Westlake police have reported an increase in the threat of Bitcoin ATM fraud in the Ohio area, noting that criminals are currently targeting residents. In the report, Westlake police said the couple was saved by Chase Bank’s bank manager to ensure they were not scamed from $17,000.
Reports say the couple entered the bank and withdrawn $17,000. The bank manager noticed the move was out of character and notified the police of the development.
Westlake police said the couple was prevented from scams, but the two residents involved in two different cases were not so lucky.
Westlake Police Details Scammer’s Technique
According to Captain Jerry Vogel of Westlake Police Station, the bank clerk did a very wonderful job of bringing attention to the transaction. “We have understood that if customers take this money out and put it in a purchase gift card or in a crypto ATM, they will be scam.
“Maybe it’s the Social Security Agency. Maybe it’s Microsoft that shows you that you have a virus, a terrible virus on your computer. But he stressed that most of these things are just scary tactics. He pointed out that their perfect victims are older because they’re a little scared of the other age ranges of the population.
In the second case, the victim wanted to resolve the issue with the device and enter a search string to find the number of Microsoft support in Google. After getting the response from the search engine, she clicked on the first entry in the search and clicked it without scrutiny. Instead of reaching Microsoft support, she was calling scammers for what is known as “search engine addiction.”
In this case, the victim was asked to withdraw $40,000 to prevent the account from being empty. A fake Microsoft Call Center employee told her that she had a virus on her computer and obtained an illegal drug website from the same location as Chinese child pornography. She was told that unless these websites do it herself, they would withdraw money.
Westlake police report said the victim went to a gas station with a Bitcoin ATM and deposited $20,000. The train station clerk realized what was going on and tried to stop her, but it was too late. Luckily she still had her and the other $20,000.
Cyber Analysts Warn About the Increase in Bitcoin ATM Crime
According to cyber analyst Alex Hammerstone, most of these scams start with a typical sense of urgency. He said that scammers usually seem to try and help victims avoid hacks and attacks before hitting them. “If someone is calling you out of the blue, asking for money and threatening you, if it has to do with Bitcoin, it’s going to be a scam,” Hamerstone said.
He added that he would not call anyone before police begin arrests. This means that if the police arrest someone, they will come to their place to make an arrest. “There are very few absolutes in the world, but the 100% IRS will never take your tax bill. They will not use gift cards to receive your tax payment,” he added.
In another incident in Westlake, police said the victim was asked to deposit $5,500 at Sam’s convenience store at a Bitcoin ATM after receiving a call from the Social Security Agency. According to reports, the owner has pledged to remove the machine within the next month.
“We recommend being very vigilant about anything that tells you to buy gift cards or put cash in your ATM,” Captain Vogel said. He also added that most of all transactions involved in crypto ATMs will always be fraudulent.
Discover more from Earlybirds Invest
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
