Seniors in the hand community of SC communities towards CRIPTO fraud

Saving Sun City Safe

The South Carolina Lovcountia is a haven for seniors. Spanish moss brakes from trees, beautiful beaches abound and Golf carts share slow roads with cars. In the Beaufort County, more than a third The population will be 65 or older to 2040. years. And it’s attractive for fraud.

People 60 and older are more than three times more cute to sign up to be cheated at Bitcoin ATMs, according to Data from the Federal Trade Commission.

Eric Calendar, Lieutenant with Sheriff’s Department of Beaufort, said one of the worst cases involving a retired couple was deceived to think of their savings by depositing at Bitcoin ATM. The couple went to several ATMs in Savannah, Georgia and Beaufort County. In the end they lost almost $ 390,000.

“We can’t continue to do that,” Kalerian NBC news said. “$ 390,000. $ 30,000. $ 80,000.

“We can’t continue to go on this path of our victims by going to these ATMs, just putting a large amount of money in them and there is no regulation.”

On Tuesday night, a small crowd gathered in retired meeting room in the amount of about 18,000 immediately in front of Hilton Head known as Sun City.

“It’s easier to take your money than to rob a bank,” Calendar said while he launched his presentation on cheat.

There was no Bank robbery in Beaufort County since 2016. year, the room said. Two years ago, the biggest losses of fraud included wire transmission. But last year, cryptocurnent fraud, including those involving BTMS, rose to the top of his list. One of the most common, he said, was a jury scam.

Pensioners are targeted, experts say, due to savings that have built over decades. Hilton Head’s attraction can also draw fraud.

“They target where the money is, and they know it through census data,” Calendar said. But many victims deal with cannot afford such hits.

“Eight thousand dollars are still a lot of money when you live in the budget,” he said.

Federal Trade Commission It shows that the reported losses in cheats that include crypt of kiosks rose from $ 12 million in 2020. years at $ 114 million in 2023. Years. The victims were introduced to believe that they speak with technical support on computer problems, by receiving sound investment advice or enrolling a loved one prison.

Most of the victims do not understand “account numbers”, they gave themselves a missing duty of the jury or QR codes provided for scanning on machines are actually virtual creation wallets.

Once that money reaches the fraud, it can be almost impossible for the funds to recover – even when the authorities can see where they are.

This means that when victims of fraud approach the kiosks, they could be a few moves from the keyboard from loss of life savings.

The AARP Hotline for Fraud receives daily reports on Bitcoin ATMs, said Ami Nofžiger, director of supporting victims for a network of scams in the organization, which stands for stronger regulation of machines.

Customers who work with banking sellers or cashiers can pick up on people who are nervous during transactions, she said. But with BTMS, “no one looks at the machine,” she said. “Less eyes on it is better for criminals and, of course, harder to victims.”

“Who am I going after?”

One 80-year-old man in Beaufort County lost $ 31,000 in September.

“It’s an insult,” he said about the alleged scam. “She made a damn good job on me.”

The man, retired banker, talked to the NBC news about the situation that his name is not used due to security care, because the perpetrators have not been identified. After the warning that seemed to have jumped on the screen on the screen of his computer, he called the number to be delivered. He was transferred to someone who told him that his browser history showed an illegal activity, including observing children pornography.