$16.6 BILLION. THAT’S HOW MUCH MONEY WAS LOST IN SOME KIND OF CYBERCRIME IN 2024. LOOK AT THIS DATA FROM THE FBI. THERE’S BEEN A STEADY INCREASE IN LOSSES REPORTED IN JUST THE LAST FIVE YEARS. SO YOU CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT 2025 WILL LOOK LIKE ONCE THOSE NUMBERS COME IN. OFTEN THAT MONEY IS GONE FOREVER. UNTIL NOW. WESH 2 LINDSAY LOHAN FOUND A LOCAL SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT TRACING CRYPTOCURRENCY AND GETTING VICTIMS THEIR MONEY BACK. I CRIED IN THE PARKING LOT BECAUSE I KNEW I HAD TO COME HOME AND CONFESS IT TO MY HUSBAND, TO MY KIDS. TAMMY OWENS IS ONE OF LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WHO FELL FOR A SCAM THAT WOULD WIPE OUT MOST FAMILIES FINANCIALLY. I’M TOO EMBARRASSED TO EVEN SAY HOW MUCH IT WAS, AND I WAS GOING TO GIVE THEM MORE. WHILE SHE’D RATHER NOT SHARE JUST HOW MUCH SHE LOST, IT’S IN THE TENS OF THOUSANDS. AND IT ALL STARTED WITH AN URGENT CALL. THEY CALLED ME AND SAID SOMEONE WAS AT THE WELLS FARGO WITH MY ID, CLAIMING TO BE ME, AND WANTING TO WITHDRAW $25,000. I KNOW YOU THINK YOU’D NEVER FALL FOR A SCAM, BUT IT’S NOT THAT EASY. THE CALLER KNEW THAT TAMMY HAD DEPOSITED A LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY THE DAY BEFORE. HE KNEW HER INFORMATION, AND REFUSED TO LET HER GET OFF THE PHONE. OVER A FOUR HOUR PERIOD, HE CONVINCED HER THAT SOMEONE IN HER BANK WAS TRYING TO STEAL HER MONEY AND THAT SHE HAD TO WITHDRAW IT. HE THEN HAD HER SET UP A DIGITAL WALLET ON HER PHONE AND DEPOSIT THAT MONEY INTO A NEW ATM. IN OUR COUNTY ALONE, JUST WITH CRYPTOCURRENCY RELATED FRAUD, WE LOST ABOUT 7 MILLION LAST YEAR. RICHARD TRUMAN WORKS IN A DIFFERENT COUNTY THAN TAMMY’S CASE, BUT THIS MARION COUNTY DETECTIVE KNOWS EXACTLY HOW THESE SCAMS WORK. IT’S SENT TO A DIGITAL WALLET THAT THE SUSPECT HAS CONTROL OVER. BUT DETECTIVE TRUMAN IS NOW RECOVERING MONEY FOR THOSE VICTIMS. SO WE’VE SEIZED ABOUT 6.8 MILLION. WE’VE ALWAYS HEARD ONCE YOUR MONEY IS GONE, IT’S GONE. BUT THE MARION COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE IS WORKING WITH A PRIVATE COMPANY CALLED TRM LABS TO TRACE CRYPTO. KYLE ARMSTRONG, A FORMER FBI AGENT NOW WITH TRM LABS, EXPLAINS WHAT THEY DO. DURHAM LABS IS A BLOCKCHAIN INTELLIGENCE COMPANY. WHAT IS BLOCKCHAIN? YEAH, THAT’S SORT OF A LOT OF GOBBLEDYGOOK THERE. ANYTIME THERE’S A BITCOIN TRANSACTION, THAT TRANSACTION IS PUBLISHED ON THE OPEN INTERNET. AND THE BLOCKCHAIN IS ESSENTIALLY THE RECORDING OF THAT TRANSACTION. THE PROBLEM THOSE RECORDINGS ARE ANONYMOUS AND USE MULTIPLE NUMBERS AND LETTERS, MAKING IT NOTICE I SAID NEARLY. OUR COMPANY WORKS TO TO FOLLOW THOSE TRANSACTIONS, TO MAKE IT EASY TO GRAPH THOSE TRANSACTIONS, AND SIMPLER TO EXPLAIN. AND THEN ULTIMATELY, WE TRY TO IDENTIFY WHO’S CONTROLLING THE ADDRESSES. THAT INFORMATION GOES BACK TO LAW ENFORCEMENT, LIKE DETECTIVE TRUMAN. WE’RE NOT ALWAYS GOING TO BE PUTTING HANDCUFFS ON PEOPLE WITH THESE CASES, BECAUSE A LOT OF OUR SUSPECTS ARE OVERSEAS. BUT, YOU KNOW, WE’RE MAKING VICTIMS WHOLE IN ANOTHER WAY BY GETTING BACK THEIR MONEY. TAMMY HASN’T SEEN HER MONEY. I HAD TO CANCEL ALL MY CREDIT CARDS. I CANCELED TWO BANK ACCOUNTS. I HAD TO OPEN NEW ONES. AND IT’S B
Cryptocurrency rip-off victims get their money back with help of Marion County Sheriff’s Office
