Clayton Woman Loses $36,000 In Bitcoin Scam
CLAYTON, N.C. — A 77-year-old Clayton-area woman lost $36,000 after scammers convinced her that large unauthorized withdrawals were pending from her bank account.
The victim told the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office she received a telephone call from a person claiming to be an Apple employee working in Russia. The caller alleged her personal bank account had been compromised and that two unauthorized transactions totaling $72,000 were pending.
The scammer instructed the woman that she would need to cover one of the transactions before she could dispute the charges with her bank.
Believing the caller was legitimate, the victim withdrew $36,000 from a local bank and transferred the money to the suspect through Bitcoin.
The woman did not report the incident for several days.
By the time authorities were notified, the money could not be recovered.
The case remains under investigation.
The incident is one of several scams recently reported recently in the area.
Law enforcement officials continue to remind residents that legitimate businesses, banks and government agencies do not require customers to send money through Bitcoin, gift cards, wire transfers or other difficult-to-trace payment methods.
Authorities offer several tips to help residents avoid becoming victims:
• Hang up and independently verify any caller claiming there is a problem with your bank account or computer.
• Never send money through Bitcoin, gift cards, cryptocurrency or other non-traditional payment methods to someone you have never met.
• Contact a trusted family member, friend or your financial institution before withdrawing large sums of cash in response to an unexpected phone call.
Anyone who believes they may be the target of a scam should contact local law enforcement and their financial institution immediately.
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5 Comments
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We have some rich yet stupid ppl in joco smh
There’s a great two word response to any caller claiming to be the IRS, your bank, law enforcement, etc. The first word is ####. The second word is you and then you hang up.
Exactly!!!!
People just don’t seem to realize, or care, that as long as they continue to fall for these scams, the scammers will never stop! The scammers are in hog-heaven while their victims lose everything. There have actually been people who have killed themselves because they lost everything to a freaking scammer! PEOPLE PLEASE have conversations with everybody you know about how these scammers operate and how to protect themselves. The scam call centers are enormous and law enforcement can only do so much. It’s up to every one of us to protect everyone we care about. It’s time for this nonsense to finally end.
I’m going to say it again for anyone who didn’t listen the first 50 times I’ve said it on here: TALK TO EVERYONE you know, care about or love about all these scams. If you don’t know either, there are hundreds of videos on YouTube about them. Kitboga, TrixieTricks and many others. Just search for scams or scambaiting, there are hundreds to educate yourself with so you can educate others.