Scammers never take a break, they just rethink their strategies.
One of the newer scams to hit Eastern Wisconsin is cryptocurrency scams, which have been popping up all over. Manitowoc
Police Chief Nick Reimer noted on WOMT’s Be My Guest program that fraudsters are pairing a cryptocurrency focus onto the tried and true scams, like the grandparent scam.
That is when an older resident is targeted, with the caller saying their grandchild or a family member has been arrested and need the target to post bail.
“There’s a lot of cryptocurrency machines around Manitowoc,” Chief Reimer explained. “What some of the scammers are asking you to do is go to those machines, and either transfer money from your checking or savings account, or actually put cash into those machines, and it changes it into Bitcoin. Once it does that, it is very difficult to ever get that money back.”
Chief Reimer also noted that a request to use a Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency to pay a bill is a tell-tale sign that something isn’t right.
“I’ve never used bitcoin,” he admitted. “If somebody would all of a sudden tell me ‘You need to transfer money to Bitcoin,’ that should be a big warning, a big red flag.”
This form of scam is being used often as a replacement for the formerly quite popular gift card scam, where the scammers would demand payment via gift cards, which were also very difficult to get refunded.
Chief Reimer encouraged residents to call their local law enforcement agency if they receive a call that seems suspicious.
Reporting such attempts can help them track the trends, and warn others of the latest tactics being implemented.
