FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Ronnie McKenzie, a communication coordinator at the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, said he narrowly avoided falling victim to a scheme after receiving a fraudulent message about a $2,000 transaction from his bank.
McKenzie said on the department’s social media account he received a text message asking if he authorized a $2,000 transaction, to which he replied “N” for no. Shortly after, he received a call from someone posing as the bank’s fraud department, attempting to convince him to send an Apple Pay payment to a random number.
“I was very disappointed with myself for almost falling victim,” McKenzie said.
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McKenzie, who has more than 28 years of experience in information technology and security before moving into the external communication and social media unit, said he was initially convinced by the schemer’s tactics.
The caller sent a copy of the exact message McKenzie typically receives from his bank during suspicious activity.
“I never gave him any private account information, but he had me, a veteran Systems Security Administrator, convinced for a few minutes that he was from my bank,” he said.
The caller’s mistake came when he asked McKenzie to send an Apple Pay payment to a contact created with McKenzie’s own name and a random phone number. This raised a red flag for McKenzie, who then decided to end the call and verify the transaction with his bank.
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“He began assuring me that he was the one to help and I didn’t need to do that. #AnotherRedFlag Any employee from my bank would tell me that was fine and wish me farewell,” he said. “This wasn’t an employee from my bank. He was very unhappy that I would not finish the call with him and I hung up and called my bank.”
After contacting his bank, McKenzie confirmed that no fraudulent transaction had occurred and changed his online banking password for security.
“DO NOT fall victim and never trust ANYONE that calls you unless you can call them back at the number you have or can lookup on their website,” he said.
McKenzie shared his experience to highlight how anyone can be targeted by schemes.
He said he hopes his story will serve as a cautionary tale, reminding the public to stay vigilant against scams and protect their personal information.
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