Johnson County authorities are asking for federal help on a phone scam that took more than $59,000 from a local resident.

Sheriff Doug Cox says the scam started with a phone call to a home about two weeks ago, telling the resident that there was a problem with his home computer and that he needed to pay $200 to have tech support look at his computer remotely. The scammer walked the resident through a process on his computer that gave the scammers access remotely and they asked for more money to fix the problem, which the resident paid over the phone from his checking account.

The man realized he had been scammed and filed a police report in Franklin, deputies report.

However, yesterday , deputies were called to a Trafalgar bank. The victim and bank representatives said that with access to the man’s computer, the scammers were able to gain access to his home equity line of credit and then tie that to his bank account. The scammers then moved 10s of thousands of dollars into the checking account, which they convinced the resident they had accidentally moved from their company’s acount. The victim then withdrew the money from his own account and sent it to the scammers.

Cox said deputies are searching the man’s computer for clues and he has asked the FBI to intervene in the case.