"But not so for a Santa Cruz mother of three. She fell for a gift card scam, but with quick action and help from 7 On Your Side, she got most of her money back! It began when scammers persuaded a Santa Cruz mom that she was in big trouble with the law. She says she felt hypnotized into believing it -- until her partner got home and snapped her out of it. And then, it was a race against time."
""I'm in my pajamas. Not even like the cute ones. Like, these are pajamas you should not go out in public. I mean, I look like a crazy person," she said. Her identity had been stolen. Criminals were using it for drugs and pornography. She could be arrested at any moment. Or so, she believed. "Looking back on it I really feel like I was in a trance. Like I was hypnotized," she said."
Scammers used a fake tech-support alert to alarm a Santa Cruz woman while she worked online, prompting her to call a displayed phone number and allow remote access to her computer. The impostor claimed to find incriminating evidence and pressured her into buying gift cards and transferring money. The victim believed her identity had been stolen and feared arrest, feeling hypnotized by the scammers' tactics. Her partner returned home, intervened, and helped stop further losses. With rapid reporting and assistance from a consumer advocacy team, most of the stolen funds were recovered before they disappeared.
Read at ABC7 San Francisco
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