Langley RCMP are reporting that more Langley residents are falling victim to a Bitcoin scam that has people losing thousands of dollars to an aggressive scammer.
Two Langley residents, a senior and a young person, lost more than $15,000 of their money this week, stolen through the Bitcoin scam, said Langley RCMP Cpl. Holly Largy.
“It’s just awful and it shows that the fraudsters aren’t targeting a specific demographic. They are going after everyone,” she said.
“These criminals are very aggressive and very threatening — often threatening that they will come and arrest the them if they don’t do what they say and deposit the Bitcoin into specific accounts. The criminal walks the person through, step by step, on how to send the Bitcoin into the account they specify.”
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that isn’t attached to any government or bank and is mined online with no actual paper currency.
On Feb. 6, Langley police warned of the Bitcoin scam after a local resident lost $5,000 to scam artists posing as Canada Revenue agents.
“It’s exactly a month ago to the day that I put out information about a victim of the Bitcoin scam,” Largy said.
In the scam, a person receives a phone call from someone posing as a Canada Revenue ‘officer.’ He tells his victim an arrest warrant has been issued and only a deposit of $5,000 in Bitcoin will void the warrant.
Langley RCMP said that organizations and government would never threaten anyone with arrest nor would they demand money be deposited anywhere.
Langley RCMP urge residents, if contacted, to hang up on the person and call the police non-emergency line at 604-532-3200 right away.
monique@langleytimes.com
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