It absolutely is a scam. Two years ago, as my husband was setting up a new laptop, a warning went off that the files he was transferring from another computer had a virus. He followed the instructions to “remove” the virus, including paying $200. About a year later he told me he had decided that was a scam in itself.
So a few months ago he started getting calls from the “company” that had scammed him, telling him they had been prosecuted and ordered to return the money, but while they still had has phone number, they needed to verify the credit card number. He told them to go to hell. They still call trying to “return” the money. He told them to send it in the mail. Ah, can’t do that, they insist.
It’s a scam.
That is hilarious...they actually called and said “We are being prosecuted and need to return your [stolen] money. Give us your credit card number.” Now that is CHUTZPAH!!