Elderly Woman Loses $63,000 to Fake ‘FBI Agent’ Claiming Her Apple ID Was Stolen
FBI impostor used an Apple ID hoax to pressure an elderly woman into moving $63,000. How the con worked and how to avoid it.
An Oakland woman lost $63,000 after a caller posing as an FBI agent convinced her that criminals had hijacked her Apple ID, according to ABC7 News. The scam began with a text message warning that her Apple ID had been stolen and instructing her to call a number to “fix” the issue.
When she called, the man on the line sent images of a fake FBI badge, claimed nine bank accounts had been opened in her name using her Social Security number, and urged her to move her savings to a “protected account.” He directed her to withdraw $63,000 as a cashier’s check and try to deposit it at a Citibank branch in Hayward. After tellers declined the transaction, he told her to mail the check to an address in San Lorenzo.
The victim, Judith Rosenberg, later contacted Bank of America to report the fraud, but a branch manager initially refused to stop the check, ABC7 reports. After the station reached out to the bank, her money was restored.
In a separate case highlighted by ABC7, authorities in Washington state arrested a man accused of impersonating an FBI agent and targeting older victims. Officials warn that neither the FBI nor Apple will ever ask people to move money to “safe” accounts; consumers who receive similar calls should hang up and contact the institution using an official number.
