NORTHAMPTON TOWNSHIP, PA —The Northampton Township Police Department is issuing an alert for Bitcoin scams after an elderly resident was bilked out of more than $13,000.
After reporting numerous grandparent phone scams over the past few months, police said Tuesday that a man over the age of 90 years old was scammed out of $13,000.
The police department reported recently a phone call scam in which a grandmother gave $8,000 to a courier police are seeking.
Police are alerting residents to watch for red flags when someone “accidentally” deposits too much money into a bank account and asks for a return payment in Bitcoin.
“It is very difficult to track the digital currency and your bank will not refund the amount due to you willingly making the deposit,” police said in a Facebook post.
Police explained how the scam works, stating that the scammer will try to keep someone on the phone and become “somewhat threatening at times” if they don’t get their way.
The scammer will then demand a resident to withdraw money from the bank and then provide locations of Bitcoin ATMs, which are usually located in convenience stores, police said.
Police said that once the money is inserted into the ATM and put in the desired account number for the funds to be transferred, the money becomes “almost impossible to recover.”
“It is very heartbreaking to see innocent victims losing so much money,” police said.
Police are urging residents to call the police department at 215-322-6111 before withdrawing money and buying Bitcoin at an ATM to pay for something.