Bartlesville Police seeing rise in cryptocurrency scams

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. — Bartlesville Police are warning the community about an increase in scams involving cryptocurrency.

It comes as the Oklahoma attorney general confirmed a rise in bitcoin ATM scams.

“The nature of crypto being really untraceable, and it can be overseas within just a matter of seconds, it seems like frauds are more turning to using crypto as an avenue to transfer their money through,” said Bartlesville Police Captain Daniel Elkins.

Elkins said they’re seeing a rise in criminals getting victims to send money through virtual currencies.

“Just this last week we had a young lady, young 30s, had a few kids in tow, come in and lose $10,000, you know, to a bitcoin scam,” Elkins said. “She was told she had a warrant for her arrest, she believed this and now her and her family has lost a significant amount of money.”

The Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said it’s something his office is seeing across the state.

“We have an absolute lawlessness in this space,” Drummond said.

He said scammers are telling victims a bank is about to fail and getting them to transfer their money to criminals in cryptocurrency.

“We have to get that word out so that if you don’t know the person for a long time, they’re not a relative or a dear friend, do not trust them, do not be exploited,” Drummond added.

Elkins gave advice to the community.

“If you don’t believe that it’s legit, you know, hang up, check the Better Business Bureau, call your local police department, talk to friends, talk to your family,” Elkins said.

 “It’s important for Oklahomans to stay on alert about virtual currency and other banking scams,” Drummond said. “Never pay anyone who demands an advance payment in cryptocurrency – only scammers demand this type of payment.”