Kingfisher resident's life savings stolen in cyber fraud

A Kingfisher man fell prey to a cyber scam, losing his life savings in only weeks. Jack Musick said state and federal authorities are now investigating to find the source of the fraud.

Musick said he lost his wife in May, and while grieving her death, he fell for a scam disguised as an email. Now, he wants to warn others.

“I’m an honest person,” said Jack Musick, scam victim. “Somebody gives me a dollar too much in change, they’re gonna get it back.”

Those values are what scammers target. The lifelong Kingfisher resident responded to a fake PayPal email last month. He called the number on the email that connected him to someone alleging that PayPal charged him for a purchase.

“He said OK, lets get your money back in your account,” said Musick.

Musick said he allowed the scammer to use Screen Connect on his computer. He said it appeared the man was depositing money in his bank account, but the "refunded" money was never there. Musick said the scammer told him he would need to send cash to be deposited.

“He said you can’t just mail cash, and he said that’s the way we had to do it and try to keep the IRS out,” said Musick.

Musick said he withdrew large amounts of cash and put the money in boxes. The scammer arranged for couriers to pick up the boxes from Musick's home. It is unclear if the couriers knew if this was a scam, so we blurred their faces in the video.

Musick handed over 10 boxes of cash, trusting the person on the phone was helping him.

“We had one or two fairly long discussions and he talked just as good of a Christian person as he could be,” said Musick.

However, the scammer drained Musick of his life savings in two weeks. Alarming his friends and family.

“It’s very life-changing when something like this happens,” said Merideth Musick, daughter. “Me as the daughter I feel a bit responsible for not making sure that my dad is not falling for these scams. So, as children with aging parents we need to check their phones, we need to check and look at their emails.”

Musick's family first reported the scam to Kingfisher police, who then alerted the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations. State agents ask citizens to report tips by calling (800) 522-8017. Musick said the feds are also investigating due to the amount of money stolen. 

Kingfisher PD posted pictures two people of interest in the case they are working on.

Image Provided By: Kingfisher PD

According to the FBI, seniors in America lost billions of dollars in assets last year through fraud.