Melrose Police Warn About New Money Wire Transfer Scam

MELROSE, MA — Melrose Police are warning residents about a new computer scam in which someone requests a wire transfer of money. At this point, it's clear that you should never wire money to a stranger under any circumstances, but this scam actually sounds pretty compelling.

It involves someone pretending to be a Microsoft support "engineer" who offers to fix a virus on your computer. On August 25, a Melrose resident reported receiving multiple calls from a scammer who alerted her that her computer had a virus that needed to be fixed.

Chief Michael L. Lyle and the Melrose Police Department warn residents that the scammer will then charge callers hundreds of dollars to "repair" the issue with the computer. Whatever money you send to these con artists is often lost and gone forever.

“Microsoft will never reach out to you and claim there is an issue with your computer that needs to be repaired,” Chief Lyle said. “Never give out personal information to these callers, or wire money to them, no matter how convincing they may seem. Immediately hang up and call police.”

Also, really, this isn't how a company like Microsoft works. They sell products like Microsoft Office and then if that product stops working on your computer, you have to buy a new computer or buy a new copy of Microsoft Office. If you do the former, that's not Microsoft's business, they don't sell computers. And if it's the latter, that's awesome for Microsoft. They love selling copies of Office.

Investopedia.com has some helpful tips on how you can stop scams artists in their tracks. If you hear any of the following pitches over the phone or via email, hang up/shut down and don't look back:

Scam 1: A wire transfer or deposit request

As the Melrose Police point out, a stranger asking you to wire them money is a huge red flag. Hang up the phone immediately. Investopedia goes on to warn: "This type of scam can also be disguised as a job offer in which one can earn a big profit by acting as a transfer agent for money wired in to the U.S."

Scam 2: An announcement that "You're a Winner!"

If you ever get a phone call or email claiming that you've won something, delete the email. This isn't how life works. People don't really win things in this way. There's Publisher's Clearing House, that seems like a real thing, but even with that, who knows what the actually deal is there? You buy a bunch of magazines? No disrespect to Publisher's Clearing House, they've got some fun commercials, but basically, if you get an email from anything other than Publisher's Clearing House, delete it. And even if you get one from Publisher's Clearing House, do a second check to make sure it's legitimate. "Why aren't you bringing out cameras? How come no one is filming this?" These are a few good follow up questions for any Publisher's Clearing House emails.

Scam 3: Acting like a victim

Scam artists will often prey on the elderly or disabled with phone calls saying things like, "Grandma, I need money." If you are an elderly person receiving phone calls like this, ask yourself: Does my grandchild usually ask me for money? If the answer is yes, you should probably stop giving them money. Kids need to grow up at a certain point. If someone is 18 or older, do not give that person money. There are credit card companies all over the world that will lend out thousands of dollars if you need some quick cash flow. Grandparents are not banks. They're people.

And Grandma, if your grandkids usually don't ask for money, then this person asking for money is probably a scam artist. There's a very small chance that your grandkids could really be calling and actually need help, but they need to learn about boundaries. It's not Grandma's job to fulfill others emotional/financial needs. That's what credit card companies are for.

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