Union County, FL - A woman from northern Florida lost nearly $30,000 after falling for a scam following a pop-up on her computer.
A distressing encounter with a computer pop-up led a 71-year-old woman from rural Union County, northern Florida, to fall victim to a scam, resulting in a staggering loss of nearly $30,000.
Authorities have arrested Alexis Gonzalez-Rodriguez, 26, from Pembroke Pines, on a second-degree grand theft charge in connection with the incident.
According to an arrest warrant from the Pembroke Pines Police Department, the unfortunate sequence of events began on March 21, 2022, when the woman received a pop-up on her computer, allegedly from Microsoft.
Prompted to call an 800 number, she was informed by a voice on the line that her computer had been hacked, with Trojan spyware installed.
The scammer also claimed a pending transaction on her bank account from crypto platform Coinbase and a compromised Social Security number.
Despite not knowing Gonzalez-Rodriguez, the person on the phone possessed details about where she banked.
The woman was instructed to wire her money to a fictitious account, assuring her that her bank would subsequently deliver new account information along with a cashier’s check for the wired amount.
However, the $29,035 she sent ended up in a Bank of America account controlled by Gonzalez-Rodriguez, as per police reports.
Surveillance images captured Gonzalez-Rodriguez withdrawing a significant portion of the funds from the bank's branch on Pines Blvd.
Following his arrest, Gonzalez-Rodriguez's attorney entered a written plea of not guilty on his behalf.
As of Tuesday evening, he remains in the Broward Main Jail on a $10,000 bond, according to jail records.