Bitcoin Blackmail Scam Befuddles SoCal Residents

If you get a letter in the mail suggesting you will be blackmailed if you don't pay up in Bitcoin, think twice before you do anything but report it to the FBI or local authorities.

Recently, in south Orange County, someone is attempting to use blackmail as a way to get the online Bitcoin currency. The Laguna Beach Police Department have alerted area residents about a new scam going around, ironically in the form of a letter.

"A local resident recently alerted the LBPD to the letter scam," Laguna Beach Police Sgt. Jim Cota reported.

Here's how it works, according to Cota.

"In the letter, which was sent to a named individual living at a Laguna Beach address, an anonymous person threatens to disseminate a secret the individual is keeping from their significant other," he said.

Unless the individual sends the author a large sum of money via Bitcoin, the author will tell the person's secret to not only their significant other, but their friends and family as well.

There is then a list of steps to follow in order to send the money via Bitcoin to the author.

According to the FBI, it is not recommended to give any money or information to scammers. As the sender is using the U.S. mail to send the letters, this is a case that the FBI is watching. This scam, according to Samantha Shero of the FBIin a recent LA Times article, using digital currency for scam purposes “is growing in popularity” among con artists.

Have you been approached for this Bitcoin Fraud? Let us know by emailing your Patch Orange County editor.

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