yeah, it's just I'm so sorry what happened.

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You know.

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It's it's just awful.

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And this is what this is what Rose is trying

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to do. We were trying to get out to everybody

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and make them more aware of what's going on out there,

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and without going into a lot of detail as to

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how the scam was work, but it gives everybody a

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better understanding, so they're more apt to recognize and identify

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a scam when they're contacted.

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Right.

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But then there's also a bunch.

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Of resources and tips and tools that are very good

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to put in place, you know, like freezing your credit.

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And I don't know if you have your credit frozen

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or not, but it's a very good.

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Preventative measure.

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Now, it's not going to prevent the instances when you

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hear on the radio or on TV, or you read

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about it and they say, no, you know, get this

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advance or this you know, line of credit or this

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loan no credit check required. Well, then if they have

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your information, they can get the money because there's no

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credit check required.

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Right.

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But it's preventative in a majority of the cases because

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a majority of the companies will run a credit check

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on the person to make sure they're a viable candidate

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for the loan. Right, So it really does help. I know,

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I have mine frozen. In a couple of months ago.

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I went to get a new cell phone and I

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had forgotten it was frozen, and they said, oh, your

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credit's frozen. I said, okay, So I went in on

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the computer and I unfroze it for two days. You know,

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I told him to unfreeze it now and then refreeze

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it in two days, and I went back and I

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did what I needed to do the next day and

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got my cell phone, and then you know, the following

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day everything was frozen again. So it really does help

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because my husband's had his frozen for probably twenty years,

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fifteen twenty years. Every year we get a letter in

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the mail from some company saying we're sorry, we're unable

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to extend credit.

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You need to unfreeze your credit and.

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Then come back and it's like, we've never applied for this, right,

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So it's it's saved us on a lot what could

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have been a really big headache with you know, somebody

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stealing his identity, because they're trying every year to take

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his identity, so you know, it's it's I guess the

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first step is understanding that your information's out there. How

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much of it we don't know, but it's some of

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it or a lot of it is out there. And

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then understanding that you know, no matter how smart you are,

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how much financial resources or how little financial resources you have,

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everybody is a target.

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You know.

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I tell people that scammers don't send out a asking

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for a financial statement or asking you to take an

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IQ test.

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You know, everybody is a target.

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They blanket everybody, right, and then they're hoping that maybe

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one percent, five percent, ten percent will actually click or

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call or respond to an email or you know, do

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what they want to have happened.

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So, because I've heard a lot of.

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People say they feel really stupid, you know, that they

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had fallen victim, and it's like, no it. You know,

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you could have the highest IQ in the world ever, right,

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get us Book of World Records for the highest IQ ever,

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and you can fall victim to a scam. So it's

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just because we're all emotional people and they play on

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our emotions, right, Yeah, so they're really good. But Connie,

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I want to thank you so much for being willing

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to share your story. You know again, I'm so sorry

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that this happened to you, but being so brave and

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vulnerable to share your story to help other people.

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Because we talk a lot.

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About what goes on, but when we can have somebody

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that's been through it and share their experience, I think

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it hits home to a lot more people. They see

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a face, they hear a voice, and they're like, wow,

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this happened to her, This can happen to me, right, Yeah,

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So Anyways, I really appreciate it, and I thank you

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very much. You just heard Connie's experience with a tech

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support scam and how believable this was and at what

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lengths the scammers went to keep her in that emotional state.

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And this is something that you know, she used to

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have McAfee as a have a subscription to McAfee, so

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when she got the email and the pop up, she

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didn't think anything different. She thought maybe they were trying

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to get her back as a customer, so it was

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even more believable to her. But if we look at

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some of the you know, the she talked about the

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red flags after she went through the experience that you

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because of the emotional state she was in, she didn't

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