Scammers posing as members of the US government just stole $400,000 from an elderly victim.
Fake members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tricked a 67-year-old man into converting his life savings into gift cards, gold, and Bitcoin (BTC), reports USA Today.
The scammers reportedly told the man that his identity had been stolen, and that he needed to hand over his converted life savings to them for safe keeping - going as far as picking up the gold in person.
The victim was promised that once the perpetrator that stole his identity was found, they would return the funds to his bank account with a check.
The incident marks another example of an elderly person's account being emptied in a scam involving fake federal agents.
In October, an elderly woman lost out of tens of thousands of dollars after a scammer posed as an FBI agent, convincing her that her Apple ID had been stolen and that she needed to move her funds to keep them "protected."
In September, two brothers from New Jersey were accused of posing as FBI agents and Apple employees to trick four elderly women into sending them nearly $400,000, also convincing them that their funds needed to be moved for safe keeping.