WICHITA —A Wichita man in his mid-70’s recently fell victim to a scam that cost him $15,000.
In the summer of 2024, the man received a call from someone who claimed to be with Amazon, according to a news release is from Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett. The caller told the man his Amazon account had been compromised, and he was being used as part of a drug-trafficking and money-laundering operation.
The “Amazon representative” told him he was being transferred to the Social Security Administration. That person then told the victim he was being transferred to the U.S. Marshall’s Service. A person got on the phone claiming to be an agent with the Marshall’s Office.
The fake U.S. Marshall told the victim he needed to prove he didn’t launder money through his bank accounts and to do that he needed to withdraw $15,000 from his bank account in Wichita. The victim was then told to drive to Newton where he was to complete two transactions. The first was to purchase $10,000 in bitcoin and send it to the suspect. The second involved inserting $5,000 cash, purchasing bitcoin and sending it to the suspect.
The victim was then told it was not enough money and that he was to return to his bank in order to make another withdrawal. Employees at the bank were able to explain to the man that this was a scam and encouraged him to make a police report. A report was also made with the FBI.
The District Attorney’s Office reminds citizens that Amazon, the Social Security Administration and the United States Marshall Service will never call you to say that your account has been hacked and will certainly not ask you to send money.