LPD: Lincoln woman loses thousands in COVID-19 scam

Authorities say a Lincoln woman is out thousands of dollars due to a COVID-19 scam. 

Authorities say a Lincoln woman is out thousands of dollars due to a COVID-19 scam.

Lincoln police say the 21-year-old reported receiving a message on Snapchat from a friend who lives out of state. The message involved a way for people impacted by COVID-19 to “get money fast.”

The woman contacted a scammer who told her he could transfer money into her account, but that she would need to send him a portion of it back, police said.

The victim gave the scammer her online banking information and saw $4,900 had been deposited into her account. She then returned $2,400 to the scammers, which she never got back.

Police said the victim’s friend also lost an unknown amount of money to the scam.

Police said there are no identifiable suspects at this time. They said there are no other known reports of similar scams.