LEVY COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – The Levy County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) says a man has been scammed out of nearly $50,000 from con artists pretending to represent a brand name company whose product is designed to protect computers from hacks and malware.

According to the sheriff’s office, the man lost a significant amount of his life savings during an elaborate scam that mimics the plot of the new movie “The Beekeeper” starring Jason Statham.

LCSO says the victim received an email that appeared to be from Norton Antivirus, the program used to protect electronic data on personal computers. According to the sheriff’s office, the email informed the man that the software was in need of an update and would cost $499.99.

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LCSO says the email had a phone number and the victim called it. Deputies say a man with a Middle Eastern accent answered the call and pretended to be helping process a refund.

The Federal Trade Commission says these “refund scams” are part of “phishing” operations that are aimed at tricking recipients into divulging private information giving scammers access to financial accounts or passwords which allows scammers remote access to your computer.

The latter is what happened to the man in Levy County.

“Our citizen’s entire financial wealth was now visible to these unknown bad actors,” shared the sheriff’s office in a Facebook post.

LCSO says the scammers drained $49,999.99 from the man’s bank account and transferred it to an overseas account.

Levy County deputies say it is an unfortunate situation and it will be extremely hard if not impossible to recover the victim’s money.

While we can’t go blowing up the headquarters of scammers like Jason Statham does to exact revenge in the movie, there are things you can do to avoid becoming a victim.

How to Protect Yourself
“This is a scam that is not associated with the well-known company Norton Antivirus. Citizens are cautioned to verify all emails, text or phone calls by contacting all companies they conduct business with in-person or by physically finding contact information via Google searches or known phone numbers,” advised LCSO.

The Federal Trade Commission has this advice for consumers.

If you get an email or text, you’re not sure about:

  • Don’t click on any links.
  • Don’t use the number in the email or text. If you want to call the company that supposedly sent the message, look up their phone number online.

Remember:

  • Never give your password to a stranger on the phone, even if they claim to be from a company you recognize.
  • If you did give out your password, change it right away, update your computer’s security software, run a scan, and delete anything it identifies as a problem.
  • Make your passwords long, strong, and complex.
  • Don’t give your bank account, credit card, or personal information over the phone to someone who contacts you out of the blue.

And if you do get a fake email like the one described in this crime, report it to the FTC here. This will allow authorities to warn others.

The Norton website is loaded with helpful information about how to spot scam emails. It has a link so you can verify whether the email is legitimate and a free scam detector tool.