On Friday afternoon at the Lowe’s on Honeycutt Avenue, Qui Nguyen stood in the aisle with five gift cards in her hand and a stranger’s voice in her ear.

The caller identified himself as Matthew. He said he worked with the bank. He said Nguyen’s account had been used to buy pornography —“even child…” he trailed off just enough to let panic fill in the rest. If she didn’t move quickly, he warned, law enforcement would show up at her door in The Villages at Rancho El Dorado, and she would be arrested.

“I’m a Bible teacher,” Nguyen told him, her voice shaking. “I would never be involved in anything like that.”

Matthew reassured her. He was a Christian, too, he said. He was on the phone to help fix things. All she had to do was withdraw $5,000 and convert it into five gift cards. Onc

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