HAVERHILL — The Haverhill Police Department has issued an advisory to the public regarding a surge in fraudulent schemes where victims are being scammed out of significant amounts of money through deceptive tech support phone calls.
According to authorities, several individuals have reported being contacted by fraudsters claiming to represent tech support companies.
These criminals inform the victims that their devices and accounts have been compromised.
The scam artists then persuade the victims to withdraw funds to resolve the purported security breach and direct them to deposit the money into cryptocurrency ATMs. The funds are then transferred to the perpetrator’s virtual wallet, often located outside the United States.
In addition to the cryptocurrency scam, the police have identified another prevalent scam involving gift cards.
Using similar tactics, the scammers instruct the victims to purchase gift cards in large amounts.
After the purchase, victims are duped into sharing the gift card pin numbers with the fraudsters, who then drain the funds loaded on the cards.
The Haverhill Police urge anyone who has fallen victim to these or similar scams to contact them immediately or to reach out to their local police department.
The advisory aims to heighten awareness and prevent further incidents of these financial frauds.