SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Cryptocurrency has been growing in popularity since Bitcoin was made public in 2009. Now the digital money is also being used to scam people.
Cryptocurrency is a legitimate form of investment, however, scammers are now using it as another avenue for crime.
Arica Kulm is the Director of Digital Forensics Services at DSU and says the scams take various forms, but a popular one is the romance scam.
“They’ll get to know them, they’ll become friends and it turns into romance and then pretty soon it’s, ‘hey, I have an opportunity for you,’” Kulm said. “They’ll get them to invest in their cryptocurrency, except the site they send them is not a legitimate site. Pretty soon they’ve invested more and more money and then when they go to withdraw that money, they have to pay a tax or it’s not really there or something has happened to their money. Well, it’s gone and they can’t get it back.”
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley wants consumers to be aware of these scams.