Woman loses $4,000 in warrant scam
A Crossville woman reported to police that she lost $4,000 in a bogus warrant scam after receiving a phone call of her pending arrest if she did not use Bitcoin to pay to avoid legal troubles.
The incident was reported to Crossville Police March 27. An 87-year-old Bob White Drive woman contacted police, stating she received a phone call from a man claiming to be a police officer in Texas.
The caller gave the victim an identification claiming it was a badge number but did not tell her which police agency he represented.
According to CPD Ptl. Jacob Zimmerman's report, the caller told the victim she needed to send $4,000 in Bitcoin to him or would be arrested for money laundering. The caller went to Good Times, purchased the Bitcoins and sent then to a QR code he had provided her.
Later, the same day, the woman received a call from a second man claiming to be a Texas police officer and providing a bogus badge number.
This caller told the woman she needed to go to Regions Bank, cash in her certificates of deposit and convert them to Bitcoin and send the money to him.
A bank employee intervened and convinced the victim she was being scammed and would not give the victim the funds she requested.
In investigating the matter, the bank representative told the woman it appeared her bank account had been hacked several times in the past.
The second transaction was never carried out and when the victim went to the Verizon store, an employee there confirmed the bank official's suspicions that the victims cellphone number had been cloned. Verizon assisted in changing the victim's phone number.
It is unlikely the victim's $4,000 will be recovered.
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