HARRISON, Wis. (WFRV) – Authorities in Calumet County are advising residents to be careful of who is allowed access to computers and mobile devices after residents lost around $78,000.
The Calumet County Sheriff’s Office says it has received multiple fraud complaints from residents in the Village of Harrison. The fraud loss resulted in an estimated $78,000.
Officials say that the victims got phone calls telling them to download software on the computer or mobile device. This software reportedly allowed the suspects to get access to the victim’s banking and investment accounts that were set up on the device.
The suspects then allegedly exchanged any funds from the accounts on the device for cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency can be hard to track, which means the funds are not likely to be recovered.
Authorities provided some tips to prevent incidents like this from happening:
- Never allow a third party to access your computer or mobile device
- A legitimate business or organization will never ask for any payment o be made in gift cards
- Best thing to do is hang up the phone if someone is trying to access the computer or mobile device or demanding payment in gift cards.
There was no information on how many victims were a result of this particular scam. No additional details were provided.
Local 5 will update this story if more information is released.