Tilton Police Warn About Bitcoin Scams
Tilton police are alerting the community about Bitcoin scams after several residents lost significant amounts of money through the same Bitcoin machine.
Recent incidents of Bitcoin-related fraud have resurfaced memories for a local woman who experienced a similar scam a few years back.
“It sounded like my eldest son was calling his mother, saying, ‘Mimi, you’ve been arrested,’” said Jaclyn Brouillard, who fell victim to a Bitcoin machine scam in the past. Even now, reflecting on the $9,000 she lost continues to haunt her.
“It took me a while to recover from this invasion of my privacy. It was very upsetting knowing they had information about our family,” she recalled.
Brouillard was misled to believe that the money would help her son avoid trouble, even though he hadn’t been arrested at the time.
“It had probably been going on for three hours, and the emotions were building up,” she said. Tilton Police Sergeant Mike Foster added that those strong emotions can lead victims to believe the scam is genuine and that they need to act quickly to protect themselves.
“He was definitely afraid that if he didn’t comply, he would be in trouble,” Foster noted.
In the past week, two elderly residents lost a combined $11,000 to scammers who exploited Bitcoin machines located at Cumberland Farms. Foster intervened during one of the incidents.
“In this case, he loaded up with $3,000 and had $25,000 in his hand,” Foster explained.
He stressed that law enforcement or banks will never ask individuals to carry out transactions using Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency.
“They spent a lot of time terrorizing us,” Brouillard said, indicating her ongoing vigilance against fraud. She mentioned that her family has a special code to prevent scams.
“You won’t get any help from me,” she added. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t know your family’s password.”
Police encourage anyone who suspects they may be the target of a scam to reach out for help by calling them or visiting the station in person.
