SUDBURY, Mass. — Officers are praising an alert clerk who prevented an elderly woman from falling for a Bitcoin scam on Wednesday.
Sudbury Police responded to a business on Boston Post Road for a report of an ongoing con.
The clerk noticed an elderly woman at the Bitcoin machine withdrawing nearly $30,000 and being given directions on her cell phone from an unknown caller.
The caller seemed to be pressuring the woman to convert her money to Bitcoin and was giving her very specific instructions on what to do. That is when the clerk became suspicious and called 911.
Police believe this was a ransomware style attack and the would-be victim was given a fake Microsoft support number. The scammer tried pressuring this woman into giving up thousands of dollars.
If it wasn’t for the clerk, the woman’s money would likely be gone.
This is the second such Bitcoin scam in Sudbury that police are aware of. The first victim was not as fortunate as this woman, and lost nearly $50,000, which police are still trying to recover.
Cash is often untraceable once it’s converted to Bitcoin.
To learn more on how to avoid scams and to take steps if you believe you’re a victim, click here.
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