One Ohio couple was nearly tricked out of $17,000 — before a Chase Bank manager in Westlake stepped in and foiled the scammer’s plan.
The bank manager became suspicious and alerted police when the couple tried to withdraw the cash to pay for what they thought was a warrant from the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office.
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“The customers did figure out they were going to be scammed if they took this money out and bought gift cards or put it into a crypto ATM,” Captain Jerry Vogel of the Westlake Police Department told News 5 Cleveland in a story published March 28.
It seems this type of scam isn’t a rare occurrence. The local broadcaster reports two more instances of fraud involving cryptocurrency machines have occurred recently in Westlake. Victims in those cases lost more than $25,000.
Here’s what happened, along with steps to protect yourself from being victimized.
How local residents are getting scammed
In one incident, the scammer posed as a Microsoft customer support representative after the victim called a phone number she found while doing a Google search. This is referred to as “search engine poisoning,” where cybercriminals manipulate search engine results so a malicious website (which looks legitimate) appears at the top of the page.
Vogel says the victim was tricked into giving the fake employee access to her computer and was scared into thinking she had visited illegal websites that were trying to steal her money. She was instructed to withdraw $40,000 from her bank and deposit it into a gas station Bitcoin ATM to protect her funds. An attendant took notice and warned her it was a scam, according to News 5, but not before she lost $20,000.
In another incident, police say the victim got a call from what he thought was the Social Security Administration directing him to deposit $5,500 in a Bitcoin ATM at a convenience store. The owner of the shop told News 5 they planned to remove the machine.
“I just advise you to be very wary of anything that directs you to buy gift cards or put cash into an ATM,” Vogel said. “Especially the cryptocurrency ATMs.”
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How to protect yourself from financial scams
Fraud losses involving Bitcoin ATMs topped $65 million in the first half of 2024, according to a report from the Federal Trade Commission. Consumers over the age of 60 were “three times as likely as younger adults to report losing money to Bitcoin ATM scams.” The median loss across all age groups was $10,000.
When it comes to financial scams, there are usually some red flags. They often start with an unsolicited call, email, text or social media message asking for money or personal information (such as bank account details or passwords).
Scammers also use high-pressure tactics to create a sense of urgency designed to make you panic — such as impersonating the authorities or claiming you have a virus on your computer. This is followed by a request for money, commonly through unconventional methods like gift cards, prepaid credit cards, a wire transfer or cryptocurrency. If you’re panicked enough, you may not stop to consider the validity of this request.
“If someone’s calling you out of the blue demanding money, threatening you, and it has to do with Bitcoin, it’s going to be a scam,” cybersecurity expert Alex Hamerstone told News 5.
For example, “the police don’t generally call you and tell you they want to arrest you, right? They come to the door,” he said. As for the IRS, “they’ll never take your tax payment using gift cards.”
If you get a call or email from someone claiming to work for an institution, such as your bank or the police department, and they ask for personal information or a sum of money, don’t take action. Instead, call them up yourself to confirm their story and verify a real employee tried to contact you.
You can learn more about common scams on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau website or report a scam to the Federal Trade Commission.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
