CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Cranberry Township Police are warning the community that several people have been recently victimized in a new Bitcoin scam.
Police said scammers targeted elderly folks and in total, the victims were scammed out of $60,000.
“That’s a lot of money that’s being stolen from these hard-working people. That’s terrible,” said Malik Thomas.
In last few months, police said five victims got a phishing email from scammers claiming there was something wrong with their Apple device or their Amazon or Paypal account. Then, the scammers asked four victims to send money in Bitcoin to confirm their identity and have services restored. One victim was asked to pay with gift cards.
People in the area said this is concerning.
“People just have to the careful just have to watch who you are getting these emails from,” said Tramyer Summers.
Police said the Department of Treasury is now involved with this recent scam.
“The Department of Treasury is actually trying to put out some training for local officers but the resources we have available, it makes it very difficult to do an investigation tracking the Bitcoin transactions,” Lt. Chuck Mascellino said.
Police said businesses would generally never ask you for money to verify your identity or account.
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