COVINGTON, Ga. - A Newton County resident reported receiving a fraudulent call that resulted in nearly $500 worth of unauthorized transactions according to a Newton County Sheriff Office incident report filed May 31.
The victim, a 75-year-old woman who wishes to keep her identity unknown, received a call from a man who claimed to be a representative from Best Buy Geek Squad. The man told her she had automatically renewed her Geek Squad services for $299, according to the incident report.
“The guy identified himself as Shawn, he said he was with the Geek Squad at Best Buy,” the woman said. “I knew it was up for renewal and when this guy called and said they had already charged my credit card and since I didn't want it he was going to help me get a refund.”
The man asked the woman if she had a PayPal account to refund her the money.
“I believed what he was telling me since he already had my information,” the woman said. “He called me by name when I answered the phone so I had no reason but to think it was true.”
The woman gave the man remote access to her computer, which is when the unauthorized transactions began. Ten to 12 transactions were made at GameStop and Game Flip on May 23. The man called back on May 28 and made three to four more transactions according to the incident report.
“The more he talked the more I thought it was a scam and not correct,” the woman said.
The woman believes NCSO has identified a suspect, however, no further information regarding the potential suspect can be revealed at this time.
“I can’t confirm that information at this time,” NCSO Public Information Officer Deputy LaTavia Washington said. “This case is still actively being investigated.”
Washington said this is not the first time NCSO has investigated a case involving scam phone calls.
“We receive calls almost daily on community members receiving scam calls,” she said.
Deputy Washington advises members of the community to report any suspicious calls they may receive to law enforcement.
“We released a scam alert on May 25, 2019, on our Facebook page in regards to this matter,” Washington said. “We asked them to contact their local law enforcement agency and/or the NCSO Crime Prevention Unit at 678-625-1431 or Sheriff Brown at 678-625-1415 if they feel they have been targeted.”
