AZ fraud prevention expert seeing crypto scam ‘horror stories everywhere’ targeting older adults

Scammers have been trying to get unsuspecting people to part with their money basically forever. That’s especially true for older adults. And, new technology is often seen as a good way for scammers to do that.

Brian Watson, a community outreach specialist with the nonprofit Resources/Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly, known as ROSE, works to try to prevent that from happening.

Full conversation

MARK BRODIE:  Brian, what are you seeing in terms of new types of scams specifically targeting this population? 

BRIAN WATSON: I would say anything involving cryptocurrency. We are seeing way too many scammers instructing their victims to go down to a local cryptocurrency ATM. A lot of times they’ll actually be called a Bitcoin ATM. And that’s just because Bitcoin has a 60% market share.

But the scammers will tell people, you know, “Your money is in trouble,” or, “You need to pay this fine.” And they’ll give you a little QR code and they instruct you the exact ATM to go to you scan that little, QR code, and then they have you feed cash into that ATM thinking you’re investing or paying off a bill, but you’re really not.

BRODIE: It’s interesting. This sounds maybe slightly different from other scams, in the sense that they’re going directly after cash, maybe as opposed to trying to get access to a credit card or other kinds of bank information. 

WATSON: Well, the reason the ATMs accept cash is payment. So, they look and work very similar to a traditional ATM that you would find at your bank or credit union.You think you’re investing in some cryptocurrency opportunity, but they have the QR code — but you never really have control over that digital wallet. The scammer has control the entire time.

You know, for instance, I once spoke to a lady over the phone in northern Arizona who lost $700,000. She was putting cash into a cryptocurrency ATM, thinking she was investing and that it was her money. But as soon as the scammer knew there was no money left, he just ghosted her.

BRODIE: How prominent and prevalent is this kind of scam? Like are we seeing — you mentioned one person losing $700,000. Is that an isolated incident or is there a lot of this going on?

WATSON: No, there’s just so much of it. I mean, I’ve been in fraud prevention for over 20 years. And, you know, back in the day, the scammers were … loosely organized or they were lone wolves. They weren’t very good. They would get lucky to get a few hundred or a few thousand dollars. Now the people that we’re encountering are ruthless financial predators. They’re part of criminal organizations. They’re seeking to take every single penny you have.

So, like, I could give you one example after another. You know, one that we saw in the Valley a couple of years ago, a lady received a phone call. The person on the other end of the line claimed to be the security department from her bank.

He said, “Your money is in trouble. We need to move it somewhere safe.” So he instructed her to go to a local cryptocurrency ATM. Over 13 instances, she deposited cash into that cryptocurrency ATM up to a point where she was into it $200,000. And then it was gone.

BRODIE: Wow. Is that how the scammers are tending to reach out to folks specifically with crypto scams, that they’re calling them on the phone? 

WATSON: No, so I would actually say most of the crypto scams that we see start on social media … — or text messages. A lot of times we see a traditional romance scam morph into investing in cryptocurrency. And that particular variation is referred to as “pig butchering,” which is a crazy term, but I’ll explain why.

It’s a scam that emanated out of China. The scammers refer to their victims as pigs. They use the term “shiatsu pan,” which is a Chinese word that translates to killing pigs plate. They want to fatten up their victim for the slaughter, for a financial slaughter.

So, what they do is they will find someone that they meet on social media, like Facebook or LinkedIn or Instagram — or even things like Words with Friends or a dating site.They build up trust over time. Eventually they introduce the idea of investing in cryptocurrency, and then they will have someone invest a small amount.

They’ll actually show them a portal that shows that they’re making money, and then they return the money to show that it’s liquid. Then they go in for that financial kill. They go in for that slaughter.They get people to invest every single thing they have — and then they take it all.

But sometimes these cryptocurrency pig butchering schemes actually start with a random text message. And we’re just seeing these horror stories everywhere, and it’s only getting worse.

BRODIE: Is there something specifically attractive about cryptocurrency to scammers? Like is there a reason why that maybe is a good way if you are a scammer to try to get people’s money?

WATSON: Yes. So scammers always like to use forms of payment that people are not super familiar with. So, for a while there it was prepaid cards that you would buy at a local big box store or wire transfers. But cryptocurrency offers a very anonymous way of people to send money, and it can be moved real quick.

Now, cryptocurrency can be traced. There is a blockchain. But if you contact the authorities, you have to find someone who knows what they’re doing, has the time, has the resources. But I’ll tell you, law enforcement is just being overwhelmed by scammers. … A lot of these organizations, they are literally run by criminal gangs, because it’s a major, major source of income for criminal enterprises. And it’s way safer than, you know, trying to sell drugs or do other illegal activities.

BRODIE: So,are there particular ways to guard against this? Like if you get a phone call or a text message or a DM or something on social media, how are you advising people to to be on the lookout for these?

WATSON: Well, I like to tell people they have no obligation to be nice. Scammers are going to lie to you and try to steal your money. You have no obligation to be nice. So, if you get a text message and it’s a wrong number, you don’t have to respond. Just ignore it.

Screen your phone calls. If you end up picking up a phone call and it’s going to a weird place, just hang up. Or if you feel you can’t do that, make up a lie. Say, “I have someone at my house, I have food in the oven, I got someone at the door.” Just hang up. You have no obligation to be nice to people.

BRODIE: It sounds like disengaging is sort of the key here. 

WATSON: It really is. It really is. And then if you do get something like, let’s say you get a scary text message or a scary email, where they say that your utilities are being shut off or your Social Security account has been compromised. We always want people to take a break.

Time is your friend. The criminals want urgency. They want you to be in a bad emotional state. Make a poor decision. We want you to slow down. Take a break, turn your computer off, go for a walk, sleep on it. But yeah, we definitely want people to disengage. Take your time. Do not rush.