Butler County man reports company fixing computer compromises $20K in his bank account

A man believes a company that was fixing his computer may have been trying to scam him, according to a police report.

Police received a report of fraud April 30 from a man who had his computer repaired five months earlier and was recently contacted by someone saying they were from the same company wanting to refund the $550 he had paid because his software had been compromised.

He said the caller on April 26 offered to refund his money and asked for remote access to his computer, which he granted. He said he watched his computer as they accessed files and asked for his bank account information to make the refund. He said he did not think much about it because he had good luck using the company in the past.

Soon after, however, he received another call saying they had accidentally deposited $20,000 into his account, rather than $550 and asked him to wire the difference back to them. When he contacted his bank to learn what he needed to do for that, the bank discovered the $20,000 had been moved from his savings account to his checking account when the remote access had been in use.

The bank placed a freeze on all his accounts. As of then, he told the police there had been no loss of money. The bank is looking into the fraud attempt and working with him to resolve the issue.

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