TULSA, Okla. — The holidays may come with pressure to give fancy gifts or look like a big spender.
The FBI cautions cryptocurrency crooks are eager to pounce on your wallet. Con artists adore cryptocurrency because it is difficult for victims to recover stolen funds.
Most people have heard about cryptocurrency, but not as many know how it works or that it is not backed by banks or federal deposit insurance.
“I mean the bad guys all want cryptocurrency because it’s not traceable, they love that,” cyber security expert Bill Sieglein.
It is also unregulated, and transfers are instantaneous. Those qualities make transactions easier to evade law enforcement according to FBI Special Agent, Keith Custer.
“Once the transaction is completed, it’s irreversible and it’s much more difficult for us to assist a victim in recovering funds,” Custer said.
It has also caused an explosion in cryptocurrency crime. The Federal Trade Commission says in 2018, victims of cryptocurrency crimes lost a total of $12 million. In just the first quarter of 2022 reported losses hit $329 million.
Cryptocurrency schemes take many forms such as someone posing as your utility company threatening to cut off your power or water unless you immediately pay an alleged overdue bill with cryptocurrency.
It happened to Natasha Clendenin-Bey. The phony utility worker called claiming the power would be cut off to her business if she didn’t pay immediately at the nearest Coin-me kiosk.
She said as she went to that machine using cryptocurrency to pay bills he told her, “He’s still on the phone this entire time, and I’m standing in front of the machine… he says no, we’ve started something new and we’re doing Bitcoin, you can pay, and because I’m just distraught, I’m trying to get back to the store before my appointment comes, I’m like whatever.”
She ended up losing $1,000 by following the instructions to pay a bill she never owed.
“There are cryptocurrency ATMs and all of the criminals know where they are and they are very happy to give you instructions on how to go there and get the cryptocurrency for them,” Seiglein said.
Cybercrooks also use another popular scam. Sherrett Jacobs didn’t owe any money, she wanted to make some. When someone claiming to be with a crypto investment company contacted her on Instagram, she thought it sounded good. “They started investing on my behalf and I was able to see on my dashboard that the money was literally going up in increments. It never went down; it only went up over the course of three days.”
She claims her $300 investment had suddenly become $9,000. “They told me that I had to pay a one-time fee of $1,500 in order to withdraw this money.”
She sent the money via Bitcoin.
“I got an email from their “customer service,” she said, “that in order for the withdrawal to be processed, I had to pay the IRS a fee of $2,500.”
Jacobs went to her brother who is a crypto investor. He confirmed that over those three days her investment would’ve gone down not up, and that company was not who it claimed to be.
To protect yourself and your real wallet the Federal Trade Commission offers this advice for spotting crypto-related schemes:
- scammers often impersonate businesses, government agencies, or online dating love interests.
- they promise big profits, with “zero risk” with crypto-currency as either the investment or, how you buy in.
- often, these scams start with call, text, or email seemingly from out of the blue. If that happens to you either hang up or hit delete
Contact the Problem Solvers:
- 918-748-1502
- problemsolvers@kjrh.com
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