Social media scam nearly turns violent

DENVER (KMGH) - A woman is sharing her story after she became the victim of a scam.

It all started on Facebook and could have cost her family their lives.

It’s a moment that has left this family traumatized: A man they said they’ve never seen before, armed with two guns, came looking for a Jessica, showing up to their home Thursday.

The thing is, Jessice Otero Garcia said she never said those things he claimed, doesn’t know the man and doesn’t even live at that Denver home anymore. But her family does.

“He could have hurt my my aunt. He could have hurt my cousin. He could have shot one of them,” she said.

Omar Vargas, 20, was arrested shortly after, but how could this have happened?

In November, Garcia saw a post on Facebook from someone posing as an old middle school friend.

“She’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m here. I’m giving away money to teen moms to help them out,’” she said.

Garcia, a young mom herself, said she was wary but reached out anyway, thinking it was her friend.

“They’re like, you know, what’s the best way to do this is through Bitcoin, through Cash app,” she said.

Garcia made the deposit before realizing she’d been scammed.

“So I’m like, ‘OK, I just got scammed for $150.’ I was like, ‘That’s fine. Whatever,’” she said.

But she’d be fooled again.

Garcia then got a message from Facebook asking for information to prove she owns the account. So she ended up providing her email, phone number and eventually her driver’s license.

Suddenly, she’s locked out.

“Then the next day, I get started getting messages from my family like, ‘Hey, what like, why are you posting this?’ And I was like, What are you guys talking about? Like, ‘No, you’re posting that you’re giving away money,’” Garcia said.

The scammer was using her profile to go after others.

Then Thursday came around.

“They’re traumatized. My family is traumatized. And we don’t know how we’re going to get through this,” Garcia said.

She said police told her that suspect was also part of the scam and came for his money.

Vargas is being charged for felony menacing with a weapon, police said.

As for the scammers, they’re probably looking for their next victim.

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