VAN BUREN COUNTY, Michigan. โ With recent frauds taking in nearly $100,000, Van Buren County residents were warned Thursday against email and internet scams involving cryptocurrency.
These scams, which start out as unsolicited emails that appear to be from a legitimate company, read as if the victim was subscribing or renewing an account, or had a virus, and their accounts were at risk, according to the county Sheriff's Office. by Van Buren.
An example of such emails or pop-ups could be the following:
- โYou have successfully renewed your McAfee antivirus software subscription for $600. If it's not you, call this number to cancel.โ
- "Your computer has been infected with spyware, do not use it, call this number."
Once the victim calls the number provided, they speak with someone claiming to be an employee of said company and attempt to legitimize the scam, agents said.
The scammers will then explain that there is a problem with the victim's bank and that the funds have been compromised, saying that the victim needs to transfer the money using an app or cryptocurrency.
"We have seen examples where the victim is then transferred over the phone to another person who appears to be from their bank's fraud department," according to the sheriff's office.
These suspects will "be convincing" and tell victims that they must withdraw money and deposit it at a cryptocurrency ATM.
They will then say "you deposited the wrong amount of money, now I will lose my job unless we fix this immediately, I need you to deposit more money to correct the problem", and they will continue to do so until the victim runs out of money. money or realize they are not talking to their bank, agents said.
"These investigations raise several problems in obtaining criminal convictions and recovering some of the money," agents said. "This is because most scams are carried out by criminals internationally."
To protect against scams, the sheriff's office reminds residents that banks will not ask customers to move money and deposit it elsewhere, nor will they ask them to purchase gift cards.
Those who are concerned they are not talking to their bank should go to the actual branch and talk to someone in person, agents said.
Anyone with information about scams like these or other crimes can call the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office at 269-657-3101, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-342-7867 or Silent Observer at 269-343. 2100.
