The US Department of Justice seized BTC extracted from an older man. Phishing scams targeting older adults are becoming a trend in Spain and the US.
The complaint issued by a citizen of Asheville, a city located in North Carolina, reads that the imposters suggested the victim use savings in the pension fund to purchase bitcoin. Thus they stole them, and the victim lost more than $500,000 worth of BTC last year.
Now, the State Attorney’s Office, which works for the US Department of Justice, orders the reimbursement of the money to the victim. According to the statement revealed on March 15, an unprecedented decision appeared after having seized the money from the criminals.
The scammed person is an older adult whose identity remains hidden. The man got deceived through an identity theft technique known as vishing, a type of fraud carried out through telephone calls.
The scammer tricked the victim into believing that he was a government agent during the call. His personal information facilitated illicit operations, such as drug trafficking and money laundering.
Once they seduced the older man, they taught him how to deposit his money into a supposed government account on the Coinbase exchange. Thus, on August 31, 2021, 12.16 bitcoins got transferred to an address managed by the scammers for an approximate value of USD 574,766.
Coinbase and the FBI detected the transfer and labeled it a possible senior financial fraud. The authorities added that after an investigation and a successful civil forfeiture process, the seized cryptocurrency got confiscated by US authorities and will go back to the victim.
They Expedited the Case Because it Was an Older Man
The curious thing, in this case, is that the US prosecutor, Dena J. King, apparently showed her concern about the side effects of the crime and opted for an acceleration in the investigation; not only because the complaint happened on time, but also because it was an older adult.
The special attention offered derives from the “Justice for the Elderly” initiative carried out by the US Attorney’s Office of North Carolina. The money had to go back to the victim in exchange due to his cooperation to solve the case.
Lies, Crimes and Digital Assets
The story of the older man from Asheville is not the only one out there, since a similar story got revealed in El País de España, where the National Institute of Cybersecurity (INCIBE) openly expressed their opinion on cases of theft through vishing in the Iberian country.
The statement highlights the imitation of well-known entities to extract personal information through a call is a widespread deceiving activity in Spain. Older adults are one of the primary targets of these scammers and deceivers.
By: Jenson Nuñez
