Managing Editor/Publisher
This is the third story in a series about an elaborate scam which resulted in the loss of $30,000 to a Lakin, Kan., man.
LAKIN, Kan. - Former Ulysses resident Tom Grauberger , Lakin, has had a good life, even traveling the world some. He began working for Amoco in Ulysses in 1964, before he and his wife moved to Cairo, Egypt in 1985. He worked in Singapore in the early 90s.
Now retired, Grauberger, typically files his own taxes online. Recently, however, that habit cost him to the tune of $30,000. But, it could have been much more.
When Grauberger sat down to complete his taxes this year, his computer locked up and Microsoft Defender popped up, telling him there was a problem and to call a number on the screen. He called.
"My gut was saying this was wrong, and I should have listened," Grauberger said.
Scammers on the other end of the phone claimed his computer had been comprimised and that there was evidence of pornography and money laundering. A sophisticated scam, it went on for weeks with Grauberger being continually threatened with jail time if he did not go along with their "investigation".
The thieves, claiming to be with the Federal Trade commission, ultimately took $30,000 of Grauberger's hard earned money and would have gotten more - to the tune of $200,000, if not for Grant County Bank in Ulysses.
Grauberger had $200,000 from his retirement money transferred to Grant County Bank and then had requested they wire it to a Mr. Zang in Hong Kong.
"The supervisor at the bank called and said there are a lot of scammers out there and asked if I knew the person in Hong Kong," Grauberger said.
Fear and threats were what the scammers had been using daily on Grauberger so he did what they had instructed him to - he lied, at least partially.
"I told them I had worked in Hong Kong in the 90s (which was true) and had met (Zang) then (which was not true," Grauberger said.
The Grant County Bank supervisor asked Grauberger to call Mr. Zang and have him verify who he was, so they could research it further on his (Grauberger's) behalf.
"When I told the scammer what the bank wanted, they said they didn't need to do that and for me to call the bank back and push them to send the money," Grauberger said. "They said it's my money and to call the bank and shout at them if I needed to and tell them to send the transfer."
After weeks of this, Grauberger was feeling more and more like something wasn't right.
"I called the bank back and they told me they thought it was a scam," Grauberger said. "I told her I agreed it was a scam and to not send the transfer."
The scammers were monitoring Grauberger's every move during the day by having him leave his cellphone turned on constantly. When he decided he was being scammed, he turned the tables.
"I left my phone in the car and went in to the bank to talk to them," he said. "Saturday morning I started thinking through the whole process I had been through. I kept asking myself, 'how could I have done that?'"
Thinking about past conversations Grauberger had with the scammers, something came to mind.
"One of them said Insha Allah - which in Islam means God Willing," Grauberger said. "One of them told me their name was Kyle Martinez and they were in the United States. His English was pretty good."
Grauberger decided the man he had been conversing with was not Hispanic at all.
"I played along with them until Monday when I talked to the bank," he said.
Although his pride has taken a hit along with his bank account, Grauberger is thankful it wasn't more. If the scammers had gotten his retirement, he said, it would have "wiped him out."
Now, he and his daughter, Debi Leal want to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else.
"It has made me kind of numb," Grauberger said. "How could I have let this happen. My gut was telling me it was wrong, but I went ahead with it. If your gut says 'no' - it's probably best not to do it. I just don't want this to happen to anyone else."
Grauberger and Leal say there is some basic advice everyone should follow: A legitimate law enforcement agency will not ask you to send money. They will never listen to your phone that way. They will not call you and threaten to come and get you if you don't comply to something. They won't ask you to purchase gift cards and send to them.
"They were really good," Grauberger said. "If they had a real job they would be CEOs."
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