By Brandi Makuski
Stevens Point police are warning area residents of a financial scam that recently nearly claimed a local victim.
According to a news release from Lt. Joe Johnson of the SPPD, police were called to an undisclosed location by a 79-year-old woman who suspected she was being scammed out of a large amount of cash. The woman was reportedly attempting to send $16,000 in cash via UPS to an address in Texas, saying it was to help rectify “a PayPal issue.”
The woman said she received an email from PayPal indicating there was fraudulent activity on her account and asking her to call for details. She was told there was a $899 fraudulent charge on her PayPal account and was instructed to request reimbursement of a higher amount through their company online.
The woman was then directed to withdraw the money from her personal account and send it via a Bitcoin Automated Teller Machine, but she was unsuccessful. Johnson said the woman was then directed by the scammer to mail the money to PayPal at a Texas address.
That attempt was thwarted when a UPS employee advised her she was likely being swindled, and they called the police.
The woman retrieved her money from UPS but was again instructed by a scammer on the phone to send the money via a Bitcoin Automated Teller Machine located at a store in Stevens Point. This time, the transaction went through, Johnson said. The scammer also had the victim buy gift cards and send the scammer the authorization codes and instructed her to “cut up all receipts.”
During the course of their investigation on Aug. 4, detectives encountered two more people who had arrived at the same Bitcoin ATM to deposit large sums of money. Both individuals were contacted by someone claiming to represent PayPal and gave a similar story, and were warned by officers from depositing any money into the machine.
Officers then obtained a warrant to take possession of the Bitcoin machine and any cash inside. Firefighters from SPFD assisted in opening the machine, allowing officers to seize $16,000 in cash.
Johnson said the scams appear to mainly involve messages via computer or text, claiming that a person has been hacked.
“Once correspondence with the scammers is established via phone call, the victims are told that fraudulent charges had occurred,” Johnson said. “In some instances, additions to the fraudulent charges, such as involvement in child pornography or other threats of suspected criminal activity, is added to the information told to the victims of the scam.”
In an effort to convince people that it’s not a scam, would-be thieves manage to give a victim’s current bank account balances, which Johnson said is likely available to scammers through a type of spyware.
“The victims are directed to withdraw all of their available money from their account and take the cash to a cryptocurrency machine so that it can be deposited and therefore would be secure,” he said. “In other scam cases, the victims are sometimes directed to purchase gift cards to pay the scammer, send cash, or meet someone to pick up the cash.”
Scammers sound as though they’re located in a bustling call center, many with an Indian accent, and attempt to keep victims on the line with them the entire time during the scam.
Johnson said there are thousands of Bitcoin/cryptocurrency ATMs across the nation.
Johnson said anyone who believes they’d been swindled by this or any similar scam should contact their local law enforcement agency. The main number for Portage Co. dispatch is 715-346-1400.
Families are also encouraged to discuss the scam with each other, including elderly members.
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