A Clinton, Iowa, woman had a terrifying afternoon recently as the result of an extended scam episode in which she encountered villains and heroes, lost money, but found rescue in time to avoid a much worse financial hit.
Stacy Hill wants us to know about what happened to her and the frightening and aggressive tactics used by scammers.
First thing to know is Stacy is not a senior citizen. Far from it. She is a young woman employed full time in Davenport. She received a call on her cell phone on a recent afternoon.
The caller named himself as a sheriff’s deputy. He told Stacy she missed federal jury duty. He said she had received a summons which she signed for. He demanded she post a $12,000 bond.
He texted her images of two official-looking documents loaded up with dense legalese referring to “secure federal terminal”, “bond transfer currency (BTC)”, “secure kiosk location”, FDIC, and the Centers for Disease Control, highlighted with the logo of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Furthermore, a judge placed a gag order on her, forbidding her from talking to anyone, the caller said, and said she must not hang up. If Stacy did not immediately comply, someone would come and arrest her on the spot, the caller said.
It is fair to say Stacy was terrified. She left work, drove to her credit union, and withdrew cash. The caller instructed her to drive to Fareway and deposit her cash in the “secure bond kiosk.”
Another man came on the line, naming himself as another Clinton County sheriff’s deputy. Stacy noted her phone showing the number calling her as that of the sheriff’s office. She heard threat after threat while driving to Clinton. Threats like: “If you say a word to anyone, you go right to jail.”
Once at Fareway, Stacy found the cryptocurrency kiosk. She saw it labeled with fraud warnings, and told the caller this seemed wrong, like a scam. But the scammers were ready for her doubts. They assured her the fraud warnings did not apply to government matters. They told her she was in a public place, with video surveillance, all to protect her.
They demanded she read aloud the two documents sent to her earlier and state her agreement. She did. They instructed her to buy bitcoin cryptocurrency. She deposited $1,000 into the machine. When she tried to deposit more, the machine balked. Iowa law forbids purchase of more than $1,000 in cryptocurrency a day in these kiosks.
The scammers knew of a workaround for that obstacle and started to tell Stacy how to do it. But, then, a hero arrived. A Fareway manager who tries to keep an eye out for funny business at this kiosk noticed Stacy’s distress.
He approached her, instantly sized this up as a scam and told her to stop. Stacy was petrified. She knew the scammers heard someone else on the phone. She just knew she was about to get arrested. She decided to go turn herself in. She hung up and drove to the Clinton Law Center. She could hardly talk. But she was safe, although it took several minutes to convince her of that.
Stacy endured relentless, aggressive threats that up-ended her world. She will tell you these threats are powerful. Here’s Stacy’s advice about fraud: “Don’t allow fear to supersede your intuition. Trust your perception and seek help from law enforcement.”
It’s courageous of Stacy to share these details of her story for our benefit.
No law enforcement official will ever send you to a cryptocurrency kiosk, for any reason. No law enforcement official will demand payments over the phone.
You can train yourself to avoid fraud. First, recognize the characteristics of most scams. They are unexpected, unsolicited, and urgent. You will feel scared, or excited. Tell yourself, if this happens to me, I will always talk to someone I trust to ask for help. Who do you trust? Pick someone. Write down their name and number. Police, banks, and credit unions work. Rehearse these things in your head. Mentally prepare yourself.
Contact Seniors vs. Crime
Let me know about scams, fraud, or other crookedness you run across. Most of what I learn, I learn from you. Contact me at Seniors vs. Crime, Clinton County Sheriff’s Office, 563-242-9211, ext. 4433, or email me at randymeier@gapa911.us.