What a hair-raising experience. In the heat of the moment it's difficult to stay rational and that's what these criminals play on.

I was chatting to my sister in Orlando last night and she told me that the company my stepsister (her half-sister - it's complicated!) works for was hacked last Friday and demanded a ransom of two million bitcoin. Despite the company being on the ball with cyber security, hackers found a way in to their system. The company tried to bypass on Saturday with the help of security experts to no avail. They ended up paying the ransom or their business of processing on-line payments would come to a dead halt.

Modern technology has its drawbacks as demonstrated by your verifying the Caller ID was genuine - except it wasn't.

I'm glad it ended well :)