Colorado Resident Loses $6,000 In Bitcoin To Scammers Posing As Law Enforcement

Residents of the State of Colorado in the United States has been receiving calls from "Sergeant Schilling", coercing victims to pay a $10,000 fine which must be paid in Bitcoin for missing their jury duty.

Using his authority as a local government, Sergeant Schilling would threaten his victims that the failutre to comply to his instructions would result in a warrant for their arrest.

Spooked by the threat of a warrant into believing that she must have really missed a jury notice, one victim followed the perpetrator's instructions to clear a fake warrant by sending payment through a Bitcoin ATM.

The victim successfully transferred $6,000 of Bitcoin, but fortunately was intercepted by the real authorities before she could successfully transfer the remaining $4 to the perpetrator.

In some cases, the attacked even managed to spoof the local sheriff department's number to make the victims really believe that they are really getting a call from the local authorities.

In an incident report, the Sheriff's office wrote

"A deputy will never call to inform someone of an arrest warrant or request payment in Bitcoin, gift cards, or wire transfers to clear it."

Authorities reported that it's unlikely that her funds will be recovered, though her bank has been notified.

The rise of crypto crimes in Colorado

The incident mirrors another recent attempt in Keystone where bank staff stopped a resident from transferring $8,000 in crypto after they received a similar call.

Similar to many of the previous cases, scammers are increasing using called ID spoofing to make it appear their calls are coming from official law enforcement agencies.

In recent years, there has been a spike in the number of crypto-related scams in the state of Colorado.

State investigators documented over 1,300 crypto-related scams in 2024, resulting in losses exceeding $81 million. Colorado is now ranked 15th nationally for crypto crimes, according to state data.

FBI Denver also warned residents against cases where fraudsters target religious communities. In one incident, a pastor and his wife allegedly misappropriated around $3.2 million in crypto, promoting a token called INDXcoin to their christian community.

The Sheriff's Offices cautions residents against the aggressive tactics that these scammers are using. Fraudster loves the irreversible nature of crypto transactions, because once these funds are transferred, funds are difficult to trace and recover.