Scammer Steals $19K In Bitcoin From Ocean County Man: Police

JACKSON, NJ — A Jackson Township man lost $19,000 in a bitcoin fraud scam after a scammer pretending to be a U.S. Marshal threatened to freeze his bank accounts and arrest him, Jackson police said

The man told police he had received a call on Tuesday from a man who claimed he was a U.S. Marshal assigned to the Southern District Border Patrol in Texas, Capt. Steven Laskiewicz said.

The caller told the victim he needed to verify his identity or an arrest warrant would be issued for him and his bank accounts would be frozen, Laskiewicz said.

The victim was told to take all of the money out of his bank account and deposit it in a Bitcoin terminal, and send photos of the receipts to the caller, who told the victim the money would be returned to him the following day, Laskiewicz said.

The victim ultimately deposited $19,000 into Bitcoin, he said. Several hours after completing the transactions, the victim went to police headquarters to report the incident, he said.

"Law enforcement agencies will not contact you by telephone seeking payments in Bitcoin to verify your identity or to avoid having a warrant issued for your arrest," Laskiewicz said.

That goes for the IRS, utility companies, the Social Security Administration or other entities. If you receive a call demanding money in some form, hang up, then contact the entity in question by looking up the telephone number and calling them directly.

"Do not provide these callers with any bank account information or obtain gift cards or make deposits into electronic accounts for them," he said.

If you believe you’ve been contacted by an unknown person attempting to commit a scam, please report it to the Federal Trade Commission at this link.

Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters here, or download our app to have breaking news alerts sent right to your phone. Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com