A Killeen man who prosecutors say was paid to run the drivers in a fake PayPal refund scheme has received a 20-year prison sentence in Grayson County, according to the Grayson County District Attorney's Office as reported by KXII. Five victims across Texas lost close to $150,000 in total, including people from Sherman and Gordonville, prosecutors said.
How the scheme worked
Assistant District Attorney Don Hoover told KXII that it began with an email made to look like it came from PayPal. The message told people their account had been charged by mistake and gave a phone number to call for a refund.
Victims were then sent a form that appeared genuine, Hoover said. If a victim entered a refund amount in the hundreds of dollars, two extra zeros appeared, and the callers claimed the victim had been refunded too much and needed to return the difference, even though no money had been sent.
Some victims were told to put cash into a Bitcoin kiosk; others had a driver come to their home to pick it up.
Prosecutors said PayPal was not involved in the scheme.
How the case broke
The case turned after a driver picked up more than $19,000 in cash from a Grayson County woman, 93, whose daughter took a photo of the car's license plate, Hoover said. That photo let investigators find the driver and then led the Grayson County Sheriff's Office to the man in Killeen.
He was sentenced this week, KXII reported Thursday. Three other people charged in the case have not been publicly identified, and their cases are pending. Cash, gold and vehicles taken by the Bell County Sheriff's Office are to be sold to help repay victims, prosecutors said.
