LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A man lost over $150,000 in an online bitcoin scam, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said the man, who lives near Waverly, was interested in investing into bitcoin and started researching companies.
Eventually, he came across one named Burdge Block Chain Technology and invested $156,000 into an account. The money came from the man’s retirement funds.
The man thought his investment had grown to over $28 million, but the company didn’t allow him to withdraw the funds.
Instead, the company informed the man that he owed them 33% of his earnings, according to Houchin.
The man had been communicating with the company through WhatsApp. Houchin said the app is not a common way for legitimate companies to communicate.
An investigation is ongoing, but Houchin said it’ll be difficult to recover the funds, as is the case with similar scams.
