A New Crypto Scam Is Making Its Way Through Michigan

A new type of crypto scam is taking precedent. This time, fraudsters are calling would-be victims and pretending to be policemen and asking for crypto-based payments – usually in bitcoin – or gift cards.

A New Crypto Scam Is Taking Place in Michigan

Thus far, the scam appears to be largely targeting residents of Jackson County, Michigan, so it’s somewhat centralized and limited at the time of writing, though it’s unclear how fast the scam could spread from here to other states and regions. In a statement, local police forces offered the following warning:

We have heard that the perpetrator(s) are very persistent. Tell them you are calling 911… Be confident.

Residents need to understand that police officers will never call a person’s home and demand payments of any kind, nor will they request gifts. Aside from this scam, it looks like another one is taking place in the same area in which the scammers call random people and claim to be citizens that missed jury duty, and they’re now at the mercy of the legal system.

They say they’re on the verge of going to jail unless they pay a fine. Of course, they don’t have the money, which is why they call in the first place. They latch onto people and see if they can get them to pay the “fine,” usually in cryptocurrency. Many might feel obligated to take over and offer payment because they don’t want to see a neighbor or potentially innocent person go to jail, but again, police are telling residents this is nothing but a scam, and they shouldn’t fall for such tactics.

While the crypto space has indeed come a long way, one of the major issues that has been attached to it is the amount of fraud and malicious behavior that occurs within its confines, and we’ve witnessed this tenfold in the last year or so.

Look at organizations such as FTX, for example. The exchange was long considered one of the top digital currency trading platforms in the world, reaching the status of top five just three years after it first came to fruition. Sadly, this reputation didn’t last as the company was forced to file bankruptcy in late 2022 following the announcement of a liquidity crunch online.

So Many Problems!

From there, however, additional information became known about the company. It has been alleged that the exchange’s former chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried stole customer funds to invest in luxury Bahamian real estate. It is also said that he used their funds to pay off loans taken out by his other company Alameda Research.

There have also been a high number of romance scams in recent months, with plenty of people allegedly looking for partners only to con them into investing in phony crypto platforms.

Tags: FTX, Michigan, scam