Authorities warn of increase in cryptocurrency scams targeting victims in the Temecula area – Press Enterprise

Authorities are reporting an increase in phone scams centered around cryptocurrency over the last few months in the Temecula area, resulting in thousands of dollars lost by victims.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office’s Southwest Station said in an Oct. 11 news release it’s seeing an increase in phone scams targeting residents of Riverside County — many of those scams involve cryptocurrency.

In the last four months, there have been at least six cases involving victims who are residents of Temecula, the RSO Media Information Bureau said. Some cases have involved five-digit losses, and one case resulted in a six-figure loss.

The Federal Trade Commission defines cryptocurrency as “a type of digital currency that generally exists only electronically. You usually use your phone, computer, or a cryptocurrency ATM to buy cryptocurrency.”

Some of the recent scams involved the suspect convincing a victim to convert currency into cryptocurrency and to send the cryptocurrency out of the country.

Some of the scams result in the victims believing they are investing in a new cryptocurrency. Again, the money is then sent outside of the United States, making it difficult to track down, investigators said.

Authorities advise that if somebody says to deposit cash into a kiosk-like ATM machine for crypto transactions, it is most likely a scam, the news release says. They also warn to never trust the number on the caller I.D. as fraudsters can fake the caller ID information.

The sheriff’s news release also advised:

• Never give out personal information such as name, date of birth, Social Security number or bank information to unsolicited callers.
• Never respond to an unsolicited email asking you to confirm personal information such as bank accounts or passwords.
• Keep in mind government and law enforcement agencies, including the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office and the IRS, will never accept wire transfers, money orders, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, or gift cards as payment.

The Federal Trade Commission has posted information online on how to spot and avoid cryptocurrency scams.

Besides contacting local law enforcement at (951) 776–1099, victims of cryptocurrency scams can also submit a complaint to the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.

That agency has posted a Crypto Scam Tracker on its website with summaries on the latest reported scams.