NYPD Warns Public About $2M Stolen In BTC Scam

In the latest cryptocurrency news, the New York Police Department (NYPD) has released a warning to the public, encouraging them to be completely cautious of phone scams. Basically, these scams involve callers that tend to present themselves as government officials and, at the same time, demand payments in Bitcoin and other forms.

Impersonating Government Officials

According to the official report, these callers love to claim to be officials from government agencies, with the Social Security Administration being the most popular one. There are also cases when they present themselves as a representative of a law enforcement agency. From there, they would threaten victims and request payment via BTC. Apart from the latter, they would force them to process bank wire transfers and prepaid gift cards, among other things.

The NYPD further claims that these scammers have already managed to steal more than $2 million so far this year. They basically defraud people, which are believed to have reached at least 200 already. Just last year, the government agency obtained only three similar complaints, all of which had direct mention of the world’s leading digital currency.

Victims are, in most cases, reportedly told by scammers that their Social Security number has direct involvement in illegal activities. This could be anything from money laundering to drug trafficking. And in order for these people to protect their money, the NYPD said that these impersonators would force victims to send money in BTC to a particular address. They would also make their victims believe that an arrest will be made if the request is not granted.

A Sophisticated Method

Apparently, these scammers are fond of using a technology known for its ability to manipulate caller IDs, allowing them to display the actual phone numbers of the aforementioned government agency and others. In some case, too, they would utilize the names of real government officials to make the impersonation more believable.

According to Nilda Hoffman, the NYPD chief of community affairs, these phone scams are fond of taking advantage due to the fact that victims trust government and law enforcement agencies. As a result, they get easily victimized. Unfortunately, these criminals love to target all possible areas of society as long as deemed to be vulnerable. The department further said that the government officials would never call people just to ask for money or even information over the phone.