(La Porte County, IN) - La Porte County Police are investigating a report of a woman soaked for over $17,000 in a Bitcoin scam.

 

Purportedly, the 58-year-old woman was contacted on her phone Sunday, and told she was under federal investigation for money laundering. The woman said she was also informed she needed to withdraw all of the money from her bank account and place it into another account.

 

After doing so, the woman asked for credentials and received a text message containing a badge with the supposed name of the person she was talking  to. Following instructions provided, she bought Bitcoin with the money at stores in Michigan City and La Porte, before then seding the funds to an address she was given.

 

She had also followed the caller’s instructions and purchased a number of gift cards at Walmart to send to another address, but still had them in her possession when calling the police.

 

Authorites then instructed her to take the gift cards along with the receipts back for a refund to recoup at least some of her lost revenue.

 

According to police, the company owning the machine transferring cash into Bitcoin said the funds, once deposited, are untraceable.