Woman falls victim to phone scammer

A pop-up window on a Birmingham woman’s computer led to a scammer getting her money in the form of Bitcoin after she called the number for help.

On Thursday, October 17, a woman on the 400 block of S. Old Woodward in Birmingham reported that she was the victim of fraud. She reported that a virus pop-up window on her computer gave her a number to call, and when she did, she hung up thinking it could be a scam.

The woman then found a number to Microsoft online and called, but unfortunately, she used another fake number. The scammer posing as a Microsoft employee convinced her to download remote access software, then had her withdraw money from her bank account and send it in the form of Bitcoin to the scammer.

Birmingham police said an investigation is underway.