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Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) - A rural Rochester man was nearly scammed out of thousands of dollars in a very unusual case and he may not be out of the woods yet.

The man reported the scam to the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office Saturday.

He said he received an email indicating his Amazon account had been hacked. The man called a phone number included in the message and was told he was talking to an Amazon employee. The person told the Rochester man the hacker was attempting to use the bank card associated with his Amazon account to withdraw $12,500.

 

A person identified as a representative of his bank then joined the call. The Rochester man was convinced to give his social security number and other personal information in an effort to prevent the withdrawal.

But then he became suspicious and hung up.

The man began contacting all his bank and credit card offices to see if there was any fraudulent activity. None had turned up by the time he contacted the sheriff’s office.

A sheriff’s office spokesman says this is the first time a sophisticated fraud attempt like this has been reported.

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