By Susan Bromley

Staff Writer

Brandon Twp.-A township couple are the victims of a nearly $40,000 fraud.

According to an Oakland County Sheriff’s Office report, a Brandon deputy responded to the couple’s township home July 10 where the husband said he purchased a computer malware protection program from a company called “Fax Global” about a year ago and a few weeks ago, he was contacted by a subject who said he wanted to returned the money the man had paid for the malware service. The complainant said he gave the caller his debit card number so the refund could be deposited in his bank account. He said someone then set up an “online banking portal” on his computer and instead of the $300, they deposited $3,000 according to the data shown on the portal.

The suspect then requested that the couple send money back to him by withdrawing it from their bank accounts and sending it by wire transfers. They did transfer money many times at the suspect’s request and he continued calling them and convincing them to send money until this date, when they realized the money shown on the online banking portal did not really exist and their computer had been hi-jacked.

They ultimately wire transferred $38,000 to the suspect before they realized it was fraud.

The phone calls from the suspect originated from several locations within the United States including Florida and New York. The suspect has also told them he was calling from India, but the caller ID showed a New York origin. While the deputy was present at the victims’ home, the suspect called their landline approximately 15 times in 20 minutes.

The deputy advised the couple to not accept any further calls or correspondence from anyone associated with the situation other than local or trusted sources and to go to their banking institution as soon as possible to notify them of the situation and close all existing accounts as well as flag new accounts.

OCSO Lt. Greg Glover, Brandon substation commander, again reminds citizens to never wire transfer money to a stranger, nor to provide bank or credit card numbers over the phone. He adds that no one who is legitimate will call repeatedly. If you have questions about possible fraud, call the substation at 248-627-4911 and ask for assistance before providing personal information to anyone.