Staff report

LIBERTY — A resident nearly lost thousands of dollars to a phishing link, but the total dollar loss is still unknown.

According to a police report, an officer took a call from a woman who said she was scammed over the phone, explaining that she was on her laptop, navigating to her church’s website, when a link popped up on the screen. The link had prompted the woman to call a number to get her laptop fixed.

The woman said she called the number on the screen and was instructed by the caller to go to Kohl’s, CVS and Target, where she was instructed to buy gift cards, which she had with her, with receipts to show proof of purchase.

The report states the woman purchased $3,000 to $4,000 in gift cards, and the caller told her to meet somewhere and to “leave her phone in the car.”

The woman said she realized she was being scammed at that point and went home immediately, attempting to contact her bank in hopes of a refund and updating her bank information.