FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – Sheriff Rick Staly on Wednesday presented checks to two Flagler County residents who were victims of cryptocurrency scams, officials said.
The return of the funds marked the first time FCSO’s Cyber Crimes Unit had traced, seized and returned money sent in cryptocurrency scams to their rightful owners, deputies said.
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In December 2024, a victim reported that a thief online persuaded her to transfer $612.71 from a Bitcoin account through the mobile payment application CashApp, officials said.
Another victim reported a separate fraud incident in January after she received an email claiming to be from PayPal saying she owed money and provided a contact number for her to follow up, officials said.
Deputies said that during the phone call the thief gained access to her computer and, after claiming a refund error, persuaded the victim to go to a gas station and transfer $4,000 in Bitcoin through a kiosk.
Detectives tracked the stolen money to an LBank Exchange wallet associated with an individual from India, the sheriff’s office said.
Detectives seized the funds from each theft in April and May, respectively, after executing search warrants, officials said.
“Cryptocurrency scams are becoming very popular by criminals, and it is notoriously difficult to get that money back,” Staly said in a statement. “This is one of the reasons we created the Cyber Crimes Unit and purchased the sophisticated financial software for the unit to use.”
The investigations are ongoing, and no arrests have been made in either case, officials said.