Metro man scammed out of $20,000, hoping for recourse

OKLAHOMA CITY ( KFOR ) – A man in Oklahoma City was scammed out of almost $20,000 earlier this year by someone posing as Best Buys “Geek Squad.”

“I believed that I made a mistake,” Ashok Krishnamurthy said.

But by that point, it was too late for him.

“I could see it on my bank account,” he said.

He got an email from someone posing as Best Buys tech support team known as the “Geek Squad.” It was for a nearly $350 extended warranty. He had his secretary call the number on the email and she was on the phone for over 30 minutes.

“I was taking care of my stuff in the office, and she was on the computer and she asked me to log into my bank account,” Krishnamurthy said.

Not knowing the scope of the situation, he logged in. At that point the hacker had access to his computer. From there, they appeared to put money in his account saying it was actually a refund. They did that only to say they made a mistake and pulled the money back out along with about $19,700 of his money. They even started asking for more to.

“He was asking me whether I have, like, Bitcoin or something,” Krishnamurthy said. “Then I realized it was a scam and we disconnected before I called the bank right away.”

However, he hasn’t been able to get much help despite filing a report with the FBI. The report showed the amount of money take and where it went, which was a bank in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, it’s something his accountant said they see often.

“A lot. Sure,” Hillary Depe said. “Especially in that Cyber Day in age and, you know, it’s pretty prevalent.”

Depe has been an account for over 20 years and has seen it all.

“One restaurant was put out of business,” she said.

Now, she and her client are just hoping for some recourse. Krishnamurthy said he is still looking for avenues to get help right now and he hopes his story can keep someone from being scammed in the future. There are, of course, some things to look out for in case you end up in a similar situation. First, don’t open emails from people you don’t know and be careful with links and website addresses. Also, be sure and secure your personal information, stay informed on the latest cyber threats, use strong passwords and have up to date preventative software programs.

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