Crime & Safety
Nutley Resident Reports Computer Scam Involving ‘Tech Support’
A screen popped up telling the victim to call Microsoft Support, which they did. Here's what happened next, Nutley police say.
NUTLEY, NJ — A Nutley resident recently reported a scam involving a dubious “tech support” call, authorities said.
According to the Nutley Police Department, the victim said they were working on their laptop computer on March 27 when it froze. Here’s what allegedly happened next:
“A screen popped up to call Microsoft Support, which they did, and spoke to ‘Melvin Lewis’ of Tech Support. ‘Melvin’ was able to log into the victim’s laptop and run diagnostics and told the victim that he found multiple users attempting to hack into the victim’s profiles, including their bank account. Melvin gave the victim a contact number for the bank representative, ‘Natalie Gibson,’ who told the victim that this may be a fraudulent inside job by the bank’s employees.”
Nutley police continued:
Find out what's happening in Belleville-Nutleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“Natalie created a dummy account with the Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited and had the victim transfer funds from their savings account ($49,000) to keep the bank employees from making withdrawals from the victim’s original account. When the victim checked on the transfer, they were told the money was removed from the account. At that point, the victim contacted the FBI, who requested they also make a police report with Nutley headquarters.”
The FBI investigation continues, Nutley police said Monday.
Keep updated with local public safety alerts at the Patch Belleville-Nutley Facebook page. Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com
Find out what's happening in Belleville-Nutleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.