MORGAN COUNTY, Ga. — Police say a woman was scammed out of at least $5,000 after talking with Facebook users about BitCoin.
The Madison Police Department told Channel 2 Action News that the 67-year-old victim told police that she had been chatting on Facebook with a user named “Sammy Joe,” who claimed to be a financial advisor.
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The victim told police that “Sammy Joe” convinced her to invest money “into what she believed to be BitCoin.” The report said the woman “invested” $21,000 and “made” $2,000 but was then told by “Sammy Joe” that she would have to invest $5,000 to withdraw the money.
Police said the woman also received a phone call from someone claiming to be with the Truist Bank fraud department. The report said the caller told her that her account had a $278 fraudulent charge. The woman then gave the caller her bank account number and the last five digits of her social security number.
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The police report said that after the woman gave the caller her information, she noticed two fraudulent Zelle transactions on her account totaling $5,000. She also told police that she had received an email from a “Mazie Hammer” that threatened she would send pornographic images to all of the victim’s email contacts if she did not send “Mazie Hammer” $1,590.
Madison police leaders said they had not made any arrests in the case and that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Cyber Crimes Unit would take over the case.
Authorities also reached out to Truist for a response on the fraudulent transactions.
Police are warning people to be aware of who they are giving their personal information.
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