WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A West Palm Seashore man in his late 70s misplaced $22,000 after falling sufferer to a classy Bitcoin scheme that started with a faux Amazon fraud alert, police mentioned.
It began with a fraudulent textual content message showing to come back from Amazon, claiming the sufferer’s account had been compromised. The sufferer then obtained calls from somebody figuring out himself as “Agent John Krebs” with the Federal Commerce Fee, calling from a Washington, D.C. quantity.
WATCH BELOW: $22K Bitcoin Scheme: West Palm Seashore police warn of vacation fraud
$22K Bitcoin Scheme: West Palm Seashore police warn of vacation fraud
The caller advised the man he was beneath investigation for cash laundering and directed him to deposit $22,000 right into a Bitcoin ATM at a fuel station alongside South Dixie Freeway in West Palm Seashore to resolve the matter.
“No authorities company goes to contact you that you must make a fee at a Bitcoin kiosk. That may be a pink flag,” mentioned Rachel Leitao, public data officer with the West Palm Seashore Police Division.
Police at the moment are warning residents concerning the growing variety of fraudulent schemes throughout the vacation season.
“We see an uptick in scams like this across the vacation season,” Leitao mentioned.
The warning comes as cryptocurrency-related fraud continues to surge nationwide. The American Affiliation of Retired Individuals experiences $9.3 billion was misplaced final 12 months because of cryptocurrency-related fraud, with these 60 or older dropping $2.8 billion of that complete.
John Klingel, another local victim, advised WPTV in April that he misplaced roughly $38,000 to fraudsters who pressured him to deposit cash right into a Bitcoin kiosk.
“These persons are simply extremely artful, very slick, very convincing,” Klingel mentioned. “It is a sinking feeling. You’re feeling victimized.”
As a protection in opposition to these scams, West Palm Seashore police are encouraging residents to join Operation Senior Shield, a free alert system that sends updates on the most recent scams to assist seniors acknowledge pink flags and shield their private data.
“It actually focuses on ensuring that there is consciousness surrounding these monetary and fraud scams,” Leitao mentioned.
Klingel mentioned he plans to join this system.
“Sure, completely. I might do this,” he mentioned. “These criminals are ruthless.”
The investigation into the West Palm Seashore sufferer’s case stays ongoing. Police mentioned alerts from Operation Senior Defend will start subsequent month.
Ideas from police on easy methods to keep away from turning into a sufferer:
- Confirm the supply. When you obtain a suspicious textual content, electronic mail, or name, contact the corporate or company instantly utilizing an official cellphone quantity or web site—by no means use the quantity supplied by the caller
- Authorities businesses don’t name demanding cash. The FTC, IRS, and regulation enforcement won’t ever ask you to ship cash, present reward playing cards, or use cryptocurrency
- Don’t share private data. By no means ship photographs of IDs, financial institution particulars, or verification codes to unsolicited callers or textual content messages
- Discuss to somebody you belief. If one thing feels off, pause and converse with a member of the family, pal, or native regulation enforcement
- By no means deposit cash into bitcoin kiosks on the request of a monetary establishment or company. Requests to switch funds via bitcoin ATMs or unfamiliar apps are main pink flags
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been transformed to this platform with the help of AI. Our editorial crew verifies all reporting on all platforms for equity and accuracy.
