Lois, an 83-year-old San Francisco Bay Area resident, recently lost $50,000 in a sophisticated cryptocurrency scam after falling victim to a "grandson in trouble" ruse. Lois, returning home late on a Friday evening, received a frantic call from a man claiming to have her grandson, stating that he was in trouble. Moments later, another voice, posing as her grandson, tearfully explained that he had been arrested for causing an accident while under the influence. The caller convinced Lois to keep the situation secret and instructed her to pay for his bail using Coinstar cryptocurrency ATMs, claiming that court protocols now allowed for payment via digital currency for faster processing.
According to Lois, she was distressed and willing to help her grandson, believing she had no choice but to comply with the caller's urgent requests. The scammers led her to multiple Coinstar ATMs, where she inserted $100 bills as instructed, with each $10,000 deposited into what she thought was her grandson's bail account. "He told me the court devised a way for people to pay for bail because checks take too long. He said, 'We have an account with Coinstar,'" she recounted to ABC7 News' 7 On Your Side team.
