IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. – A couple in Irondequoit fell victim to an imposter scam, losing more than $9,000. Linda Latiuk shared their story, revealing how a seemingly ordinary Monday morning turned into a nightmare when her partner received a suspicious email.
The email, sent on July 14, claimed a transaction of $962.17 to Gemini.com had been detected. It instructed Latiuk’s partner to call a number to stop the payment.
“He needed to call this number to stop that payment. And so there was a phone number there,” Latiuk said.
The number provided was 805-500-6710, which is not PayPal’s actual customer service number. The scammer, posing as an agent, claimed the account was compromised and instructed Latiuk’s partner to stay on the phone while driving to the bank. The thief then told him to withdraw more than $9,000.
“Another agent was going to meet him at his house so take that and go home and he’ll meet you,” Latiuk says her partner was told.
The scammer, using a code name, collected the cash at the couple’s front door. “And that’s it. He was gone,” Latiuk said.
A quick Google search of the fake customer service number showed similar scams reported to the Better Business Bureau. A California resident received the same email on the same day, indicating a widespread scam.
The email appeared to come from service@paypal.com, PayPal’s real domain. Scammers exploited PayPal’s tool allowing users to add an address, triggering a real email from PayPal’s domain.
“Shame on you, what an awful thing to have done to people,” Latiuk said in a message to the scammer.
PayPal is aware of the scam. They reminded customers that real emails from PayPal are always addressed personally, unlike the generic one sent to Latiuk and her partner. People should also not call any phone numbers, open attachments or click on links in emails or invoices in suspicious emails. The company encourages customers to report any phishing emails to their security team by clicking here.
Latiuk reported the scam to the police, but the officer did not file a report, saying there was nothing that could be done. The bank also blamed her partner for withdrawing the money.
Their experience serves as a cautionary tale for others in the community.
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