An elderly widow from North Carolina fell for a heartless scam and lost her life savings.
The woman, who wishes to stay anonymous, was scammed out of over $17,000.
Heartbreaking footage from her doorbell camera shows the moment she innocently and unknowingly handed over a huge amount of cash to a scammer.
She’s not the only person who has fallen victim to this large-scale scam operation.
It all started when she attempted to log in to her bank account but was unable to access her accounts. She decided to call a contact she had saved with the bank’s number.
The person who answered explained that her accounts had been locked due to a suspicious PayPal transaction from the previous day. She was then connected to what seemed to be the PayPal fraud department.
After ending the call due to poor connection quality, she called the number again. This time, she was told she needed to pay an $82 fee that would be refunded, but first, she had to follow specific instructions from the caller, including downloading certain software on her computer.
‘I entered $82.00, and then I immediately noticed the screen display $18,000, and heard ‘accept, accept, accept’ repeatedly,’ she explained. Panicked, she told the man guiding her, ‘I didn’t type that amount, it’s a mistake.’
Heartbreaking footage from her doorbell camera shows the moment the lady innocently and unknowingly handed over a huge amount of cash to a scammer
What she wasn’t aware of at the moment was that the man had tricked her into giving him access to her computer, allowing him to move $18,000 from her savings into her checking account.
She was unsure about following the instructions to go to the bank and withdraw the money until a letter sporting Bank of America’s official logo was printed from her printer, indicating there was a serious issue with her account.
The letter told her there had been tax issues, that her online transfers had been blocked by the IRS and that she must refrain from discussing the transaction.
Her caller ID shows that the call with this person lasted over four hours. She adds, ‘He kept saying, don’t hang up on me.’
The woman drove to the bank and withdrew $17,5000, as the man told her she could keep the extra $500 ‘for her troubles’.
When she withdrew the cash, the bank manager approached her to ask, ‘Before we proceed, are you being harassed?’
The woman drove to the bank and withdrew $17,5000, as the man told her she could keep the extra $500 ‘for her troubles’
She told the bank manager she was not being pressured, as she was entirely unaware that she was being scammed. She even signed a document saying she was taking this money out under her own free will.
Upon arriving home with the cash, another notice appeared from her printer thanking her for ‘returning’ the money to PayPal, and notifying her that ‘Mr. Jack’ would be there shortly to collect the cash.
This is when her doorbell camera caught footage of a man arriving at her house to pick up the cash, which she handed over.
Thinking the day’s drama was over, she called her daughters to tell them about the ordeal.
‘Mom, you’ve been scammed,’ her daughter responded.’
The lady called the police to report what had happened and learned that she was not the only victim.
She saw the mugshot of Linghui Zheng and immediately recognized him as the same man who came to her door to collect the money.
Upon arriving home with the cash, another notice appeared from her printer thanking her for ‘returning’ the money to PayPal, and notifying her that ‘Mr. Jack’ would be there shortly to collect the cash
She saw the mugshot of Linghui Zheng (pictured) and immediately recognized him as the same man who came to her door to collect the money
Zheng is charged with obtaining property under false pretenses in her case, and he, along with another suspect, is also facing charges in Person, Durham, and Granville counties of obtaining property under false pretenses, accessing computers and felony conspiracy.
The total amount of money scammed by Zheng and his accomplice is thought to be close to $400,000, according to the sheriff, who says they’re currently working with NC SBI and the Department of Homeland Security to identify more victims and suspects.
The Orange County victim says, ‘It never occurred to me that there was going to be an evil person come into my life.’
Her financial loss is especially devastating because a big portion of the money gone is from an insurance policy to pay her medical bills when she had cancer last year.
She adds, ‘What I want people to know is, you know, if just because you’re tired that they don’t let you, don’t let your defenses down.’
Investigators told her that she will likely not get her money back, as much of it was already gone by the time the suspects were arrested.
The suspects are still behind bars at the Person County Detention Center.
