$16,000 Loss: Western Springs Woman Told She's Been Scammed

Western Spring — A Western Springs senior had over $16,000 stolen in a phone scam last week, police said.

The victim was a 74-year-old woman that lives in the 5800 block of Wolf Road.

The woman called police Thursday to report the scam.

According to the police report, the woman received a call Wednesday from a man who claimed to be from the company the woman used for virus protection on her computer.

The man told her the company was going out of business. He said needed the woman to sign up for an online banking service to be refunded money from the last service she purchased, according to the report.

The following day, the woman signed up for the online banking service using her Fifth Third Bank account and spent around three hours with the man. At the end of their call, the man told the woman he did not work for the company and that she had just been scammed, police said.

The number used by the scammer was disconnected after their conversation.

The woman then called Fifth Third Bank, which told her that $16,400 had been taken out of her checking account, according to the report. Afterward, she canceled the online banking service.

Police advised her to have the bank freeze her accounts and provide her with new account numbers.

According to police, the case will be sent to investigators.