Scammers posing as locals and asking for bitcoin are a new threat

by James · August 31, 2022

POTENTIAL FRAUD. JESSICA: AND IF YOU FALL FOR THIS ONE, IT CAN BE EXPENSIVE. KOCO’S AUDREY GOODSON TALKED TO POLICE ABOUT WHY THIS SCAM IS UNIQUE. AUDREY: OKLAHOMA CITY POLICE ISSUING A WARNING TO ALL LOCAL BUSINESS OWNERS ABOUT SCAMMERS WANTING TO TAKE CRYPTOCURRENCY. SCAMMERS LOOK FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES ASKING FOR CRYPTOCURRENCY. >> THEY CALL AN EMPLOYEE OF A COMPANY AND ARE THAT IF THEY DON’T COLLECT MONEY FOR THEM AND DEPOSIT IT INTO A CERTAIN BITCOIN ACCOUNT, THEY THREATEN TO CLOSE THE BUSINESS. AUDREY: THESE SCAMMERS, THE POLICE SAY, ARE MOSTLY FROM ABROAD, BUT THEY PASS AS LOCAL. >> THEY WILL POSE AS UPS DRIVERS AND SAY THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH A SHIPMENT. THEY WILL ACT AS A HOST COMPANY. UNFORTUNATELY THESE EMPLOYEES FALL FOR THIS SCAM AND THEY PUT MONEY INTO BITCOIN ATMS. AUDREY: AND ONCE THE MONEY IS DEPOSITED,

Latest shake-down targeting businesses: scammers posing as locals asking for bitcoin

The scammers will pose as a UPS driver or utility representative and ask for the cryptocurrency

The Oklahoma City Police Department is warning local business owners and employees about a potential scam. The issue of scammers looking to cash in on cryptocurrency is so big that the department was alerted by the FBI. Scammers contact local businesses and quickly ask for cryptocurrency.|MORE| Edmond baseball coach warns of group scams locals by pretending to be high school athletes “They call an employee of a business and say if they don’t collect money for them and deposit it into a certain bitcoin account, they make threats to shut down the business,” said Sgt. Dillon Quirk of the Oklahoma City Police Department. Police say the scammers are largely from outside the US, but they pretend to be locals. “They’ll pose as UPS drivers, say there’s a problem with a shipment, they’ll pretend to be a utility company,” he said. “Unfortunately, these employees fall for that and they deposit money into bitcoin ATMs.” | MORE| Firefighter impersonators scam people out of money in Midwest City Once the money is deposited, “the money is gone forever,” he said. “There’s no way to get it back.” If you get one of these calls, said the police that you should hang up and check in with your boss.

OKLAHOMA CITY —

The Oklahoma City Police Department is warning local business owners and employees about a potential scam.

The issue of scammers looking to cash in on cryptocurrency is so big that the department was alerted by the FBI.

Scammers approach local businesses and quickly ask for cryptocurrency.

|MORE| Edmond baseball coach warns of scammers conning local residents by posing as high school athletes

“They call an employee of a business and say that if they don’t collect money for them and deposit it into a certain bitcoin account, they make threats to shut down the business,” says Sgt. Dillon Quirk with Oklahoma City police say.

Police say the scammers are largely from outside the US, but they pretend to be locals.

“They’ll pose as UPS drivers and say there’s a problem with a shipment, they’ll pose as a utility company,” he said. “Unfortunately, these employees fall for it and deposit money into bitcoin ATMs.”

|MORE| Firefighter impersonators are scamming people out of money in Midwest City

Once the money is deposited, “the money is gone forever,” he said. “There is no way to get it back.”

If you get one of these calls, police said you should hang up and check in with your manager.