Local residents now being scammed through bitcoin, Venmo
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Residents across the region continue to fall for some old scams that are now using higher-tech twists.
On Friday, a 65-year-old woman in Columbia County was scammed out of $7,000.
A man calling himself “Lt. McCulla” with the Columbia County Sheriff`s Office had called her. He told her she was wanted and she’d need to pay up for the warrant to go away. He told her to take cash to the bitcoin ATM at a gas station on Jimmie Dyess Parkway. She took $7,000 to the ATM and sent all of it with three transactions.
She said she realized it was a scam when her call was transferred to another person stating he was with the federal government and she needed to pay him $8,000.
A similar scheme that prompted a warning from the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office.
A victim on Saturday reported being told to give a scammer $2,900 or be arrested. When the victim said he didn’t have that much, the scammer claimed to speak with a captain who said the victim could pay half.
In these cases, the scammer may know your name and may identify themselves with the name of a real-life officer – so if you Google them, they’ll appear legit. Plus they know how to fake out your caller ID to make the number look authentic.
But they’re not legit. Authorities say they will never call and demand payments like this.
In another recent case, a victim in Columbia County lost thousands of dollars to a scammer using a different scheme.
Last Wednesday, the 54-year-old woman got a call from a man who said there was a fraudulent charge on her Amazon for $2,736. He told her she needed to send money through Venmo and Zelle to stop the charge.
The victim sent three payments through Venmo totaling $900. Then she sent three payments through Zelle totaling $1,198. She also gave the man her credit card information and saw four charges from Apple Pay and Macy`s totaling $500.
In the past, scammers have often demanded payment by reloadable gift cards or wire transfer. The reason they do that is because once the money is gone, it’s gone and hard to trace.
That’s also the case with payment apps like Venmo, as well as with bitcoin.
The other common thread in these schemes is a sense of urgency or fear – the threat of going to jail or being the victim of an identity thief. It can catch you off-guard and keep you from thinking rationally.
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