Yorktown police are in search of a man running a scam that cost a victim thousands of dollars.

Police say a woman was victimized by a man, who posed as an IT professional from either Google or Microsoft. He said he needed access to the victim's email and bank accounts, as there was a computer virus compromising her accounts.

On three separate dates, the victim purchased close to $2,000 of gift cards, and would subsequently scan each individual gift card, front and back, to the scammer. The scammer eventually convinced the victim to wire $31,000 and take a cash advance of $18,000 from one of her credit cards.

Fortunately, the victim has a relative who has power of attorney over her finances and was able to stop the purchases. The victim is "only" out the original gift card loss.

Police have spoken to local merchants who sell gift cards to raise awareness, but the gift card fraud happened at three different locations on multiple dates.

They are asking that families have discussion about scammers and spread awareness about these scams. If you receive a cold call or a pop up on your computer, speak with a friend, a loved one, maybe even your local police, before proceeding.