BOARDMAN TWP., Ohio - A Boardman woman lost $40,000 after a scammer convinced her she owed money for a fraudulent PayPal transaction.

The investigation began last week when police went to a home on East Western Reserve Road. The woman told officers the ordeal started Dec. 2 when she received an email that appeared to be from PayPal regarding a $500 purchase.

When she called the number in the email, a man claiming to work for the company told her the charge was a mistake. He then convinced her that she had accidentally requested a $50,000 refund instead of $500 and needed to pay the money back.

The scheme escalated the next day. The woman withdrew large sums of money from several First National Bank branches in the area. She took $15,000 of that cash to a gas station and converted it in

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