Wood County Sheriff’s Office informing the public of bitcoin related scam

WOOD COUNTY, Wis. (WEAU) – The Wood County Sheriff’s Office is informing the public of a bitcoin related scam.

According to a media release from the Wood County Sheriff’s Office, the scam entails victims being asked to put US Currency into Cryptocurrency Machines in exchange for bitcoin or another cryptocurrency.

The media release explains that “once the victim purchases the cryptocurrency the scammers take control of the digital wallet and the victim is out their money.”

The media release states, “The Wood County Sheriff’s Department is again seeing an uptick in these scams in the past week. Scammers are targeting the elderly and individuals who are on the sex offender registry. No bank, business or government agency will ever contact you and tell you to come withdraw funds from your account or tell you to put those funds into a cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) machine. “

The media release goes on to state, “These machines are often found in gas stations or convenience stores throughout our community and country. Cryptocurrency machines allow customers to purchase cryptocurrency like Bitcoin for a fee by inserting U.S. currency into the machine and receiving cryptocurrency in a digital wallet. Please note that cryptocurrency transactions are not protected or regulated like those conducted through a bank making both cryptocurrency and these style ATM’s very appealing to scammers. There are legitimate purposes for consumers to purchase cryptocurrency through the machines but individuals should use caution like with any financial transaction. Investigators from the Wood County Sheriff’s Department continue to attempt to retrieve the US Currency that is lost in these cryptocurrency machines but there is no guarantee as funds/transactions are not federally insured like a normal banking institution.”

If you fall victim to one of these scams, you are encouraged to report the incident right away to an area law enforcement agency.

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