Sep. 2—The Connecticut State Police are reminding residents to beware of scams involving cryptocurrency.
The warning traces its roots to June of this year when the Connecticut State Police Mansfield Resident Trooper’s Office received a complaint about a possible cryptocurrency scam. The victim deposited $ 10,000 into a Bitcoin ATM after being led to believe that her bank account had been hacked.
Detectives from the Statewide Organized Crime Investigative Task Force were able to trace the flow of funds through a series of Bitcoin accounts that the scammer attempted to use to launder the stolen Bitcoin.
Ultimately, the victim’s Bitcoin was being held in an account controlled by the suspect of a major cryptocurrency exchange located in the Cayman Islands.
With the cooperation of the cryptocurrency exchange, detectives were able to repatriate the funds to a government- controlled Bitcoin account, where it is being held pending court proceedings for restitution to the victim.
The suspect currently resides in India and no arrest is anticipated at this time.
Connecticut State Police said that scams involving cryptocurrency are on the rise and are becoming increasingly more sophisticated.
According to Connecticut State Police, the most common cryptocurrency scams often begin with a strange text message, email or phone call. Scammers will often lure victims to cryptocurrency ATMs or webbased investment sites or exchange platforms where it is relatively easy to convert U.S. dollars into…
