An Oakland County woman lost some of her 401(k) retirement savings through a cryptocurrency-related scam, the Troy Police Department reported.
The 58-year-old woman told police on March 31 that she was contacted by an unknown person via the WhatsApp message service about an opportunity to invest in Coinbase cryptocurrency. She did transfer an unspecified amount of funds from her 401(k), intending to have it in Coinbase funds, making the transaction via a QR code provided by the suspect.
The woman later realized that the supposed investment was a scam. Authorities did not say how much money the woman was scammed out of.
The Michigan Attorney General’s Office provides information about cryptocurrency scams as part of its consumer alerts library. Cryptocurrency platforms exist electronically and are managed by digital wallets. More than 2,000 such services are known to exist. The Federal Trade Commission says cryptocurrency values change rapidly, and the accounts are not insured.
“Cryptocurrency has gotten lots of attention as a new way to invest, but keep in mind, scammers are taking advantage of people’s understanding (or not) of crypto investments and how they work. As the popularity – and price – of cryptocurrency continues to rise, so do the online scams associated with those digital currencies. When there are large amounts of money to be made or lost, that is when scammers come in,” the AG’s office said.
The cautions given by the AG’s office include being wary of crypto investment pitches made via social media or by cold callers, or posted via online message boards.
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