As the holiday shopping season winds down, there’s still time to pick up a few bargains online – and time to get fleeced.

This is a cautionary tale, and as embarrassing as it is, I’m sharing it so maybe you can avoid getting duped out of your hard-earned dough.

Charles (not his real name) considers himself to be pretty computer literate and security-savvy for a guy in his 70s. And yet, a tech support and advance fee scam left him $356.81 poorer last month.

Charles isn’t alone, probably. In 2021, more than 92,000 victims 60 and older reported losses of $1.7 billion, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (aka IC3) – a whopping 74 percent increase over the numbers reported for 2020,

Here’s what happened to Charles. But first, the biggest lesson he wants you to take away from his tale of woe is: “Don’t try to resolve what appears to be an online security breach when you’ve just awakened – a little groggy – from an afternoon nap.”

Charles was a bit disoriented when he saw an email, allegedly from PayPal – the sender’s address “service@paypal.com” seemed legit. (Experts warn to be wary of “friendly appearing” altered domain names like paypa1.com or paypa!.com or one with letters transposed like serivce@paypal.com that look authentic at first glance.)

It said “Hello Charles (last name withheld): SERGIO ZAMUDIO sent you a money request

NOTE FROM SERGIO ZAMUDIO:

“We’ve detected that your PayPal account has been accessed fraudulently. If you did not make this transaction, please call us at toll free number +1 (888) 518-5136 to cancel and claim a refund. If this is not the case, you will be charged $500.00 today. Within the automated deduction of the amount, this transaction will reflect on PayPal activity after 24 hours. Our Service Hours: (07:00 a. m. to 06:00 p. m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday).”

Freaked out, Charles figured he’d better deal with this ASAP (brain still fogged).

When he dialed the number, a pleasant-sounding man with an accent answered. (No red flags here; call center employees for some U.S. companies work from India, Brazil, the Ukraine and Poland).

But something seemed a little suspicious to Charles; there was very little background noise. Didn’t sound like a call center. But again, some customer service reps work remotely from home these days.

One hour and 40 minutes later, Charles had been scammed out of almost $360.

Along the way, the scheme involved downloading an iPhone app (GoToResolve – a legitimate tool used by IT support professionals) which gave the guy with an accent control of Charles’ smartphone screen. The advanced fee part resulted in Charles purchasing two, $200 GameStop gift cards on Amazon.com – which somehow, only cost him the $356 and change. Needless to say, the gift of GameStop went to the scammers and not Charles!

Irony of ironies: In hindsight, the scam was structured to obtain information from Charles so he could be reimbursed money he had never spent in the first place.

Don’t be Charles. Don’t let this happen to you.

I am Charles (last name not withheld) Taylor.

And here’s a resource I wish I had been alert enough to consult before trying to tackle this scam: https://blog.avast.com/online-holiday-scams.

Embarrassment aside, as the old hymn goes (written in 1945 by Alma Androzzo and recorded by various gospel groups and popular singers since): “If I can help somebody as I travel along ... my living shall not be in vain.”

Happy holidays!

P.S. According to the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel publication anyone can be scammed.

“Many scams are harming younger people more than older adults,” the agency says. (link: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2022/12/who-experiences-scams-story-all-ages)

Charles Taylor is a freelance writer.