Lancaster County woman tricked into giving $30,000 to PayPal scammers

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A woman was tricked into giving $30,000 to a scammer, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says.

On June 18, a 62-year-old woman from northwest rural Lancaster County received an unsolicited email from PayPal.

According to the sheriff’s office, the woman called a phone number in the email and she was told she needed to pay $30,000.

The woman was talked into taking the money out of her savings account and putting it in two cryptocurrency ATMs, giving the money directly to the scammer.

According to the sheriff’s office, the victim has filed a report with the FCC and the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.

“We continue to say, if they’re telling you to go to any ATM, put any money into it for bitcoin it’s a fraud. Stop. Don’t do it,” Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said.

Houchin said it is very difficult to get the money back in this kind of situation.