State police at Reading-based Troop L are warning of a scam that tells victims that their personal information has been compromised and they need to make large cash withdrawals and deposit the money into bitcoin kiosks to protect their money.
Troopers said victims — mainly of retirement age — are reporting that they have been contacted by email, phone or other electronic means and told that fraudulent activity has occurred using their personal information. The victims are instructed to purported representatives of their financial institution.
These purported representatives direct victims to a federal agency such as the FBI or Federal Trade Commission to speak to an investigator.
The investigator, who is part of the scam, advises the victims to withdraw large amounts of cash from their banking accounts and deposit the money into bitcoin kiosks to safeguard their money.
When the deposit is made, the purported investigator requests the victim provide confirmation with a receipt or links the account to theirs via a QR code. The receipt contains a numerical key that allows the scammer to access the money deposited into thekiosk and eventually transfer it without the victim’s knowledge.
When the transfer is complete, troopers said, it is essentially untraceable and cannot be tracked to a specific person because of the nature of bitcoin.
Trooper said the scammers appear to be spoofing their telephone number, making it appear to the victims that they are speaking to someone from their financial institution.
