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Fraud alert: Attorney's office warns of COVID scammers
SCRANTON -- A nationwide scam to trick unsuspecting individuals into paying cryptocurrency to lift non-existent arrest warrants has emerged, according to a news release from the United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam.
Targets of the scam have received forged court documentation stating that they are being investigated for Payroll Protection Program fraud and are the subject of an arrest warrant. The documents often claim to have been sent on behalf of the Department of Justice's Civil Division's Commercial Litigation Branch. Additional documents sent by scammers advise the recipient that to lift the arrest warrant, the recipient must make a payment through a cryptocurrency kiosk, such as Coinflip (a Bitcoin kiosk). The documents contain detailed instructions on how to use a cryptocurrency kiosk to send payment.
The United States Attorney's Office says these solicitations are unapproved and illegitimate. Anyone who receives solicitations to lift an arrest warrant in exchange for cryptocurrency payments, should not respond or follow those instructions. Report these scams to law enforcement by calling the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721, or by submission to the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form. It can also be reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation at: https://www.ic3.gov/.