The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia stated roughly $1.4 million in stolen cryptocurrency has been seized by authorities.
In what the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office referred to as “one of many first and the biggest seizure of its form in Virginia,” roughly $1.4 million in stolen cryptocurrency has been seized by authorities.
The sheriff’s workplace stated the cryptocurrency was stolen via a “pig butchering” scam. That’s when victims are manipulated by nefarious means to speculate in pretend cryptocurrency platforms.
“This seizure sends a transparent sign to dangerous actors that we are going to not enable our residents to be taken benefit of and can do all the pieces potential to get their a reimbursement,” Sheriff Mike Chapman stated in a news release.
The sheriff’s workplace stated this case started when somebody reported receiving an unsolicited textual content message addressed to the mistaken individual. The suspect was capable of befriend the person and achieve their belief, earlier than encouraging them to discover cryptocurrency buying and selling.
The suspect then manipulated the person to create an account and make investments a “substantial quantity” of cryptocurrency on a buying and selling web site managed by the suspect.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office stated detectives with its Monetary and Cybercrime Unit investigated 107 cryptocurrency instances, with a complete financial lack of over $13 million final 12 months. That’s up from 50 comparable investigations in 2023.
The sheriff’s workplace stated it urges warning when investing in cryptocurrency and steered the following tricks to keep away from being scammed:
- “Deal with any surprising or misdirected communications with warning, particularly in the event that they result in discussions about funding alternatives.”
- “Don’t belief platforms or web sites really useful by people you meet on-line with out conducting thorough impartial analysis.”
- “By no means switch funds or present monetary data to individuals you haven’t met in individual.”
- “Scammers usually promise excessive returns with minimal danger. If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is.”
- “Search recommendation from licensed monetary advisors earlier than making vital investments.”
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