SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – About a month and a half ago First Bank & Trust retail banker Ethan Gette spotted something strange when he saw a woman inside the Circle K on West 57th Street.
“I noticed somebody at the Bitcoin machine and they were on the phone, the second thing I noticed was they were holding a wad of hundred dollar bills, and that had bad news written all over it,” Gette said.
Gette regularly helps protect customers from losing money to criminals during this work day, and knew he had to step in.
“They would have lost $25,000 total, and I believe I stopped them at $11,000. Unfortunately, with these Bitcoin machines once the money’s in there you can’t get it out,” Gette said.
Gette says the victim told him someone posing as law enforcement contacted her over email saying she owed money for missing jury duty, and would go to jail if she didn’t comply.
Sam Clemens with the Sioux Falls Police Department says scams involving city officials are common, and that the best way to protect yourself is being educated.
“Law enforcement never takes payment from cyber currency. We never take payment from re-loadable credit cards or gift cards and so those are kind of the big things,” Clemens said. “If somebody who says you need to pay this money now or you’re going to go to jail, that should be a red flag.”
As police say tracking down that money after its sent is nearly impossible.
“We do what we can to investigate it. It’s pretty difficult. The scammers are unfortunately very good at what they do,” Clemens said.
“If you second guess even the slightest thing when someone’s requesting money, or to do something financially, talk to your banker. Your banker is the No. 1 source for any decision making for moving money around,” Gette said.
KELOLAND News went back to that same gas station on Friday and found a warning sign posted on the Bitcoin kiosk to prevent future victims. Gette says that sign wasn’t there about a month ago. Sioux Falls Police also encourage people to contact the city directly to verify any charges or fines they might have.