Victims misplaced $16.6 billion to cybercrime scams in 2024, however now the Marion County Sheriff’s Office is recovering money for a few of these victims. Tammy Owens misplaced tens of hundreds of {dollars} final 12 months in a rip-off that every one began with an pressing name from somebody pretending to be with the fraud division at her financial institution. “They known as me and stated somebody was at Wells Fargo with my ID claiming to be me, and wished to withdraw $25,000,” Owens defined.Owens stated the caller knew private particulars, together with that she had deposited a considerable amount of money the day earlier than. The scammer had Owens on the cellphone for greater than 4 hours and created a false emergency, claiming somebody inside her financial institution was attempting to steal her money. The scammer advised her the one technique to defend her money was to withdraw it, create a digital pockets on her cellphone, after which deposit the money into one other ATM. Owens complied. “I cried within the parking zone,” she stated. “I cried within the parking zone as a result of I knew I needed to come residence and confess it to my husband, to my youngsters.” Detective Richard Truman with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office will not be investigating Owens case as a result of she lives in a distinct county, however stated crypto-related fraud is taking a serious toll.”In our county alone, simply with cryptocurrency-related fraud, we misplaced about $7 million final 12 months,” Det. Truman stated. “It is despatched to a digital pockets that the suspect has management over,” Truman defined.Nonetheless, his workplace was capable of hint a few of that money and he stated it seized about $6.8 million final 12 months. They’re working with TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence firm, to take action. Former FBI agent Kyle Armstrong, now with TRM Labs, stated, “Anytime there is a bitcoin transaction, that transaction is printed on the open web, and the blockchain is actually the recording of that transaction.” These data are public however nameless, full of strings of letters and numbers, and routed by means of a number of addresses. That makes tracing tough however not unattainable.”Our firm works to comply with these transactions to make it straightforward to graph these transactions and easier to elucidate,” Armstrong stated. “Finally, we attempt to determine who’s controlling the addresses.”That data is then shared with legislation enforcement, like Det. Truman. “We’re not at all times going to be placing handcuffs on individuals with these circumstances, as a result of a whole lot of our suspects are abroad,” Truman stated. “However we’re making victims complete in one other means, by getting back their money.”Sadly, Owens has not been capable of get her money back. To high it off, she needed to cancel two financial institution accounts and all her bank cards. Investigators in New Smyrna Seashore are nonetheless working Owen’s case and advised WESH 2 in a press release, “Whereas some legislation‑enforcement companies have, in sure circumstances, been capable of hint and seize cryptocurrency, restoration is very case‑particular and never assured. It is determined by a number of elements, together with how rapidly the rip-off is reported, how the funds have been transferred, and whether or not the cryptocurrency can nonetheless be accessed or traced. Sadly, restoration has not been doable on this investigation at this level. In some circumstances, bigger companies with specialised cyber or monetary‑crimes sources are capable of pursue extra tracing choices; nonetheless, even with these instruments, restoration will not be at all times doable.”Crimson flags:Regulation enforcement, banks, and authorities companies won’t ever ask you to withdraw money or transfer funds.If you happen to really feel pressured to behave instantly, it is probably a rip-off.If you happen to get an sudden name or textual content, cling up and name back utilizing a trusted quantity (from a press release, official web site, or the back of your card).
