McKinney police warn of a new, sophisticated phone scam
McKINNEY (CBSNewsTexas.com) – You may have heard about phone scams where criminals impersonate police officers to scam you out of money.
Now, McKinney police say they're seeing a new, sophisticated version of this scam.
A McKinney resident, who wants to remain anonymous, said last week he received a text message about fraudulent activity on his bank account.
"I called that 1-800 number and it was Bank of America," he said. "He said okay, I see that some fraud activity is going on and your name is involved in a money laundering case."
He explained the person on the other line told him they'll have the U.S. Marshals Service reach out.
"Within a fraction of a second, I got a call from the number which was exactly matching the U.S. Marshals' website number," he said.
He said he was told he made a fraudulent bank transaction and would need to pay $10,000 back.
At first, he thought he was being scammed. Then another phone call came through with the caller ID reading "McKinney Police Non-Emergency." Someone posing as an officer again told him to withdraw $10,000 and deposit it into a nearby Bitcoin ATM.
"When I got the phone call that said McKinney Police Department then I believed it 100% this is a legitimate," he said.
He withdrew and deposited the money, later learning from police he'd been scammed.
"My mind was totally blank," he said. "I lost money. It is six to eight months of my savings. $10,000 is a lot of money."
McKinney police said unfortunately, in this case there's little law enforcement can do.
"Especially with the introduction of Bitcoin because it's not federally regulated and because they can put the money in and it can go out and be gone in a matter of minutes," Sgt. Tina Malenfant said.
So, who's behind this?
"It could be international, it could be local, it could be both working in conjunction together, but I think the most important thing is to educate the victims," Malenfant said.
If you receive any text or call asking for money:
- Don't respond or hang up
- Call the company or organization yourself to verify the legitimacy
- Call police who can investigate
