EAST LYME, Conn. — An East Lyme senior citizen was scammed out of $60,000 in a fraud related to cryptocurrency. Authorities, however, were able to recover two-thirds of that money and they warned residents to always be suspect of calls of this nature.
In August 2022, a relative contacted police to report that a senior citizen in town had been defrauded of a large amount of money. The resident had been contacted by someone claiming to be an attorney representing their bank and wanted to inform them about fraudulent activities involving their account.
The person on the phone told them not to tell anyone about the situation.
"The 'attorney,' advised the senior to travel to their bank and withdraw a certain amount of money and to not speak to anyone, including the Police, about this request," said the caller according to the police. "The 'attorney' additionally stated that should the bank ask about a reason for the withdrawals, the senior was to tell them that it was money to purchase a car or renovate an apartment."
The caller told the victim that they should convert the cash to BitCoin, a cryptocurrency that is difficult to trace. The caller contacted the victim on several occasions requesting further withdrawals. Nearly $60,000 was transferred according to police.
Because of the nature of these accounts, police said the investigation has yet to positively identify the specific individuals criminally responsible or their country of origin.
The East Lyme Police Department worked with the Connecticut State Police Statewide Organized Crime Investigative Task Force, the New London State’s Attorney’s Office and the Justice Department to track down the missing funds. The funds were located spread to multiple companies. Through these efforts, police said they were able to recover $40,000 of the various cryptocurrencies, most of the funds being Bitcoin.
Police urged residents to use extreme caution when contacted and told to provide any funding to individuals. If you question if a call is valid, contact trusted friends or family members and the police to help you determine if it is a valid situation.
Doug Stewart is the Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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