Victims misplaced $16.6 billion to cybercrime scams in 2024, however now the Marion County Sheriff’s Office is recovering money for a few of these victims.
Tammy Owens misplaced tens of hundreds of {dollars} final 12 months in a rip-off that every one began with an pressing name from somebody pretending to be with the fraud division at her financial institution.
“They known as me and stated somebody was at Wells Fargo with my ID claiming to be me, and wished to withdraw $25,000,” Owens defined.
Owens stated the caller knew private particulars, together with that she had deposited a considerable amount of money the day earlier than.
The scammer had Owens on the cellphone for greater than 4 hours and created a false emergency, claiming somebody inside her financial institution was attempting to steal her money. The scammer advised her the one technique to defend her money was to withdraw it, create a digital pockets on her cellphone, after which deposit the money into one other ATM. Owens complied.
“I cried within the parking zone,” she stated. “I cried within the parking zone as a result of I knew I needed to come residence and confess it to my husband, to my youngsters.”
Detective Richard Truman with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office will not be investigating Owens case as a result of she lives in a distinct county, however stated crypto-related fraud is taking a serious toll.
“In our county alone, simply with cryptocurrency-related fraud, we misplaced about $7 million final 12 months,” Det. Truman stated. “It is despatched to a digital pockets that the suspect has management over,” Truman defined.
Nonetheless, his workplace was capable of hint a few of that money and he stated it seized about $6.8 million final 12 months. They’re working with TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence firm, to take action.
Former FBI agent Kyle Armstrong, now with TRM Labs, stated, “Anytime there is a bitcoin transaction, that transaction is printed on the open web, and the blockchain is actually the recording of that transaction.”
These data are public however nameless, full of strings of letters and numbers, and routed by means of a number of addresses. That makes tracing tough however not unattainable.
“Our firm works to comply with these transactions to make it straightforward to graph these transactions and easier to elucidate,” Armstrong stated. “Finally, we attempt to determine who’s controlling the addresses.”
That data is then shared with legislation enforcement, like Det. Truman.
“We’re not at all times going to be placing handcuffs on individuals with these circumstances, as a result of a whole lot of our suspects are abroad,” Truman stated. “However we’re making victims complete in one other means, by getting back their money.”
Sadly, Owens has not been capable of get her money back.
To high it off, she needed to cancel two financial institution accounts and all her bank cards.
Investigators in New Smyrna Seashore are nonetheless working Owen’s case and advised WESH 2 in a press release, “Whereas some legislation‑enforcement companies have, in sure circumstances, been capable of hint and seize cryptocurrency, restoration is very case‑particular and never assured. It is determined by a number of elements, together with how rapidly the rip-off is reported, how the funds have been transferred, and whether or not the cryptocurrency can nonetheless be accessed or traced. Sadly, restoration has not been doable on this investigation at this level. In some circumstances, bigger companies with specialised cyber or monetary‑crimes sources are capable of pursue extra tracing choices; nonetheless, even with these instruments, restoration will not be at all times doable.”
Crimson flags:
- Regulation enforcement, banks, and authorities companies won’t ever ask you to withdraw money or transfer funds.
- If you happen to really feel pressured to behave instantly, it is probably a rip-off.
- If you happen to get an sudden name or textual content, cling up and name back utilizing a trusted quantity (from a press release, official web site, or the back of your card).
