COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Ohio Department of Commerce said there are people who capitalize on the confusion of others when it comes to cryptocurrency, and it often ends up costing them big.
It’s something that has happened to dozens of Ohioans.
“That’s why they’re using cryptocurrency because it’s not regulated like the FDIC with the traditional banks,” Kenyetta Bagby with the Ohio Department of Commerce said.
“They” are scammers.
“So, you will see folks losing money and because it’s not regulated, they’re not getting that money back,” Bagby said.
Some of those people targeted by and losing money to these scammers live in Ohio.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation recently returned more than $35,000 to a Cincinnati-area woman who fell victim to a cryptocurrency scam when the 73-year-old received a pop-up message on her laptop saying the device had been hacked.
She called a phone number she believed to be a Microsoft hotline, then spoke to a scammer, who instructed her to withdraw money and convert it to Bitcoin to fix her computer. In total, she sent $41,750 in multiple transactions.
It’s a tactic the Ohio Department of Commerce has seen time and time again.
“We’re seeing older individuals, older consumers being taken advantage of,” Bagby said. “Some will get phone calls demanding money for, let’s say, a bill or something that is out of date. They’ll have the consumer go to the bank and withdraw large amounts of money and then upload or deposit that money into Bitcoin machines, Bitcoin ATM machines.”
A woman in Lake County lost her entire life savings – more than $663,000 – when she responded to a random text message from an unknown phone number.
The department said scammers might use a variety of phony reason to persuade their targets to pay.
“A legitimate company is not going to force you to pay your bill urgently by Bitcoin ATM or cryptocurrencies,” Bagby said. “Call that agency and get the information that you need specifically from that organization. Don’t just go to an ATM or to your bank and pull out money to feed to a Bitcoin machine or ATM.”
The Ohio Department of Commerce said education and prevention are the best deterrents against cryptocurrency scams.
