Police in Morgan Hill are advising the community to be aware of two types of scams that recently targeted elderly victims and sought tens of thousands of dollars. 

Both cases were reported to Morgan Hill police on Wednesday. One involved a fake pop-up message purporting a user’s computer was hacked, and the other involved a phony call from someone impersonating an FBI agent. 

In one, a resident in the city noticed a pop-up message on her home computer that said it had been hacked. The victim was told to send money to “fix the issue,” according to a news release from the Morgan Hill Police Department. 

The victim sent nearly $30,000 over the course of several transactions, including hand delivering $20,000 at one point to someone during an in-person meeting. 

After realizing the contacts were fraudulent, the victim contacted police, who set up a sting operation involving another in-person meeting with the alleged perpetrator. The suspect, who was not identified by police, was arrested at the meeting and booked on several felony accusations, including elder abuse, theft by false pretenses, and criminal conspiracy. 

In the other scam, an unrelated elderly victim was contacted by phone by someone claiming they were an FBI agent and that the person was under investigation. They told the victim to withdraw a total $24,000 from multiple bank locations and send $15,000 of it to an out-of-state address. 

The victim complied but realized afterward that something was wrong. Morgan Hill police were able to contact the shipping company and intercept the package, successfully recovering the victim’s cash. 

The Morgan Hill Police Department advised residents that government agencies will never ask anyone to send money via email, mail or shipping. 

The department recommended never sharing personal or financial information with unsolicited callers and advised residents to trust any feeling that something is suspicious. Family members of elderly residents, who are frequently targeted, were encouraged to talk to their family and share the advice.  

Scams and fraudulent activity can be reported the Morgan Hill Police Department at (408) 779-2101.