CENTER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Imagine sitting at your home, watching TV and getting a call from your cable provider’s tech support. It’s a situation that is quite possible, and one that scammers are now creating.
“The conversation goes on that the Xfinity account had money taken out and bitcoin was purchased, and they wanted to refund the money,” said Detective Tom Gonczi with Center Township Police.
That’s the exact phone call an elderly woman in Center Township received last Friday, unaware the caller was a scammer. Now people across the area are getting similar phone calls.
“We’ve been getting calls that the Xfinity callers are employees. They even give an employee number to make it more legit and credible to their ruse. It’s somewhat elaborate and new that’s trending,” Gonczi said.
Gonczi told Channel 11 the woman gave the scammer her credit card numbers and a picture of her driver’s license to get the reimbursement from Xfinity Comcast. Then the scammers had her download an app on her phone.
“If they ask you to download an app on your computer or phone, essentially you are giving the keys away to the house,” Gonczi said.
At this point, the scammers stole $750 from the victim, sending the money in gift cards across the state to Fayetteville.
Police said the gift card receiver also is a victim in this same scam stretching beyond the Beaver County line.
“There are possibly additional victims out there, which is why we want to get it out there to the public to make aware of this trending scam that is going on with Xfinity Comcast,” Gonczi said.
Channel 11 did reach out to Xfinity Comcast for comment but did not hear back. According to police, the cable provider had no record of the calls made to the victim.
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