Scammer gets $2,500 in fake Comcast tech scheme

A Rochester resident was scammed out of $2,500 recently by someone falsely claiming to be a Comcast technician, authorities said.

According to the Rochester Police Department, the resident reported being contacted Feb. 23 by someone who claimed to be a Comcast technician, who said her modem wasn’t running at its highest speed. She gave him remote access to her computer and was told she’d get a refund for services she paid for but wasn’t receiving.

The fake technician reportedly had the resident log into her bank account and said it would show a $500 refund, but instead showed a refund of $5,500. She was told the only way to correct that without sharing account information was to purchase five $500 Target gift cards and provide the card information to him, which she did, police said.

The resident subsequently became suspicious and checked her bank account which showed the entire previous deposit was gone. She attempted to call the “technician” but got no answer, police said.

The case was forwarded to the detective bureau for further investigation.