Jan 30, 2026
When an older woman in Goodyear, Arizona couldn’t figure out how to turn off the closed captioning on her Roku TV, she did what most of us would do: searched for a solution online.
The link she wound up clicking on led her to an official-looking website with a phone number. She called, and the alleged tech support person on the other end reportedly told her she would have to pay $200 and download remote access software on her computer to get the issue fixed (1).
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Six months later, the woman’s ordeal ended with her losing $1.5 million, which had been systematically taken by sophisticated scammers.
How online scammers use fear and pressure
According to a report from the Federal Trade Commission, there has been a more than fourfold increase in adults who say they’ve been scammed out of $10,000 in the last four years (2). Scammers appear more likely to target older adults for their biggest scams, as this group reported a near sevenfold increase in scams of more than $100,000 during the same period.
These scams typically start with a prompt that gets your attention, with one or a combination of the following lies:
- Lie No. 1: someone is using your accounts
- Lie No. 2: your information is being used to commit crimes
- Lie No. 3: there’s a security problem with your computer or device
The bait that first got the Goodyear woman in trouble was an online search result. Scammers often use search engine optimization or paid advertisements to surface "lookalike" listings that mimic official support channels, catching users when they are frustrated and seeking a quick fix.
Once the victim was on the line, the scammers allegedly deployed a classic pretext: claiming the woman’s account was being used by multiple unauthorized people across several states. To intensify the pressure, the criminals escalated their perceived authority, eventually impersonating officials from the Federal Trade Commission.
This is a hallmark of tech support fraud; it begins with a "helpful technician" solving a minor problem and transitions into an "official investigator" uncovering an alleged major crime. This shift is designed to replace the victim’s initial frustration with a sense of fear and a desperate need to comply with the law.
Early in the scheme, the scammers convinced the woman to install software that granted them remote access to her computer. The FBI consistently warns that this is the moment of no return. Once a criminal has remote access, they can harvest sensitive personal data, monitor banking logins and install malware, often draining accounts before the victim even realizes they were scammed (3).
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To keep the money flowing, the scammers manufactured a sense of extreme urgency. They claimed the Goodyear woman was under investigation by the IRS and faced potential arrest if she didn’t follow their protection protocols.
Urgency and panic are the scammer's greatest tools. By creating a crisis, they prevent the victim from taking a moment to breathe or seek a second opinion. But consumers should always keep in mind that legitimate agencies will never pressure you to move money immediately to avoid arrest.
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Scammer tactics are getting more extravagant
Over several months, the woman was directed into high-dollar transactions that moved away from the digital world and into physical assets. She reportedly made eight separate gold purchases, averaging roughly $200,000 each. Following instructions from the scammers, she then handed the gold over to “couriers” in person.
This offline pickup method is also a growing trend. By moving from wire transfers to precious metals and hand-to-hand exchanges, criminals make the money much harder for banks to track or for victims to recover.
Fortunately, there is some good news. Goodyear police eventually arrested a 28-year-old man on money laundering charges connected to the case. While this arrest is a step toward justice, the broader investigation continues as police warn the community that this was not an isolated incident.
Most scammers these days are engaging in small-time operations. The FBI’s Internet Crime Report describes "call center scams" as a global ecosystem, accounting for over 53,000 complaints and $1.9 billion in losses. These centers use professional scripts and tiered "support" levels to maximize the extraction of wealth from their targets (3).
These groups also keep getting more professional in how they lure their victims in. Microsoft reports that “techscam” traffic surged from 2021 to 2023, outpacing the growth of malware and phishing scams (4).
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In some regions, the “industrial” description is literal. Interpol has warned that transnational scam centers now draw victims from dozens of countries, turning fraud into an assembly-line operation that can run multiple scam scripts at once, including tech-support-style cons (5).
These days, scammers are leaning harder on impersonation, paid ads and convincing support lookalikes rather than purely technical hacks to break through your psychological defenses.
How to spot a scam from the outset
Most tech support scams follow a predictable script:
- The trigger: a fake problem appears (via a search result, pop-up on your device or an unsolicited call or text)
- The hook: a request for remote access to "fix" or "diagnose" the issue
- The pivot: a claim that your bank accounts are compromised or you are under investigation
- The extraction: a demand for payment via untraceable or hard-to-reverse methods, such as wire transfers, cryptocurrency, gift cards or physical gold
To avoid falling into a similar trap, look for these "stop-in-your-tracks" red flags:
- Unsolicited contact: Legitimate companies like Roku, Microsoft or Apple do not call you out of the blue to tell you your computer has a virus
- Secrecy: If a "technician" or "agent" tells you not to talk to your family or your bank, it is likely a scam
- Platform switching: Legitimate agencies will not ask you to communicate via encrypted apps like Telegram or WhatsApp
- The "first click" rule: Never use a phone number found in a pop-up or a random search result. Instead, go directly to the official company website by entering the URL yourself
If you suspect you are currently in a scam, cut off contact immediately. Contact your financial institutions to freeze your accounts, change all of your passwords and run a malware scan on your devices. Fast action can sometimes limit the damage, but the goal is to stop the bleeding before the next "courier" arrives.
Tech support scams succeed because they hide inside the mundane frustrations of modern life. By verifying every support channel, refusing remote access to strangers and pausing to consult a trusted friend before moving money, you can ensure that a minor tech glitch doesn't become a life-altering financial disaster.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
ABC 15 (1); Federal Trade Commission (2); Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Report (3); Microsoft (4); Interpol (5).
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Will Kenton is a personal finance writer with a Master's degree in Economics who has been published in Investopedia, AP News, TIME Stamped and Business Insider among other publications.
