Troy Woman Loses Nearly $35K In Online Scam: Police

TROY, MI — A Troy woman was scammed out of nearly $35,000 in an online scam, according to police.

The scam started after the woman said a computer she was using got a pop-up message telling her that the computer was locked and that she needed to call the provided phone number for Microsoft Security, according to police.

The woman called the number and spoke with the scammer who told her the computer had been hacked and her bank account had been compromised, according to police.

The scammer convinced the woman to withdraw $24,900 from her credit union and convert the money to Bitcoin using a Bitcoin machine, according to police.

The scammer then told the woman to go to Nordstrom and buy $10,000 in gift cards, and provide the numbers on the card to the caller, according to police.

After she did that, she realized it was a scam and notified her credit union, who told her it was too late to recover the funds, according to police.