Crypto Scammers Pretend to be Geek Squad

• Crypto scammers are pretending to be members of Best Buy’s Geek Squad team, recently seen in a situation involving a woman living in Woodbury.
• The victim was tricked into paying a fake invoice for $1,145 and then asked to transfer money from her account to the scammer’s bitcoin wallet.
• In total, she lost $70,000 and authorities have warned that there is no way to track or recover these funds once they have been transferred.

Crypto scammers have a new way of getting money out of their intended victims. They are now pretending to be members of Best Buy’s infamous Geek Squad team. A recent example occurred when an unnamed woman living in Woodbury received an email from Geek Squad saying her account would be renewed and charged $1,145. She was told that if she wanted to cancel the service she had 48 hours to do so. Unknowingly, she made contact with the scammer who proceeded to ask for further payments from her via Bitcoin transfers totaling up to $8,000 at different times. In the end, the 78-year-old victim was cheated out of $70,000 and authorities found there is no way for them to track or recover these funds once they are transferred using cryptocurrency.

Victim’s Story

The woman stated that years ago she had used Geek Squad’s services and so did not think much about it when she received the renewal email but noticed that it said if she wanted to cancel before being charged she had 48-hours left which had already passed by then. When contacted by phone by the scammer he offered help with cancelling but things quickly escalated such that he asked her multiple times for payments via Bitcoin transfers ranging between $7,000 – $8,000 each time until eventually costing her $70,000 in total. She said: “By the end they had me so wrapped up and so scared and intimidated I probably would have sold my house… It’s just crazy“.

Police Investigation

Lynn Lawrence – a Woodbury police detective – commented on the situation saying: “It’s sad but there’s not much we can do… The money is gone within seconds and once it’s gone there’s no getting it back… It’s much different if we have a victim who has transferred money from one bank account to another bank account as sometimes we can intercept those funds with the receiving bank“. Marty Fleischhacker – senior financial fraud ombudsman for Minnesota Department of Commerce echoed this sentiment adding: “Once you send your payment off in bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency it is extremely difficult if not impossible for law enforcement or anyone else involved in combating fraud or theft attempts … There really isn’t any way to get those funds back“.

Preventative Measures

In order to protect yourself against crypto scams like this one authorities suggest taking preventative measures such as always double checking emails sent regarding invoices/renewal notices; never clicking suspicious links; never giving away personal information such as passwords/credit card details over email; always physically verify phone numbers before calling; research companies before investing; use two-factor authentication whenever possible; use strong passwords; keep software updated regularly and avoid storing large amounts of cryptocurrency online.

Conclusion

Although this case ended badly with an elderly lady losing out on a huge sum of money due to falling prey tp crypto scammers posing as Geek Squad employees similar cases occur every day with people all around us being targeted by fraudulent activities online – especially those involving cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin which makes tracing almost impossible due its decentralized nature – making prevention & education key elements towards protecting ourselves against cybercrime & scams such as this one!