MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — Murfreesboro police said dozens of residents have lost nearly $4 million in a cryptocurrency scam.
Detectives told News 2 it starts with a phone call from the scammers posing as law enforcement. The scammer demands payment in digital currency, which is virtually untraceable.
“With cryptocurrency, it is really hard to track and really difficult to recover,” the Murfreesboro Police Department’s CID Fraud Detective, Tommy Massey, said. “So that money is gone so quickly, it’s very easy for them to do that.”
“They report that they’re with either a local, state or federal law enforcement agency,” Massey added. “They range from either you have a warrant for your arrest, you may have missed a grand jury or you can be involved in some type of money laundering situation, and they’re there to help you to resolve the problem.”
Massey told News 2 that once scammers have a victim on the phone, they pressure them to withdraw money and convert it to cryptocurrency.
“They’ll ask you to take that money out of an ATM cryptocurrency machine, where you convert it into a cryptocurrency and send it to either a QR code or the IP address they send to you,” Massey explained.
Murfreesboro police say older adults are often targeted. Once the money is sent, it is usually gone within 72 hours — typically moved overseas.
“With the advent of AI, it’s becoming much easier for scammers to carry out these types of crimes,” Massey said.
He added that by the time the cases are referred to federal investigators, the money is often impossible to recover. The MPD is looking into software that could help track cryptocurrency transactions.
In the meantime, police have a simple message: If someone calls claiming to need immediate payment in cryptocurrency, hang up and call law enforcement directly.
“Don’t call the numbers they give you because those are largely spoofed now, and they will convince you that they are who they say they are when they are really not,” Massey said.
Murfreesboro police said if you are a victim of this type of scam, or you know someone who is, you are encouraged to call their Criminal Investigations Division at 615-893-2717.
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