CEDAR SPRINGS, Mich. — A Cedar Springs woman lost thousands of dollars and revealed key personal details after she received a message on social media from a likely scammer who pretended to be a relative.
“I thought it was real,” said Rosa Kempainen. “I said, ‘Ok, I could try as well.’”
In December, Kempainen received a message from her aunt.
Kempainen, who is deaf, frequently relies on social media to talk with her family and friends. She says the profile picture looked like her aunt, so she assumed nothing was wrong.
The aunt had claimed she won $150,000 through a government grant opportunity and encouraged Kempainen to apply for it too.
Once Kempainen agreed, she was directed to a profile named “Agent James Scott Larry,” who quickly said she qualified for the money.
Over the next few hours, “Agent Larry” collected most of Kempainen’s personal information and requested she buy two thousand dollars’ worth of Apple gift cards to pay for processing fees for the prize.
“He needed a driver’s license and my social security number,” said Kempainen. “I had to drive back and forth to different stores and buy four cards.”
Just over a month later, though, Kempainen isn’t rich.
“I am deaf, I’m older, so maybe I was targeted,” said Kempainen. “I was angry and depressed, just mad. I cried.”
It turns out Kempainen’s aunt’s profile was fake and she likely fell victim to a con in which scammers impersonate someone the user knows to lure them in…
