An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
CTV
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
Charles Gibbs, 83, purchased a printer from his local Best Buy in early April. He was having trouble setting it up, so he decided to Google Geek Squad – an arm of Best Buy with technology professionals available to offer on-demand electronic support.
The Georgetown, Ont., resident said that when he typed ‘Best Buy’ and ‘Geek Squad’ into Google, a website popped up that appeared to be the correct one. It had the Best Buy logo, the address of the closest store to him, and a phone number.
But, the website was a spoof. Spoofing scams are when criminals disguise information such as email addresses, phone numbers and website URLs to convince a target audience that they are the legitimate source. Oftentimes, spoofing scams look valid at a first glance.
When Gibbs called the number on the website, he was surprised to be told there was a refund waiting in his account.
“I thought that does seem a bit odd, but again it’s Best Buy and Geek Squad and I am the one that found the number and called them” said Gibbs who added “he said I would get a $349 refund.”
Gibbs was told to process the refund they needed his banking information and when he said he didn’t do online banking they said they would help him set it up.
