A few weeks ago I was on my way to help a client, we will refer to him as Mr. Johnson. When I got to his office I called Mr. Johnson because he was not there, and he told me “I am at Best Buy buying Google gift cards to give to Apple because they need it for my security issue”. I immediately told Mr. Johnson this was a scam, and to return to his office right away so I could help him.
When he got back to his office, I was able to take over the phone call for him, and we told the scammer an excuse to buy some time and assess the situation. From there we were able to determine what accounts were already hacked because they can lead to more issues. When we did that we found out that he had a “not-so-convenient” list of passwords on his iPhone, and they had access to his Notes application. “Oh no”, was the thought in both of our minds.
If they had access to his Apple ID, they could hold his iPhone, Gmail Account, Bank account, and other financial credentials for Ransom.
Luckily, we worked very carefully down his list of credentials to secure each one starting with the highest risk, his Gmail account, then his Apple account. Next, we informed his bank of what happened and called the police to make a report. They take Elderly Financial crimes very seriously. We helped him with his police report, along with IC3 (FBI) and FTC reports to include any tracking information that the scammer left behind. We helped him the entire way, and now his bank is working to refund his money.
Unfortunately, we have seen this happen to clients in the past, and we created a very simple security package to assist if they feel like anything fishy is happening. Now, we are expanding our service offering by providing Credit Monitoring services, Scam-Interception services, and help-desk services so people have a reliable source they can trust if they feel like they’re being scammed.
If you are interested in seeing how we can protect older adults and senior communities visit our sister site at: SeniorCareIT.com
