An elaborate scam is leaving residents reeling from the loss of thousands of dollars.
We recently heard from a victim of a phone scam that saw them lose $17,000 and they aren’t alone. According to the Washoe County Sheriffs Office, residents in Washoe County lost over $500,000 from bitcoin scams in 2023. The victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, says it all started with an innocent search online to resolve an amazon prime membership issue. They say after calling a support number they found during an online search, they were met with scammers posing as various authorities like the FTC and Wells Fargo. The scammer allegedly threatened them saying their their bank account was linked to online criminal activity and to prevent the crimes from happening they needed to withdrawal money and secure it in cryptocurrency.
The fact that I made this phone call thinking I was doing the right thing is even more terrifying that something like this is being advertised…it’s just an expensive life lesson learned at this point.
In August we reported the WCSO was able to recover $15,000 for a Lemmon Valley resident who lost money in a bitcoin scam since the currency was still in the bitcoin ATM. In a statement Washoe County Sheriff’s Office urged the public to be vigilant as cryptocurrency scams targeting residents continue.
“The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office is reminding the public about the dangers of cryptocurrency scams. It’s important to note that legitimate businesses and government agencies will never ask for payment in cryptocurrency. Scammers are using increasingly sophisticated methods and may have personal information about their victims, such as their name, address, and banking details, before contacting them. These scams can be very convincing, and scammers may use threatening tactics, such as threats of legal action or jail time, to pressure victims into giving them money.”
