A Salina couple is out $11,000 after falling for a compromised computer scam Wednesday.

Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester said Thursday that the 66-year-old male victim got up Wednesday morning and attempted to use his computer, only to find a message on the screen that said access was denied because the computer had been compromised and that he was to call the phone number listed.

The man called the number and spoke to a person claiming to be with Microsoft who told him that someone had debited $20,000 on a credit card account belonging to the man and his 65-year-old wife and that the alleged Microsoft employee would clean up the problem for a fee paid for in prepaid gift cards, Forrester said.

The male victim then went to stores throughout Salina and purchased a total of $11,000 worth of gift cards and read over the phone to the alleged Microsoft employee the information on the back of the cards, Forrester said. Only after doing so did the couple check with the credit card company and found out that there was no such $20,000 transaction on their account, he said.