Police say Unity woman loses $14K to scammer

Apr. 4—A Unity woman was scammed out of $14,000 after an unknown person contacted her claiming there was an issue with her computer security software, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Troopers said the woman was contacted earlier this year by the person who claimed that her McAfee account erroneously was credited $14,000. The person requested she withdraw the amount from her bank account and transfer it into Bitcoin before returning it.

She was instructed to go to a convenience store on Route 30 in Hempfield to use the money to purchase Bitcoin at a kiosk. Police said she provided a receipt with account information to the person who contacted her.

Police did not say what method the person used to contact the woman.

McAfee encourages customers to evaluate communications that appear to be from the company to determine if they are legitimate or attempts to get access to personal information or money. The communication can include text messages and emails. Fake communication may have spelling or grammar mistakes and come from a suspicious source.

The company provides a list of legitimate email addresses it uses to communicate with customers, who can log into their accounts and check on the accuracy of a potential scam.

Only scammers will request payment in the form of Bitcoin, according to the Federal Trade Commission. They can impersonate well-known, legitimate companies by calling, sending electronic communication or putting a pop-up notification on a computer.

Cryptocurrency scams can be reported to local police or the commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Renatta by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .