PROVO, Utah (ABC4) — Two residents in Utah County were scammed out of a combined $28,000 after falling victim to a cryptocurrency fraud scheme, according to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators are warning the public of emails claiming the victims had made purchases using PayPal accounts. The Utah County Sheriff’s Office said the two victims were asked to call a number to discuss the questionable transactions.
The first victim was reportedly told to download an app called “Any Desk” on his phone to help correct the problem. The app instead allowed the scammer to take control of the victim’s phone. The scammer then used the victim’s cryptocurrency account to transfer more than $13,000 into an external account.
The second victim was told that several “purchases” on his account included $15,000 worth of child pornography. The suspect allegedly told the victim he could fix the problem if he transferred the money using a PayPal account. The suspect told the victim this fix had to be done quickly on a very short time frame.
The AARP said scams and phishing attempts tend to increase during the holiday season. According to an AARP survey, 80% of U.S. consumers say they have the target of at least one form of fraud including requests for fake charities, online shopping scams, fraudulent texts about delivery problems and more.
Sgt. Garrett Dutson with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office said there are some things for potential victims to remember to protect themselves from scams.
- It is always OK to tell a person you are going to verify the information yourself and then hang up.
- Closely watch for unfamiliar transactions in your bank accounts and credit or debit cards.
- Closely check the sender’s email addresses to ensure they are legitimate.
- Avoid clicking on links in emails or calling numbers in those emails if you are not familiar with them.
Dutson said cryptocurrency scams like the ones that targeted the two Utah County residents are very hard for investigators to track to their source. This makes it more important to spot them early.
To report a scam like this, Dutson suggested calling your local law enforcement agency. Crimes can also be reported to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center.