A 67-year-old Lancaster County woman reported Wednesday that she was scammed out of thousands of dollars. Lancaster County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Ben Houchin says she received a text message claiming to be from Apple saying her Apple ID card had been fraudulently used.
“She was directed to call the fraud department and when she did she was told to withdraw $21,000 from two of her bank accounts,” Houchin says. She was further instructed to deposit the money into a bitcoin ATM in Lincoln.
“After doing this, she realized she had been scammed,” Houchin says. He says the sheriff’s department has investigated several similar fraud cases this year and each one brings a reminder. “If anybody directs you to put any kind of money into a Bitcoin ATM, it is a fraud. Do not do that.”
LSO says the chances are very slim that any of the money can be recouped.