Woman swindled out of $1,400 in gift cards

An 18-year-old Rochester Hills woman told authorities she was tricked out of $1,400 in iTunes gift cards on Tuesday, June 5, through a computer scam that made her believe she had a virus on her computer.

The woman told the Oakland County Sheriff's Office that she was using her computer when a pop-up advertisement alerted her that she had a virus. The ad included a phone number claiming to be from AppleCare. The woman said she called the number and spoke to a man who instructed her to purchase $1,400 in iTunes cards and provide the security codes to him. The woman followed the instructions.

The victim told authorities it wasn't until after she noticed her computer still wasn't fixed that she realized she was the victim of a fraudulent ruse to steal her money. The woman then contacted Apple support, which informed her that the company doesn't use pop-up notifications as described.