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Midwestern

Scammers steal thousands in gift cards from elderly resident

A senior citizen is out thousands after getting scammed online.

Perth County OPP were contacted on July 12 at 6:28 p.m. by an elderly resident reporting they had been the victim of the Microsoft computer scam.

Investigators determined the victim was contacted by someone claiming to be Microsoft claiming the victim had fraudulent charges made by the victim's computer. The victim sent $4000 worth of Apple gift cards to an unknown male to remove the charges.

Police are urging everyone that owns a computer to be very skeptical if you receive a phone call or pop-up message indicating that there are issues with any of your accounts or computer.

Never give out personal information or financial information to anyone you don't know.

For more information on fraud, call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or http://www.antifraudcentre.ca.          

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